Alrazi, BakhtiarDe Villiers, Charl JohannesVan Staden, Chris J. (Christiaan Johan)2015-07-132015-07-132015-09Alrazi, B, De Villiers, C & Van Staden, CJ 2015, 'A comprehensive literature review on, and the construction of a framework for, environmental legitimacy, accountability and proactivity', Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 102, pp. 44-57.0959-6526 (print)1879-1786 (online)10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.05.022http://hdl.handle.net/2263/48187This paper identifies three conceptually distinct, but interrelated concepts regarding corporate environmental behaviour from the literature e environmental legitimacy, environmental accountability, and environmental proactivity e and shows how they can be integrated into a single framework. This is done in a context where prior studies in the literature do not relate these concepts to each other or place the concepts within a meaningful context, nor integrate them into a single framework. The framework demonstrates an organisational journey towards achieving legitimacy in environmental endeavours. Environmental legitimacy is conditional upon the public evaluation of corporate environmental performance and environmental reporting (environmental accountability), which in turn, requires organisations to invest in environmental management and accounting systems and stakeholder engagement (environmental proactivity). The paper identifies company, stakeholder and other characteristics that influence the constructs in the framework and also propose a research agenda based on this framework. Environmental performance constitutes the central concept in the framework, acknowledging that improved environmental performance promotes the ultimate goal of sustainability. The framework suggests that the judicious management of environmental performance and reporting, the two components of environmental accountability, results in environmental legitimacy. Furthermore, environmental accountability can be enhanced by environmental proactivity, a concept comprising environmental management and environmental accounting, as well as stakeholder engagement. This synthesis of the factors that influence and contribute to environmental performance is the framework's main contribution.en© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Notice : this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Cleaner Production. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 102, pp. 44-57, 2015. doi : 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.05.022Environmental performanceAccountabilityLegitimacySustainabilityEnvironmental legitimacy, accountability,ELAP frameworkEnvironmental legitimacyEnvironmental accountabilityEnvironmental proactivityEnvironmental Legitimacy, Accountability, and Proactivity (ELAP)SDG-13: Climate actionEconomic and management sciences articles SDG-13Postprint Article