Climate alliances like the Climate Council Jönköping have a big impact on combating environmental issues on a local level. Research shows that communication plays a crucial role in such cross-sector partnerships to enhance the collaboration between its members. This thesis wants to explore the impact of climate alliances on their members’ sustainable communication and CSR initiatives, using the example of the Climate Council Jönköping. Based on different theories, namely Communication Constitutes Organization Theorizing, the Model of CSR Implementation, and the Value Belief Norm Theory of Environmentalism, the aim was to contribute knowledge to the research fields of sustainable communication, CSR, and collaboration. To explore the existing research gap, twelve semi-structured interviews with experts from different member organizations of the Climate Council were conducted. By applying qualitative content analysis, it became visible that the Climate Council’s impact on communication and CSR efforts differs among the members. On the one hand, it can be difficult to include the campaigns of the council into one’s own communication. On the other hand, the membership raises awareness about sustainability and environmental topics and enables collaboration and knowledge exchange through cross-sector partnerships. Based on the findings, it can be recommended to the Climate Council to provide more communication material for the members for easy integration. Additionally, more events can increase the visibility of the council and raise awareness for local cross-sector collaborations to tackle environmental problems, enable new networking options, and establish innovative partnerships.

Background: Cross-sector social partnership (CSSP) is a joint effort that utilizes resources from different sectors to solve social issues, such as poverty, pandemics and environmental degradation. According to the United Nations, the environmental tipping point of global warming is soon reached, and to avoid this irreversible situation, the collaboration between state and non-state actors is a requirement. With extended resources gained from different sectors, the outcome of the CSSP is greater than if the actors were handling issues by themselves. Problem: There is a growing trend of CSSPs that strive to mitigate climate change, and the Climate Council of Jönköping is a practical example of this phenomenon. Multinational corporations (MNCs) have a large environmental impact and therefore they have a special responsibility to contribute to communities’ efforts to tackle climate change. Furthermore, within CSSP literature, additional research of corporations’ roles in CSSPs has been suggested. Purpose: Considering the increased focus on partnership practices, along with research gaps and complex CSSP elements, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate how MNCs contribute to the CSSP, the Climate Council of Jönköping. Method: Descriptive research was used to describe how MNCs contribute to a CSSP. With an abductive approach, deeper knowledge about the Climate Council of Jönköping as a phenomenon was gained. Empirical data was collected through a qualitative study, consisting of observational research and in-depth interviews, which was analyzed by making use of template analysis. The MNCs of the Climate Council of Jönköping are Castellum, GARO, Husqvarna Group, IKEA, and Skanska. Conclusion: The major conclusion of this study is that the MNCs perceive that their task within the Climate Council of Jönköping is to be a role model and to exchange ideas and knowledge regarding sustainability with other actors. Within CSSP literature, trust among actors, clearly-defined roles, and bridging each other’s weaknesses, are central concepts. The findings about the MNCs deviate from this, as all these factors are not identified. This suggests that the Climate Council of Jönköping and the MNCs do not contribute to public value and mitigating climate change as much as they possibly could.