...Environmental challenges as business opportunity I. INTRODUCTION “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.” - Mahatma Gandhi The above quote rightly points out the role of environment for the mankind and the responsibility we need to shoulder for its sustenance. We've come a long way in recognizing that and now almost every business has a statute of doing something good for the environment as part of their CSR initiative. But companies who think of the environment as a social responsibility and not as an imperative are not going in the right direction. The global climate changes and the gradual scarcity of resources have come to light as major disruptions in the business environment. These challenges have opened up new opportunities for companies to sell solutions to these problems. Businesses prosper with the motive of growing their profits at an infinite rate. But environment considerations should not be left while garnering those profits. The role of Environmental ethics come into play here which focuses on the MNCs' ethics in running their businesses as well as keeping the environment untouched to the extent possible. Environmental Ethics The field of Environmental Ethics has grown since the early 1970s. The scholars who have categorized the natural environment include Alan Marshall and Michael Smith. Marshall has used the following terms to describe these categories: Libertarian extension, which commits itself to extend equal rights...
Words: 4547 - Pages: 19
...Environmental Ethics In today’s global environment, environmental ethics have become a required practice for everyone around the world. Creating effective strategies for protecting the environment often brings ethical issues to the forefront. When people are confronted with the issues of how to get rid of hazardous waste, air or water pollution, ethics play a major role in the decision when there is an absence of laws to manage the issue. Environmental ethics is the scientific study of various issues related to the rights of individual on the environment. It is the moral relationship of human being with the environment (Jyoti 94). The actions humans do while on this Earth can affect the rights of all the beings today and in the future. Knowing what is right and wrong can help protect future generations. One must know the standards to help conserve the Earth’s resources and the consequences if they do not. Environmental ethics is a moral theory that grants moral significance to entities beyond those that are human beings (Jyoti 94). This means that humans not only have rights but all living organisms as well. We must not forget we are not the only creature living and breathing on this Earth. Amar Jyoti points out that there are two ways to approach environmental ethics: Anthropocentrism or humanistic approach and Non-anthropocentrism or ecological approaches. Anthropocentrism states that only humans have intrinsic value or value in themselves. All other things have only...
Words: 2023 - Pages: 9
...Environmental Ethics To keep our environment healthy, all these element need to work together. There are no global laws protecting the environment and that is why everyone should practice good ethics when it comes to the environment. Environmental ethics is the part of environment philosophy which considers extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from only including hum and to non-humans. There are many ethical decisions that human beings make with respect to the environment. Humans are been considered of rational agents because they have clear preference, models uncertainty via expected values, and always to perform the action with the optimal expected outcome of itself. The action of the rational agent performs depends on the preference, the agents information of its environment, the actions, duties and obligation available and the estimated or actual benefits and the chances of success of the action. I will be arguing that rational agents have a moral obligation towards the environment. Using Peter Singer and John Rawls to argue for and Immanuel Kant to counter argue my arguments. Singer (2011) states rational agents should explore the values of preserving the wild nature; he believes that sentient beings who are capable of experiencing pain including non-humans affected by an action should be taken equally into consideration in assessing the action. Singer regards the animal liberation movement as comparable to the liberation movements of women and people of different...
Words: 1899 - Pages: 8
..."Discuss critically religious and secular ethical arguments about environmental issues" In his book, 'The End Of Nature', Bill McKibben highlights the fact that we are destroying the natural environment at an increasing rate, for our own short-term gain. Since the day that man created agriculture, and industrialisation to follow, the imbalance between man and nature has been growing[1/2]. This has been accompanied by a massive population increase, tripling in the twentieth century alone[3]. Human pressure on nature has never been so great. Such pressure has resulted in 'environmental issues', ranging from global warming and eutrophication, to the depletion of natural resources and an increase in the number of landfill sites. A distinction must be drawn between 'anthropogenically created’ environmental issues, and 'natural' ones. The extinction of most of the dinosaurs more than 65 million years ago was not caused by man, but rather an entirely natural disaster, perhaps a meteor or extreme tectonic activity. It is difficult to apply any man-made ethic to situations that are not man-made, so for the purpose of this essay, 'environmental issues' will be taken to be current issues actively cause by human beings. During the last few decades, many thinkers from different disciplines have been searching for a new ethic to confront environmental issues with - an 'environmental ethic'. Whether religious or secular in nature, this must be able to define the environment...
