Moving Towards a Sustainable Digital Future with Uber – a Legitimate Step Towards a Greener Economy or Merely Greenwashing Policy?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.19.2022.78.14Keywords:
sustainable development, sharing economy, collaborative economy, Uber, ride-sharing, green economyAbstract
The main objective of this article is to assess whether Uber should be evaluated as a profit-driven corporation hiding its destructive practices under green- -washing slogans, or as the pioneer of a new sustainable and environmentally friendly business model. Analysis of the Uber’s business model leads to the conclusion that the company deliberately benefits from hiding under the umbrellaterm of a sharing economy to attract more users and to operate in an unregulated or not-fully regulated market. Furthermore, Uber’s detrimental impact on the environment has been detailed in several European and American studies. Nevertheless, Uber has made steps away from a business model focused on service provision regardless of the environmental cost, and towards sustainably aware, low impact functioning. Uber’s ambitious Green Recovery plan of 2020 aims to start a green revolution in the ride-sharing market; however, it is questionable whether Uber will meet its own ambitious milestones.
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