Chapter 4 – Business and Ecology

Lesson 1. The Dimension of Sociological Problem and Traditional Attitudes of

Business towards the Environment

Business and Ecology

To deal intelligently with the question of business’s responsibilities for the

environment, one must realize that as business uses energy and materials, discharges
waste, and produces products and services, it is functioning within an ecological
system. Ecology refers to the science of the interrelationships among organisms and
their environments. The operative term is “interrelationships,” implying that an
interdependence exists among all entities in the environment. In particular, we must not
forget that human beings are part of nature and thus intricately connected with and
interrelated to the natural environment. (Dumlao, 2005)
In speaking about ecological matters, ecologists frequently use the term
ecosystem, which refers to a total ecological community, both living and nonliving.
Webs of interdependency structure ecosystems. Predators and prey, producers and
consumers, hosts and parasites are linked together, creating interlocking mechanisms
—checks and balances—that stabilize the system.
An ordinary example of an ecosystem is a pond. It consists of a complex web of
animal and vegetable life. Suppose that the area where the pond is located experiences
a prolonged period of drought, or that someone begins to fish in the pond regularly, or
that during a period of excessive rainfall, plant pesticides begin to spill into it. Under any
of these circumstances, changes will occur in the relationships among the pond’s
constituent components. Damage to a particular form of plant life may mean that fewer
fish can lie in the pond; a particular species might even disappear. A change in the
pond’s ecosystem may also affect other ecosystems. Every living organism affects its
environment, yet Homo sapiens possesses the power to upset dramatically the stability
of natural ecosystems. In particular, many human commercial activities (for example,
using pesticides and establishing oil fields) have unpredictable and disruptive
consequences for ecosystems.
In its role as the major instrument of production in our society, business must
intrude into ecosystems. Yet not all intrusions or all kinds of intrusion are justifiable. In
fact, precisely because of the interrelated nature of ecosystems and because intrusions
generally produce serious unfavorable effects, business must scrupulously avoid
actions, practices, and policies that have an undue impact on the environment. There is
ample documentation to show that business traditionally has been remiss in both
recognizing and adequately discharging its obligations in this regard. We need not
spend time retelling the story tale, but it does seem worthwhile to isolate some business
attitudes that have been responsible for this indifference.

The Dimensions of Sociological Problem

A social problem is a condition or a type of behavior that many people believe is

harmful. Some conditions clearly hurt people, such as lacking enough money to buy
basic food, shelter, and clothing; being unable to find a job; or suffering from the effects
of a polluted environment. However, the extent to which any of these or other conditions
or behaviors becomes social problems is based not only on the reality of their existence
but on the level of public concern. (Rowen, 2019)
 This illustrates that any social problem has two important components: its
objective element and its subjective element.
1. Objective Element is the reality of the conditions of poverty: the reality of
insufficient access to food, health services, and education; and high rates of
infant mortality, preventable diseases, and illiteracy. The objective elements
of a social problem may either be personally experienced or measured in
some way. (Rowen, 2019)
2. Subjective Element of poverty is the level of public concern about these
objective conditions, the desire to alleviate them, and the belief that this is
possible.
To learn about social problems, how they develop, and how people work together
to deal with them, it is important to understand their context: the essential features of
the societies in which they arise. These include the basic components of social structure
and culture.

Social structure is the expression for relatively stable patterns of social behavior
and relationships among people. (Rowen, 2019) It means how a society is organized. A
social institution is a continuing pattern of social relationships intended to fulfill people’s
basic needs and aspirations and carry out functions essential to the operation of
society. The most important institutions include the family, education, the economy,
politics and government, health care, organized religion, and the communications
media. Within these broad institutions, others exist to carry out specialized functions,
such as the criminal justice system within government. Conditions generated by
institutions may become social problems.
A major aspect of social structure is social stratification, which refers to
inequality among people with regard to important social factors including access to
education, income, property, power, and prestige.
Whereas social structure refers to how society is organized, culture refers to
the knowledge, ways of thinking, and shared understandings of behavior, and physical
objects that characterize a people’s way of life. The elements of culture particularly
important for understanding social problems are values, norms, beliefs, and symbols.

Values, which define what is good,

desirable, beautiful, and worth working for, are
the goals that culture gives people to strive to
achieve in life and, in so doing, feel fulfilled and
good about themselves. People’s values can
influence whether they view specific conditions
or behaviors as social problems. (Rowen, 2019)
Just as culture provides values for people to strive for, it also provides guidelines
for how to behave in society to achieve and maintain them.
Norms are shared rules for behavior. The mildest norms, called folkways, are
general expectations for behavior in particular social situations, like shaking hands
when being introduced to someone new. Mores are stronger, more widely observed
norms with greater moral significance, such as respectful behavior at a religious service.
Laws are rules for behavior enforced by government. While laws are often also
mores, this is not always the case. (Rowen, 2019)

Beliefs are another important

element of culture. They are the
ideas people have about what is true
and how things should be. This
includes why certain events occur or
conditions exist. Beliefs may be based on experience or values and norms, or on what
is learned from family, friends, school, recognized experts, or communication media like
TV or the Internet. Consider global climate change. Beliefs affect whether someone
thinks it actually exists, whether it is a problem, and whether people or government can
do anything about it.
A symbol is anything, including words, objects, or images, which represents
something beyond itself. A symbol conveys a meaning to people.
A subculture refers to a specific set of values, norms, beliefs, symbols, and
behaviors shared by a group of people unique enough to significantly distinguish them
from the other members of a culture. Subcultures can be based on factors such as
occupation, wealth, religion, age, region, ethnicity, or patterns of recreation.

