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Business ethics on Earth Day
By Lauren | April 22, 2010
Earth Day turns 40 years old today - that’s the good news. The bad news, if we’re to believe the experts who are all over the media this week, is that our planet is in worse shape than ever. Landfills are crammed to bursting, temperatures are rising, ice caps are melting, and exotic species are vanishing.
Not good at all.
If we want our planet to be liveable for the generations to come, individuals should do whatever they can to reduce their daily impact on the Earth, but private citizens can only do so much. Unless governments and businesses decide to make real changes, the condition of our planet is likely to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. But governments are run by politicians, which means change is hard to come by whenever an election looms. The more international our world becomes, the more constituencies need to be taken into account. And the more “third world” countries assert themselves in international negotiations (a very good thing, in my view), the harder it becomes for “first world” countries like the U.S. to justify a lifestyle that squanders resources and leaves behind deepening piles of pollution. If we wait for the politicians to act, we’ll be drowning in our own mess in less than a century.
It’s high time American businesses voluntarily took a serious look at their processes and reconsidered their goals. Most business and economic theories are based on the notion that limitless growth is not only possible, but essential. In the natural world, however, things that grow without limits - like cancer and kudzu - eventually destroy themselves by killing off their hosts. Nothing healthy expands indefinitely. If American business wants to lead the world, it can start by changing its focus from world domination to sustainable operations. Our children and grandchildren will be grateful.
Topics: Business Ethics, Social Ethics, corporate responsibility, customer relations, ethics |
April 23rd, 2010 at 4:20 am
Well said, Lauren.
Effective environmental management is a four-way partnership between the scientific community, policy makers, business and each of us as individuals.
All must do their part, including the corporate sector.