Words: 2417 - Pages: 10
...Envir. Ethics 2 Over the years the environment in which we live has suffered immensely. All of our resource systems are in crisis because of our over consumerism, lack of responsibility and lack of knowledge. We use too many resources which is undermining the planets ability for people to live here. Everyone should educate themselves of the state of the environment and some of the everyday changes that each one can do to do our part in saving the planet. We have a moral responsibility to do so for our children and future generations. Although recycling is great (and everyone should be doing it)….what really needs to happen to create a more sustainable society, is for us to reduce the amount of materials that we produce in the first place. There is a pyramid (like the Food Pyramid) (Environmental Science 8th edition, Daniel D. Chiras, 2009, Jones and Bartlett, Publishers Chapter 23 “Hazardous and Solid Wastes: Sustainable Solutions) for solid waste management and it goes like this: Reduction (the top of the pyramid) - not producing materials that generate the waste in the first place. We don’t need all the materials we have. Another good example is packaging waste. Think of how much packaging many of our products come in- lunchables for example, come in a cardboard box and then a sealed plastic tray and then the crackers and other parts are individually wrapped too. Reuse-reusing and repurposing the wastes. Instead of buying brand new why not shop at...
Words: 2025 - Pages: 9
...Holmes Nicholas Holmes 912416549 Environmental Ethics Rationally Persuasive Paper 1 12/10/2013 The Inaction that repetitively plagues the Environmental Movement can be brought to an end by doing something new. Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. --Albert Einstein. Since there is doubt to the severity of or even the existence of the environmental crisis, this paper will operate under the presupposition that the environment is indeed in dire straits, and that the ultimate solution should produce a utopian society where man and environment are judged equally. This paper is written from the contentious perspective. Through this perspective it is implicit; by the environment's current state, coupled with the assumption of human responsibility, and the obligation human morality, the notion that something must be done by humans in regards of addressing the environment's plight. That something; must be different from what is currently, and has historically been done. The justification for this statement comes from Albert Einstein’s Epitaph. We need to strike out. Enacting positive drastic changes in the state in the environment will require drastic changes in our collective ethos. It is the task of the environmental movement to; not only figure out what these changes are, and which ones will work best, but to also integrate the changes in to the mainstream. Obviously there must be division of labor within the movement...
Words: 2055 - Pages: 9
...Sebastian Estrada PHIL 3360: Environmental Ethics Dr. Vicki Toscano Issues paper#1 Anthropocentrism vs. Biocentrism 1/26/2012 The Historical Roots of our ecologic crisis is an article written by Lynn T. White, Jr. published in the journal Science in 1966. White was a medieval scholar and in this article he blames technology, Christianity, and anthropocentrism as the “Roots” of our ecologic crisis. He states, “All forms of life modify their contexts,” but believes that this modification should be for the good of the earth like the coral polyp. He states Man must coexist with nature. Man had always been a dynamic element in harmony with the earth. This all changed sometime around the 1850 when the “Baconian Creed” of scientific knowledge started influencing the people. As a result man began to exploit the earth through new advents in technology. White cites the invention of the eight-oxen plow as the beginning of man’s “ruthlessness” towards nature. White continues to argue that Christian Axioms fueled this newfound exploitive attitude towards earth. To White, Christianity’s story of creation and notion that “no item in the physical creation had any purpose save to serve man’s purpose (White).” only served to justify these actions and put Christianity as “the most anthropocentric religion the world has seen.” White continues to argue that simply applying more science and more technology to our ecologic crisis is not going to solve the problem. To him the issue is essentially...
