Environ. Sociol. http://doi.org/9q5 (2015)

Increasingly, companies are appearing to care about climate change. This concern is often expressed in calls for policymakers to divert resources away from polluting energy sources to low-carbon technological fixes with as little regulation as possible. This strategy often suits the same set of investors.

Analysis by Jean Philippe Sapinski, from the University of Oregon, USA, sheds light on how 'climate capitalism' spreads among the world's largest companies and filters into political debates. It maps actors who sit on the boards of both the world's largest companies and corporate-funded climate and environmental lobby groups.

The analysis finds that a handful of organizations — including the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Global Compact, the International Emissions Trading Association and Club of Rome — are particularly well-connected within this network. It identifies a core 'climate capitalist inner circle' of 11 members who have particular influence, several of whom sit on the boards of fossil fuel and nuclear power companies.

This suggests that the aims of a weak form of climate capitalism and high-carbon companies may be well-aligned, casting some doubt on the effectiveness of such strategies to significantly tackle climate change.