Join us for a Policy@UBC and CIRDI seminar series event titled Can environmental regulation make extractive industries more innovative? with John Steen, Associate Professor in Strategy at the University of Queensland Business School in Brisbane.
Wednesday, September 27th
12:30 pm – 1:45 pm
Caseroom – Liu Institute for Global Issues
No RSVP required. Light refreshments offered.
Please download our poster.
Industry leaders often identify environmental regulations as a burden that makes their enterprises uncompetitive but an alternate view is that well-designed environmental protection policies can encourage businesses to be more innovative. These new products and processes in response to regulation can lead to renewed industrial competitiveness and growth.
In this presentation I will outline the “Porter Hypothesis” for the relationship between proactive environmental policy and industry competitiveness. Using data collected in the recent $200 billion expansion of the Australian oil and gas industry I provide evidence that this relationship does indeed hold but it is highly dependent on the maturity of the industry and its stage of technological development. Specific examples of innovation in response to regulation within the mining and hydrocarbon industries further highlight the important role of regulatory frameworks in the development of these industries.
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Bio: John Steen is Associate Professor in Strategy at the University of Queensland Business School in Brisbane and Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Institute of Business and Economics. John is currently leading major international research studies on the subject of innovation and sustainable development in the resources sector and in developing economies. This includes the transition to new digital business models and performance in megacapital ($1billion +) projects, particularly in the resources sector. Current partners in these projects include University College London, Cambridge University, University of British Columbia, Government of Vietnam, Queensland Government, UQ Sustainable Minerals Institute and Ernst and Young (EY). John is highly sought after as a guest speaker and commentator and has given talks on strategy and innovation to businesses and governments in Australia, Asia and Europe. In 2014 he released two reports on the future of the global mining industry with EY that received international media coverage, including commentary in the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times. John is currently editor for the Project Management Journal – the research journal of the Project Management Institute.
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