Words: 1154 - Pages: 5
...Pierre Guillermin Library 12-1-1999 "Global Environmental Problems Require Global Solutions": A Case Study in Ecomessianism Tyler Veak Liberty University, tveak@liberty.edu Wyatt Galusky Morrisville State College, wgalusky@vt.edu Veak, Tyler and Galusky, Wyatt, ""Global Environmental Problems Require Global Solutions": A Case Study in Ecomessianism" (1999). Faculty Publications and Presentations. Paper 15. http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/lib_fac_pubs/15 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the A. Pierre Guillermin Library at DigitalCommons@Liberty University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Liberty University. For more information, please contact scholarlycommunication@liberty.edu. "Global Environmental Problems Require Global Solutions": A Case Study in Ecomessianism1 Tyler Veak and Wyatt Galusky2 Abstract Many Western environmental activist groups and theorists have sounded the call for the Earth's salvation from the "global environmental crisis." What is lacking, however, is some reflection on the ramifications of framing the problem globally, and on the justifications for particular solutions. This paper examines the "ecomessiah" (saviors of the Earth) phenomenon to investigate the impacts of these types of programs. Specifically, we examine the "global environmental ethic" proposed by J. Baird Callicott. His program, presented...
Words: 4510 - Pages: 19
...Aldo Leopold, in “The Land Ethic”, elucidates the title of this chapter by stating: “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”1 This implies that no matter what instrumental value a biotic community may have to human beings, it is also of paramount importance to preserve biotic communities based on our “obligations to land”2. This concept of a prima facie responsibility to protect our environment and the communities within it is known as the preservationist intuition3. We certainly attribute this value to our fellow man, putting laws in place to prevent harm and maltreatment in our communities, and breaking these laws would indeed render the culprit to be considered morally wrong. We attribute value (be it intrinsic or instrumental) to sentient animals, even plant-life. But what of ecosystems? Can we consider ecosystems to be morally considerable, and therefore attribute any value to them? It is a question that has many variables, and in this essay I will be evaluating various arguments for and against the premise that ecosystems command any value with regards to an environmental ethic. First we must consider what it means for something to be morally considerable. It would appear that this definition would depend on what moral determinant we deem appropriate in pursuing an environmental ethic. Many philosophers, including K.E.Goodpaster adopt Joel Feinberg’s view that a thing...
Words: 2960 - Pages: 12
...Preservation, Conservation, and Land Ethics The application of ethical standards to relationships between humans and nonhumans entities is known as environmental ethics. The preservation ethic and the conservation ethic have guided the branches of the environmental movement during the past century. John Muir, a pioneering advocate for the preservation ethic, argued that “nature deserves protection for its own inherent value” (Withgott & Laposata, p.13) and should be untouched. Also, he maintained that nature encouraged happiness in humans. As an example, he wrote, “Places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike” (Withgott & Laposata, p.13). In opposition, Gifford Pinchot, founder of what would become the U.S. Forest Service, was a leading supporter of the conservation ethic. According to Withgott and Laposata (2012), Pinchot deemed that we should allocate natural resources within reason (p. 13). In other words, we ought to manage them wisely, not carelessly, so that current and future groups will have sufficient resources. Whereas preservation strives to preserve nature for its own worth and for our enjoyment and spiritual peace, conservation “promotes the prudent, efficient, and sustainable extraction and use of natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations” (Withgott & Laposata, p.13). In my region, the Shenandoah National Forest is complemented by its trees, natural trails, streams, and...
Words: 398 - Pages: 2
... |VIRTUE ETHICS |KANTIAN ETHICS |ACT / RULE UTILITARIANISM |MODERN UTILITARIANISM | | | | | | | |Traditional NL = anthropo- |Agent-centred and anthropo-centric, whereas |Some aspects of Kant support |BENTHAM (act) = embraced naturalism |Some agree with Mill that maximization | |centric. Modern NL : |most ecologists prefer an ecocentric |environment. Nature works rationally – |because supported his ideas about |of welfare concerned primarily with | |LOSSKY – humans one part |approach. Trad. VE based on NL of Aristotle |WAGENBAUR says this is a strength of |pleasure and pain. Sentient-centred |humans. Animals should be treated with | |of the earth, as heart is one |and Aquinas. Modern VE more concerned with |Kant. Nature liberates human beings, it|i.e. animals matter. Said famously |respect, but only because beneficial to| |part of the body. Ecocentric |character traits. Doesn’t fit easily into |reveals our autonomy. Interrelationship|about animals: “The question is not , |us, e.g. dog fighting banned because to| |approach. |Green ethics which tends to look...