Traditional Attitudes of Business towards the Environment

Several related attitudes, prevalent in our society in general and in business in

particular, have let to or increased our environmental problems. One of these is the
tendency to view the natural world as “free and unlimited good”—that is, as
something we can exploit, even squander, without regard to the future. (Cooley, 2009)
Traditionally, business has considered the environment to be a free, virtually
limitless good. In other words, air, water, land and other natural resources from coal to
animals (some trapped almost to extinction) were seen as available for business to use
as it saw fit. In this context, pollution and the depletion of natural resources are two
aspects of the same problem: Both involve using up natural resources that are limited.
Pollution uses up clean air and water, just as extraction uses up the minerals or oil in
the ground. The belief that both sorts of resources are unlimited and free promotes
wasteful consumption of them.

In sum, then, spillovers or externalities, pursuit of private interest at the expense

of the commons, and a view of the environment as a free good that can be consumed
without limit have combined with an ignorance of ecology and of the often fragile
interconnections and interdependencies of the natural world to create the serious
environmental problems facing us today.

II. Title of the Lesson:

Lesson 2. Environmental Ethics and the Moral and Social Obligations of
Business to the Environment

Environmental Ethics

Environmental ethics is the discipline in philosophy that studies the moral

relationship of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the
environment and its non-human contents.
 Suppose putting out natural fires, culling feral animals or destroying some
individual members of overpopulated indigenous species is necessary for the protection
of the integrity of a certain ecosystem. Will these actions be morally permissible or even
required? Is it morally acceptable for farmers in non-industrial countries to practise slash
and burn techniques to clear areas for agriculture? Consider a mining company which
has performed open pit mining in some previously unspoiled area. Does the company
have a moral obligation to restore the landform and surface ecology? And what is the
value of a humanly restored environment compared with the originally natural
environment?
It is often said to be morally wrong for human beings to pollute and destroy parts
of the natural environment and to consume a huge proportion of the planet’s natural
resources. If that is wrong, is it simply because a sustainable environment is essential to
(present and future) human well-being? Or is such behaviour also wrong because the
natural environment and/or its various contents have certain values in their own right so
that these values ought to be respected and protected in any case?

Philosophical Theories of Environmental Responsibility

As noted earlier, some businesses argue that their environmental responsibility is
confined to what the law requires and what will yield a profit. However, ethicists typically
argue that businesses need to look beyond profit motive and legal regulations to find
more persuasive reasons for environmental responsibility. We will consider three of
these theories, each of which yields substantially different conclusions about the
environmental responsibility of businesses.
            The first of these theories is anthropocentric, or human centered.
Environmental anthropocentrism is the view that all environmental responsibility is
derived from human interests alone. The assumption here is that only human beings are
morally significant persons and have a direct moral standing. Since the environment is
crucial to human well-being and human survival, then we have an indirect duty towards
the environment, that is, a duty that is derived from human interests. This involves the
duty to assure that the earth remains environmentally hospitable for supporting human
life, and that its beauty and resources are preserved so human life on earth continues to
be pleasant.
            A second general approach to environmental responsibility is to base it on the
moral consideration that we owe to animals, a position that we will call the animal
rights view. On this view, higher animals qualify as morally significant creatures, such
as dogs, cats, cows, horses, pigs, dolphins, and chimpanzees. Animal rights advocate
Peter Singer goes a step further and argues that even lower animals, such as chickens,
deserve equal moral consideration insofar as they are capable of experiencing physical
pleasure and pain, just as humans are. For Singer, the mistreatment of animals is
analogous to racism and slavery since it gives unequal treatment to beings with equal
interests

            The third theory is that of ecocentrism, which is that we have direct
responsibilities to environmental collections, such as animal species and rain forests,
just as we have direct responsibilities to humans. Even if there is no direct human
consequence of destroying environmental collections, we still have a moral
responsibility to those collections anyway. Eco centrists use various terms to express
this direct responsibility to the environment. They suggest that the environment has
direct rights, that it qualifies for moral personhood, which it is deserving of a direct duty,
and that it has inherent worth.
Implications for Businesses

Each of the above theories has different implications on business’s responsibility

to the environment.
1. Anthropocentric Perspective, businesses have an obligation not to damage
the environment in ways that negatively impact on human life.
2. Animal Rights Perspective, businesses have an obligation to avoid harming
animals either directly or indirectly. They need to avoid harming animals
directly, such as they might do through animal testing, or inhumane food
production techniques. They need to avoid harming animals indirectly, such
as they might do by destroying animal environments.
3. Ecocentrist Perspective, businesses have a direct obligation to protect the
environment since it is wrong to harm members of the moral community, and
the environment is a member of the moral community.

