Keywords

1 Introduction

Due to rapid industrialization, natural resource exploitation is increasing daily [1]. Natural disasters like earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, and hurricanes are also frequently occurring [2]. Further, man-made disasters such as anthropogenic acts such as various pollution disturb the environment and create uncertainty for future generations [3]. As a corporate citizen, it is the duty and responsibility of the company to undertake activities and initiatives that certainly minimize such negative externality on the environment and future generations [4]. Therefore, the promoting environmental-friendly business activities by inculcating various initiatives, for instance, Renewable Energy Initiatives (REI) such as the production, consumption, and distribution of renewable sources of energy, use of electric vehicles, production and distribution of RE products for instance solar panels, solar roofs and electric vehicles are necessary [5]. There are many rules and regulations governing to protection of the environment that have emerged in recent times which have taken an initiation through ties with corporate bodies, NGOs, and Government initiatives that slowly eradicate environmental pollution, which in turn will protect the resources for future generations [6, 7].

Today corporates are running under a triple-bottom-line line business model which includes profit, people, and planet. By undertaking REI corporates can lower the overall business costs which in turn enhances profitability [8]. On the other hand, they also lower toxic emissions/carbon footprint which in turn promotes a pollution-free environment that leads to the good health of people [9, 10].

REIs by corporates ensure energy security and reduce the dependency on external energy suppliers. This aspect particularly matters a lot during energy supply disruptions.

In other words, REI by corporations has a socio-economic and environmental impact that positively influences sustainable development [11, 12].

In this paper, an attempt has been made to evaluate the impact of REI by corporations on sustainable development through the mediation effect of environmental, social, and economic aspects.

The succeeding part of the paper is organized as a Literature review, Conceptual Model, Methods, results, discussions, and conclusion.

2 Literature Review

2.1 Green Business Practices

Pang et al. [13] observed that many corporates including financial institutions started to promote e-business operations to minimize the negativities on the environment that occurred through carbon footprints. This aspect is also noted by Salman and Ismael [14]. In addition to this, [15] highlighted that a firm’s green practices are positively correlated with improved financial performance.

Babon-Ayeng et al. [16] noted that the prior experience in green projects plays a vital role in implementing green business practices. In support of this, [17, 18] highlighted that undertaking green business practices supports following circular economy principles such as repair, reduce, reuse, and recycling in a business model that creates value for the business itself in the long run. Further, many researchers in their study for instance, [19, 20], highlighted that the inculcation of a model that promotes the re-use of industry waste is a trend among many green business practices. Further, [21,22,23] as part of green business initiatives inducing artificial knowledge and digitization of supply chain management enhance the accountability, transparency, and sustainable performance of the organization at the core. On the other hand, [24] highlighted that the involvement of corporates along with governments in minimizing carbon emissions is essential to promote a sustainable socio-economic and natural environment.

2.2 Renewable Energy Initiatives

A study by Jia et al. [25] recommended that the corporates effort to promote renewable energy initiatives is essential specifically in underdeveloped and developing countries.

The environmental, economic, and social environmental development in an industrial world directly depends on the level of involvement of government and corporates in promoting renewable energy production and consumption [26,27,28]. The national policy on energy consumption certainly influences the nature of energy production and consumption in the particular environment [29].

Obrecht et al. [30] argued that as renewable energy market is very complex and focuses on the environmental and economic aspect, and that negatively impact SDGs as they least bother on social aspects. On the contrary, [31] climate risks that emerged out of industrial practices disturb socio-economic development, but the inducement of technology-based renewable energy initiatives helps in alleviating their effects. In support of this [32, 33] recommended that the corporates needed to be involved in undertaking photovoltaic solar power plants and use of electric vehicles for promoting sustainable performance.

Interestingly, [34, 35] highlighted that the corporates that are involved in renewable energy projects have more profitability than conventional firms.

Zhou [36] in a study argued the prominence of involvement in renewable energy generation and consumption by companies specifically, transportation organizations like railways to promote socio-economic sustainable development. Authors [15, 37] noted that by installing renewable energy projects corporate carbon emission footprint due to coal thermal power generation can be minimized.

