Handel med utsläppsrätter : hur företagsstrategier påverkas

Abstract: Climate change is one of the most difficult problems that humans have to deal with. Today, the evidence of human effects on the climate change and the rise of temperature on earth are strong. It is extremely important that all countries get together and cooperate in order to be able to solve the problem with climate change. One step in the work on climate changes is the Convention on Climate Change, which was agreed on in 1992. The Convention on Climate Change resulted in the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The Kyoto Protocol is an agreement between a number of industrialized countries to limit or reduce the green gas emissions. The European Union has decided to introduce a system for tradable permits for carbon dioxide from year 2005 to reduce emissions and get experience in emission trade. The included companies are companies that provide district heating, oil refinery, factories that produce iron, steel, glass, cement, ceramic and factories for paper and paper pulp production. The included companies in the emission trade can choose different ways to handle the increased environmental demand. It is important that the companies make strategic choices to be able to look out for the possibilities and manage higher expectations. The aim with this study is to provide a case study of how companies in Sweden are affected by the emission trade in the European Union. The focus is put on how companies have chosen to act and how their planned strategies have been affected. The study is based on questions concerning how the emission trade has affected companies' development of technology and products, choice of customer, environmental strategies and their attitudes to the environment. The study also aims to provide an overall view of how the additional cost for purchase of tradable permits affects the companies' choice of strategies. The case studies are carried out through qualitative interviews with four companies, which are included in the emission trade. The study includes two steel companies and two companies that provide district heating. The result from the study shows that the emission trade have not led to any changes in the companies' strategies. The strategies for technologic development have not changed even if the companies have started to work more with carbon dioxide related questions. The emission trade have not affected the companies' product development or the choice of customer. Neither the companies' choice of environmental strategies have been affected of the emission trade. On the other hand, it is possible to see some changes in the companies' attitudes. The companies' attitudes towards environmental questions are in general more positive than the attitude towards the emission trade. During the implementation of the study we have found a number of explanations of why companies have not changed their strategies. One explanation is the increased uncertainty, which make the companies wait until they know more about the system and how it will affect their business. The companies that are a part of this study need to make long-term plans to be able to change their operation. The first period of the emission trade is only for three years and after that the rules of the emission trade is uncertain. Therefore the investigated companies have chosen to wait until they know more about the emission trade before they change their strategies. Another explanation is that some companies already have implemented strategies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Further observations is that the companies increased expenses will not affect them during the first period and therefore they can afford to wait until they know more about the emission trade.