The Moral and Social Obligations of Business to the Environment

A duty is an obligation to act in a certain way. Though duties arise from various
sources, all duties have a moral dimension. Duties create obligations and expectations.
 There are two basic forms of duty; prohibitions and requirements. Prohibitions
specify things we may or should not do. They are “don’ts”, as in don’t lie, cheat, or steal.
Requirements, on the other hand, are mandates specifying things we must or should
do. The ‘dos” include be kind, be fair and be respectful.
Moral obligations arise from three sources: laws, promises and principles.
1. Law-Based Moral Obligations. Good citizens have a moral as well as a legal
obligation to abide by laws; it is part of the assumed social contract of a civilized society.
In fact, many laws simply codify ethical standards of conduct fundamental to healthy
social relations and effective commerce.
2. Promise-Based Moral Obligations. The second source of moral obligation is based
on a promise or agreement. While not all promises reach the level of an enforceable
contract, honorable people and companies recognize and fulfil the moral obligation to
do the things they agreed to do, especially if others are counting on them to do so.
3. Moral Principle as the Basis of Moral Obligation. The third source of moral
obligation is moral principle, a standard of conduct that exists irrespective of laws or
agreements. Moral principles can be mandated by religious doctrine or derived through
rational philosophical reasoning.
Some initiatives which can be taken by business enterprises for environmental
protection are: (Topper, 2013)
1. The foremost responsibility of business enterprises is to ensure that they should
not damage the environment and for this purpose they should reduce as much as
possible air and water pollution by their productive activities. They should not
dump their toxic waste products in rivers and streams to avoid their pollution.
Pollution of environment poses a great health hazard for the people and is a
cause of several respiratory and skin diseases.
2. The corporate enterprises should adopt high standards of environmental
protection and ensure that they are implemented regardless of enforcement of
any environment laws passed by the government.
3. A sincere commitment by the top management of the business to cultivate,
maintain and develop work culture for environmental protection and pollution
prevention.
 4. To ensure that the commitment towards environmental protection is shared by all
the employees of all the divisions of the business.
5. Developing clear-cut policies and programmes for purchasing good quality raw
material, using latest technology, using scientific techniques of disposal and
waste management and to develop the skills of the employees for the purpose of
pollution control.
6. To adapt to the laws and regulations passes by the government for the
prevention of pollution.
7. Participation in government programmes relating to the management of
hazardous substances, clearing up of polluted water bodies, plantation of trees
and to reduce deforestation.
8. Assessment of pollution control programmes in terms of costs and benefits to
increase the progress with respect to environmental protection.
9. Also businesses can arrange workshops and give training material and share
technical information and experience with suppliers and customers to get them
involved in pollution control programmes.
10. Promoting green energy that reduces the use of fossil fuels.

III. Title of the Lesson:

Lesson 3. The Valdez Principles

The VALDEZ Principles

The Valdez Principles, subsequently called the Ceres Principles, are a set of ten
guidelines designed to regulate and monitor the conduct of corporations in matters
relating to the environment. The guidelines seek to better inform the public and
establish audits and reports on their environmental impact. They were drawn up in 1989
after the Exxon Valdez oil tanker disaster which ran aground and spilled more than 10
million gallons of crude off the Alaskan coast. (Bavaria, 1989)
In 1996 Aveda become the first beauty company to adopt the CERES principles. Some
of the other early CERES signatories include Amercan Airlines, Bank of America, Baxter
International, Ben & Jerry's, Best Buy, The Body Shop, Coca-Cola, Conslidated Edison,
Dell, Dunkin Brands, eBay, Exelon, Ford The Gap, General Mills, GM, ITT, Levi
Strauss, Louisville Sewer District, McDonald's, Nike, PepsiCo, PG&E, Sun
Microsystems, Sunoco, Timberland Company, and Time Warner.

Why Companies Should Adapt the Valdez Principles?

According to Mary Ellen West in her Journal Environmental Law and Review
1992, there are four main advantages to a corporation that agrees to adopt the Valdez
Principles.
1. The positive publicity that substantially could help a corporation's image in the
eyes of its shareholders and consumers in this age of "green consumerism."
 2. Corporations will experience reduced costs associated with waste hauling fees,
coupled with potential revenues generated by recycling in accordance with the
Principles.
3. Corporations that voluntarily strengthen their environmental standards may avoid
financially devastating environmental disasters.
4. Favorable investment in that corporation by CERES members.

Concept of Corporate Social Responsibility | BSBA 1F | Bulacan State University SY 2021-2022 -

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