From the literature review, it is observed that the majority of studies have focused on exploring the significance of green energy practices, CSR practices, and renewable energy initiatives by corporates but no studies have attempted to evaluate the role renewable energy initiatives on sustainable development through the mediating effect of environment, social and economic aspects. Therefore, the present study intends to address the following research questions:

  • RQ1—What is the perception of various stakeholders on renewable energy initiatives by corporates?

  • RQ2—What is the impact of renewable energy initiatives by corporates on sustainable development?

3 Methodology

3.1 Research Design

The present study employed both quantitative and qualitative research as recommended by Authors [38,39,40]. A qualitative approach is followed for the development conceptual model, and research instrument through a focus group study. A quantitative approach is followed for the collection of data through a structured questionnaire and analysis and interpretation of the same.

3.2 Instrument Development

Since there is no standard measurement tool in the published literature to evaluate the impact of REIs on sustainable development, the researcher developed a questionnaire through a systematic and scientific procedure and also tested the same as per a well-accepted reliability and validity procedure [41].

3.3 Item Generations

With the help of previous literature and focus group studies the researcher constructed items to measure pre-determined constructs such as REIs and SD from the Managers, Administrators, and Academicians’ perceptions.

The opinions of experts from the focus group study were recorded and later content analysis was performed to generate specific items for constructs. In the first stage, the researcher identified 16 items for REIs and 13 items for SD.

In the second stage after considering the opinion of experts 12 items for the REI construct and 8 items each for SD. Table 1 shows item generation and sources.

Table 1 Item generation and sources
Full size table

3.4 Response Format

The questionnaire is divided into 6 parts, the first part concerns to demographic profile of the respondents through the closed-ended questions. From second part to the sixth part is related to REIs by corporates and their influence on SD and questions were asked on the Likert 0.5 scale where 5 (Strongly Agree) and 1 (Strongly Disagree).

3.5 Sources of Data and Their Collection Procedures

The present study relied both on primary and secondary sources of data. Many authors [64,65,66] Recommended the perception survey method in stakeholder studies therefore, the present research gathered primary data through an online survey between June and September 2023. A total of 271 responses were received at a response rate of 271 (45.17%). Out of the collected responses, 253 are completed responses and all are considered for further analysis. The participant’s profile is indicated in Table 2.

Table 2 Profile of participants
Full size table

Table 2 depicts the demographic profile of the target respondents, which shows the gender distribution, age groups, positions, and years of experience of the surveyed respondents.

3.6 Construct Validity

Within the context of a research paper, the construct validity test constitutes a pivotal methodology aimed at evaluating the extent to which a measurement instrument effectively aligns with the underlying theoretical construct it is designed to assess [67].

The reliability of the variables was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha and Composite Reliability. Initially, the factor loading for all the factors was calculated and items having factor loading less than 0.600 were removed. The results of reliability and validity for the rest of the items are depicted in Table 3. Alpha and CR values for all the variables were greater than the recommended value of 0.700 by Ilias et al. [68]. The Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values and CR values were higher or close to 0.500 and 0.700, respectively, which confirms convergent validity [68]. Multi-collinearity was also assessed with Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) for each indicator the value of which was less than 5 therefore, there is no problem with discriminant validity [68].

Table 3 Reliability and validity
Full size table

3.7 Discriminant Validity

Discriminant validity is a critical aspect of construct validity, ensuring that a measurement instrument can effectively differentiate between different constructs [69, 70]. Table 4 shows that Discriminant values which are bold and italic are greater than the correlation between the constructs, discriminant validity is not an issue.

Table 4 Discriminant validity using the criterion by Fornell & Larcker and the Heterotrait-Monotrait Method (HTMT)
Full size table

3.8 Tools

The researchers employed descriptive statistics, one sample t-test and simple linear regression analysis for evaluating the perception of various stakeholders on REIs by corporates and their influence on sustainable development.

