posted on 2025-05-22, 09:21authored byZeynep AycanZeynep Aycan, Dilem Cinli, Jennifer L. Robertson
The severity of environmental crises continues to escalate. Given that organizations are prominent contributors to those crises, it is important to understand the behaviours of the leaders of such organizations regarding environmental preservation. In this Review, we synthesize the literature on green leadership, defined as leadership that aims for environmental sustainability within organizations. First, we describe various green leadership styles and discuss the extent to which they can be considered as a single construct. Next, we describe the predictors and outcomes of green leadership and review the mediating and moderating mechanisms that link green leadership to favourable outcomes. We conclude by presenting future research directions that address limitations in the extant literature.
This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-025-00418-0