Corporate voluntary environmental initiatives are measures that aim to improve corporate environmental performance without directly involving government legislation. Though not mutually exclusive, voluntary initiatives are considered alternatives to market-based environmental incentives, such as taxes and charges and to compliance-based ones, such as government regulations. There are several different types of voluntary initiatives, and the motivations for pursuing self-regulation vary from firm to firm.

The movement toward voluntary environmental initiatives and self-regulation came to the forefront in the 1990s. Prior to this, the 1970s and 1980s were largely dedicated to command-and-control measures by governments. Some governments now believe that firms will do the right thing on their own and therefore government interference through regulation is unnecessary (i.e., market systems and influence will prevail). The increasing deregulation of ...