Introduction Environmental damage that is caused by just one individual is exclusively minor which causes it to be unnoticed, whereas a major group of people, such as a large corporation harming the environment at once causes major harm to society. More than a century of industrial development has caused negative environmental impacts such as global warming, ozone depletion, and air and water pollution. These are recognized as global environmental problems that need immediate solutions. Climate change, as an international environmental issue, is getting a great deal of attention as it has become a global issue. In the last few decades, there has been a heightened awareness of environmental issues by governments, policy makers, advocacy groups, business firms, and the public all over the world. The corporate role in this, the potentially most severe and all-encompassing of environmental disasters, is quite clear as business activities are effecting climate change negatively. This paper will argue that in order to minimize the negative effect of environmental harm and climate change, the undertakings of corporations should be structured and encouraged to perform in a socially responsible manner. This will be examined through the discussion on the legal structure of corporations and the desire of regulators and victims looking to hold them accountable for their environmental harm. It will be followed with a description of the importance of corporate social responsibility. This
Every business organization has a social responsibility in ensuring that the environment it operates in is protected. Many companies have identified that they have a major role to play in protecting the natural habitat and ensuring that business is not only about making profits. Some organizations are setting aside funds that are developed in the protection of the environment while other organizations are setting a tree-planting day as part of their annual calendar. Companies have legal and ethical responsibilities that guide the organization in making sure that the environment is taken care of. The natural resource depletion and the environmental pollution have led to conservation groups setting rules that govern the company in utilizing natural resources.
Moreover, Canada should know their environmental responsibilities as companies need space for land and lots of water for dumping waste. This increases risks for injuries to occur as employees enter harsh environments. Workers end up exposed to coal dust and silica for long periods which causes serious health problems. In areas of mining companies exists pollution at an increased rate that makes the soil and water enriched with heavy metals and livestock. Globally, businesses corporate social responsibilities that are essential as they consist of four strategies: the shareholder strategy, the alustric strategy, the reciprocal strategy, and the citizen strategy. The shareholder strategy is where the corporate social responsibility is looking for an overall profit and the same to reach threshold. Secondly, the alustric strategy is where the company declares themselves unaccountable for society and allows for responsibility to fall towards the person leading the firm - the manager. Next, the reciprocal strategy has an individual who looks for the flaws in both economic and social perspectives. Lastly, the citizen strategy is where there is a business analysis that includes individuals who have different expectations and interests for continuing the company’s goals. NGOs also pressure companies to fix remedies to help the victims of the violations.
The majority of people in today’s global society have a false sense of security in believing that the effects of climate change will not take place until the very distant future, and are to dire to bear engaging. Environmental protection is currently one of the largest social issues facing different groups within society including; governments, special interest groups, everyday citizens and global organisations. The actions of organisations with regards to environmental sustainability are becoming a larger factor in business operations. Today’s more informed society expects businesses to perform out of the traditional economic measure of profit motive and adjust to society’s efforts to achieve modern sustainability goals. BHP Billiton (BHP) is the largest and leading global resources company, being the world’s largest producers of major commodities including; coal, copper, iron ore, nickel and uranium. BHP’s annual revenue for 2014 can be rounded off to $607,206million US Dollars and currently hires 128,800 employees and contractors over 141 locations. These figures not only represent how large BHP is, but they highlight the importance of BHP’s contribution to help achieve
There are several corporations causing harm to the environment through criminal activity that continually is unpunished. The environment is facing harm through food contamination, air pollution, ocean dumping, and water pollution. Companies are successfully committing these crimes by gaining the support of the government through illegal marketing.
It is 2017. In an era of globalisation with a worldwide population totalling over 7 billion, colossal multinational companies have become entrenched in prevailing society, with their daily operations impacting the lives of millions of people. This has made the role of ethics and ethical business practice crucial to the goals of sustainable development and the preservation of social order. The ExxonMobil climate change controversy will examine a case where complex ethical decisions were made, with the potential for staggering ramifications on a global scale. This case study highlights the vital importance of stringent adherence to business ethics by transitional businesses but also the ambiguity that comes with ethical interpretation.
