13270: Half-Way Towards 2050 Net-Zero: What is Needed from Organizational and Management Research?

Finalist for the OMT Division Best Symposium Award

We are now halfway towards 2050 in the 21st century. Despite pledges to reach net zero in 2050, recent research on climate change stresses that we are at the point of an “irreversible climate disaster” (Ripple et al., 2024) as still more planetary boundaries are being crossed (Richardsson et al., 2023) expanding the crisis beyond emissions. In 2023, the fossil fuel industry significantly increased its production, with notable growth in oil and gas output, reaching record levels . The next 25 years will crucially challenge our collective ability to change the ways we act for the future as societies, businesses, and individuals. The next 25 years require new knowledge about the conditions and motivations of organizing and acting persistently for a net-zero future. In this symposium we will ask: a) What new knowledge do we need to develop in organization and management research to drive systems and processes to reach net zero by 2050, and in what areas, b) How will this new knowledge challenge dominant assumptions in our research? and c) How can this new knowledge accelerate the impact on the just climate and nature transition? This panel brings together influential speakers who, from different experiences and perspectives, are deeply engaged in exploring how organization and management research and practice can contribute to a net-zero future.