Words: 585 - Pages: 3
...THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES by Tehreem Nawaz Literature review The article emphases in a wonderful form of debate, on the basic importance of a discipline “the curricular” and its prerequisite, the curricular of any discipline which should be recognized universally and must have same core topics to be studied round the world. Then Environment Studies would be called discipline. Until 1960s Environmental studies programs in various institutions at different levels had been studied with all the courses of environmental study offered by each educational institution without pre requisite requirement as free-standing programs. Latterly the environmental programs evolved in to desperate fields within forestry and natural resources, to defined environmental studies and the clear statements about its curricular content and educational objectives have remained difficult to describe. For the environmental studies a specific curricular is to be given, has more important and significant. After more than a quarter century old Environment Studies now is in a new phase of growing and expansion, the need for its distinct identity is being more felt. Because of that it is needed to set its curricular with consciences, lest environmental education should not go in some political interests. Present trend is tending to bring environmental studies into a undefined able discipline. ------------------------------------------------- Debate in this article took start from evolution of environmental...
Words: 2057 - Pages: 9
...Critically assess a utilitarian response to environmental ethics. Utilitarianism is teleological, concerned with the end or purpose of actions. It is also consequentialist, judging actions right or wrong according to their outcome. Many scientists, politicians and philosophers have expressed concern that the world is facing an environmental catastrophe. If this is to be believed, an ethical theory that focuses on the results of our actions seems most appropriate. Utilitarianism is able to take into account the risks to the environment of global warming, ozone depletion, pollution, deforestation etc. Traditional utilitarianism would have done that using Bentham’s Hedonic Calculus. Bentham would have asked how likely it was that certain results would occur. He would have weighed up the benefits of any proposed action, such as the building of a new motorway, against the adverse affects, focussing on the pleasure and pain that resulted, and nothing else. This sort of calculation is practical and flexible, allowing for a different answer in every different set of circumstances. For example, building a road in Rwanda might lead to increased trade, a way of transporting important materials, medicines etc – in other words, a lifeline. The destruction of wildlife in such an underdeveloped country might be negligible, and the pollution minimal. However, a similar road in the UK might run through residential areas. The pollution from the thousands of cars might have a significant...
Words: 936 - Pages: 4
... | | |Environmental Issues and Ethics | |Week One: Ethical Understanding of Environmental Problems | | |Details |Due |Points | |Objectives |Compare various schools of thought in environmental ethics. | | | | |Explain how ethics influences our course of action regarding principal environmental | | | | |issues. | | | | |Identify the local impact of environmental issues | | | |Readings |Read Ch. 1 & 2 of Environment. | | | | |Read the Introduction section of Environmental Ethics: An Anthology. | | | |...
Words: 1634 - Pages: 7
...* Moral Issues In Business * Environmental Protection Why Is The Issue of Environment Crucial To Us Today? The resources of this planet are finite and limited – as also its capacity to absorb and dispose of all the waste and garbage we generate. ‘Growth’ ‘Progress’ and ‘Development’ have spelt out one thing: increased consumption of material goods. Increased consumption of material goods has led to irreversible exploitation of natural resources: wood, fossil fuels, water to mention only a few. Rapid industrialization and global trends ↓ Grave problems of ecological imbalance and environmental degradation Environmental destruction is the result of man’s interference with Nature. We all require clean air, fresh, unpolluted water and a healthy habitat. But we also want large houses, all the latest gadgets, big cars and all other material amenities. Modern industry has provided us with unprecedented material prosperity. It has also created unparalleled environmental threats to us and our future generations. Modern technology has enabled us to manipulate and control nature – e.g. quick yielding seeds, artificial rain, BT vegetables and cereals, multiple crops etc. But this has led to increased pollution and severe depletion of natural resources. - Pollutants are pumped into the air - Toxic wastes are produced and dumped into soil, water and seas Major problems facing the world in the 21st century: - Population growth - Global...
Words: 1049 - Pages: 5