The industrial revolution in the 1800s enhanced the lives of the American citizens. No longer were cultivation and farming a chief concern; instead, manufacturing and machinery were the major improvements of that time. Still today, big corporations are looking for the next big thing that could aid citizens in their everyday lives. What is often ignored, however, are the environmental factors that are being affected by the decisions made by these industries. Harmful acid rain, smog, and buried nuclear wastes diseased the Northern continent where some places were deemed uninhabitable to the public because of the threatening health risks. Environmental laws and agencies were then created in the 1970s to shift the impact that corporations have on the environment. The unchecked power that big corporations have exhausted has enhanced the decline of environmental stability and initiated many territorial restrictions due to the careless actions of the company.
Because corporations are established to profit and shareholders invest money with expectations of a greater return, managers cannot be given a directive to be “socially responsible” without providing specific criteria of checks and balances to which needs to adhere. Therefore, it is imperative to the success of a corporation for managers to not act solely but rather to act within the policies of the shareholders.
or so many years our society has been thinking of forming new creative and innovative businesses, which would be more environmental and customer friendly. Nowadays a large number of different companies follow the social, ethical, as well as moral consequences when it comes to their decision making. One of the relatively new concepts involving economic and social concerns is Corporate Social Responsibility. Many of us apply this approach not only at work, but also in everyday life without even recognizing.
In the article “Our Ability to Respond,” the author is critical of many Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. He/she states that even though specific projects show some improvement at the micro level, CSR has failed at the macro level proved by almost every indicators that relate to social, environmental and ethical health of our society. That is to say, CSR does not effectively assist us to get our communities and ecosystem better; instead, global challenges that we are confronted with are getting worse.
Corporations care more about profits than the negative effects their production has on the surrounding environment and society. These corporations continue to operate in third world countries where there is less government oversite and environmental protection regulations. The pollution that these corporations as well as consumers cause contributes to global warming and climate change. From coal burning power plants, burning
Corporate social responsibility has been one the key business buzz words of the 21st century. Consumers' discontent with the corporation has forced it to try and rectify its negative image by associating its name with good deeds. Social responsibility has become one of the corporation's most pressing issues, each company striving to outdo the next with its philanthropic image. People feel that the corporation has done great harm to both the environment and to society and that with all of its wealth and power, it should be leading the fight to save the Earth, to combat poverty and illness and etc. "Corporations are now expected to deliver the good, not just the goods; to pursue
Disasters of both natural and technological origin have a considerable impact on communities. The effects of disasters in India are significantly reduced by well established counter disaster arrangements at all three levels of government. These arrangements comprise comprehensive plans of prevention, preparedness, response and recovery and in more recent times, of mitigation. The economic effects of disasters can be devastating and widespread. When disasters strike houses, businesses and community infrastructure get damaged or destroyed and people’s livelihoods are temporarily and sometimes permanently disrupted. Physical damage is the most visible economic impact of disasters. Major natural
Intro: This report will aim to define responsible business, in relation to the vast range of topics such as Corporate social Responsibility/Corporate Citizenship, sustainability, whilst comparing these through academia and their different meanings relating to Responsible Business. Furthermore, this report will also aim to critically analyse climate change and its effect in relation to making Business more responsible as well as the drawbacks/opportunities this holds for business. Finally, this report will exploit the relation between government and Business; identify possible barriers for businesses through government via academic views and evidential impacts on businesses and how government supports business to create a more sustainable world, through incentives such as the climate change Act 2008.
Corporate social responsibility is a controversial matter that regarding businesses’ ethics especially those that only obeys the law and does not care for the social harm they have caused. There are numerous occasions where the companies harms the society and communities more than the benefits they provide. The case of Samarco 2015 Mine Disaster is one of the occasion that occurred due to negligence as they chose not to follow a single safety regulation of the dam which caused a calamity that damaged the ecosystem and affect the people living in the state of Minas Gerais.
When looking at the corporate businesses and the undoing of the human habitat; the United Nations has sanctioned many organizations to track climate change such as the UNEP, the World Meteorological Organization and the IPCC. Since the mid-eighties, these agencies have monitored the changes, yet have failed to convey the significance. Studies done by these agencies have concluded that the last fifty years are attributable to human activities and big corporations which lead to the changing in the compositions of the atmosphere throughout the 21st century (Saltori). These activities that are mentioned are those by means of businesses that grew into national conglomerates. Concurrent with business growth, the greenhouse gas emissions have grown seventy percent from 1970 to 2004 (Lehner). Recent studies have shown that 122 corporations produce eighty percent of greenhouse gases (IPCC). The climate is going to drastically change the world forever, but at whose expense? What exactly does the political eminence of these companies have