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<p>Existing research offers a moral critique of the neoliberal approach to corporate environmental ethics in the oil and gas industry, highlighting its reliance on private market dynamics and managerial agency, which are often invoked to shape strategic decisions and justify delays or resistance in addressing environmental responsibilities. However, the micro-foundations of this phenomenon—how individual employees respond to the moral challenges attributed to oil and gas companies in the context of climate change—remain underexplored. Drawing on Albert Bandura’s cognitive model of moral disengagement, this study examines their micro-level responses. Based on interviews with 30 industry employees, we identify a broad spectrum of moral disengagement mechanisms articulated in discussions, aligned with three core tenets of neoliberal environmentalism, with only a small number of individuals showing little or no such evidence of disengagement. This analysis contributes to the literature on corporate environmental ethics by revealing how an unchallenged neoliberal mode of reasoning hampers a deeper moral engagement with nature-centred environmental ethics at the employee level. We also highlight potential avenues for further research and for group or institution-level intervention aimed at fostering moral engagement with sustainable development beyond organisational boundaries.</p>

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Moral Disengagement as Micro-Foundation of Neoliberal Corporate Environmental Ethics

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月20日

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  • Fabien Littel,
  • Ai Yu

摘要

Existing research offers a moral critique of the neoliberal approach to corporate environmental ethics in the oil and gas industry, highlighting its reliance on private market dynamics and managerial agency, which are often invoked to shape strategic decisions and justify delays or resistance in addressing environmental responsibilities. However, the micro-foundations of this phenomenon—how individual employees respond to the moral challenges attributed to oil and gas companies in the context of climate change—remain underexplored. Drawing on Albert Bandura’s cognitive model of moral disengagement, this study examines their micro-level responses. Based on interviews with 30 industry employees, we identify a broad spectrum of moral disengagement mechanisms articulated in discussions, aligned with three core tenets of neoliberal environmentalism, with only a small number of individuals showing little or no such evidence of disengagement. This analysis contributes to the literature on corporate environmental ethics by revealing how an unchallenged neoliberal mode of reasoning hampers a deeper moral engagement with nature-centred environmental ethics at the employee level. We also highlight potential avenues for further research and for group or institution-level intervention aimed at fostering moral engagement with sustainable development beyond organisational boundaries.