3.9 Results of Descriptive Statistics and One Sample t-test

Table 5 shows the results of one sample t-statistics on the opinion of managers and academicians on REIs by corporations. The respondents strongly agreed that (M = 4.00, SD = 1.266) REIs by corporates are needed to have a cleaner and healthier environment. The respondents agreed that by undertaking REIs corporates can match with their CSR goals (M = 3.81, SD = 1.149). From the opinion of managers and academicians, it is noted that the involvement in promoting RE production and consumption by corporates favours gaining a reputation in the market (M = 3.82, SD = 1.161). The respondents agreed that renewable energy initiatives are needed to maintain and reduce the overall cost of energy consumption (M = 3.79, SD = 1.171). Respondents agreed that these initiatives by corporates help ensure energy security in society (M = 3.78, SD = 1.170). The majority of respondents also agreed that by inducing REIs corporates can promote innovation in the energy consumption process (M = 3.92, SD = 1.110). From the opinions of the respondents, it is found that such initiatives help companies gain a competitive advantage in the market (M = 3.87, SD = 1.133). The respondents also agreed that by adopting such initiatives companies may comply with regulatory requirements and minimize penalties (M = 3.78, SD = 1.019). From the perception of various respondents, it was found that REIs promote the long-term sustainability of the organizations (M = 3.85, SD = 1.115). The respondents also agreed that REIs are required to improve employee morale and attract and retain top talent (M = 3.70, SD = 1.118). From the opinion of respondents, it is observed that such initiatives by corporates can build resilience against climate-related risks (M = 3.85, SD = 1.106). Lastly, respondents also agreed that REIs provide opportunities for companies to collaborate with governments, NGOs, and other organizations to work towards a shared goal of sustainable development (M = 3.83, SD = 1.209).

Table 5 Need for REIs by corporates (NREI)
Full size table

Table 6 the perception of respondents confirms that RE creates jobs and can lead to shifts in the labour market and it will also attract a diverse workforce (M = 3.93, SD = 1.040).

Table 6 The overall impact of REIs by corporates on sustainable development
Full size table

The majority of the respondents state that RE projects will influence population distribution by leading to increased urbanization in areas with suitable resources for RE generation (M = 3.93, SD = 1.040). The majority of the respondents believe that investing in renewable RE will lead to growth in per capita income as people move to these areas for better economic prospects (M = 3.93, SD = 1.040). The majority of the respondents state that the transition to RE can lead to shifts in population due to which changes in job opportunities are possible (M = 3.93, SD = 1.040). The respondents opined that cleaner environments can attract and retain residents which will in turn lead to demographic changes over time (M = 3.93, SD = 1.040). The majority of the respondents agreed that RE projects provide new income streams for rural communities resulting in Rural Revitalization (M = 3.93, SD = 1.040). The majority of the respondents find that RE will lead to increased investment in education and research thereby it will attract students and professionals by potentially affecting demographics (M = 3.93, SD = 1.040). The majority of the respondents state that RE helps to have good International Relations (M = 3.93, SD = 1.040).

3.10 Simple Linear Regression Results

Table 7 to analyze the influence of REIs on SD simple linear regression analysis has been performed (see Table 7). The results revealed that REI by corporates positively influences SD (β = 0.838, t = 24.346, p = 0.001) which is statistically significant at 1%. These results are supported by Authors [71,72,73].

Table 7 Simple linear regression results
Full size table

4 Conclusion

The present research aimed to analyze the perception of various stakeholders on REI by corporates and their impact on sustainable development. The results of descriptive statistics and one sample t-test confirmed that the stakeholders positively opined that REIs by corporations influence sustainable development through environmental, social, and economic aspects. Further, the results of simple linear regression analysis revealed that REI influence on SD. These findings suggest that in general REI undertaken by corporates significantly plays a vital role in the betterment of the environment, society, economy, and sustainable development at large. By considering this the corporates which are not yet undertaken REI can move forward with this evidence. These results and observations add value to the rapidly expanding field of corporate initiatives on socio-economic, environmental, and sustainable development. A major limitation of the study is that it focuses only on the stakeholder’s perception and does not study the company’s REI by companies directly. Therefore, a further study could assess the long-term effects of REI by companies by analyzing the information revealed on REI by companies in their reports. This could also help in validating the results of the present study. These findings assist policymakers in framing a guideline, and framework on REIs to be undertaken by companies further it also supports the government in offering subsidies, incentives, and tax benefits for the companies that are undertaking REIs. Further, by the outcome of this study corporate can get input to undertake clean energy projects and technology. This in turn contributes to achieving UNSDG-7 i.e., affordable clean energy set by UNO.