ASSIGNEMENT

OF
BUSSINESS ETHICS

PGPM- II

Guided by: Submitted by:

Miss.Kalpana Nebhnani Ameeta Asnani

Cerebral Business School,
Kota
PGPM-II
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Top Ten List of Environmental Issues

1. Climate Change
2. Energy
3. Water
4. Biodiversity and Land Use
5. Chemicals, Toxics, and Heavy Metals
6. Air Pollution
7. Waste Management
8. Ozone Layer Depletion
9. Oceans and Fisheries
10.Deforestation

Environmental ethics is the part of environmental philosophy which

considers extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from solely
including humans to including the non-human world. It exerts influence on a
large range of disciplines including law, sociology, theology, economics,
ecology and geography.

There are many ethical decisions that human beings make with respect to
the environment. For example:

 Should we continue to clear cut forests for the sake of human

consumption?
 Should we continue to propagate?
 Should we continue to make gasoline powered vehicles?
 What environmental obligations do we need to keep for future
generations?[1][2]
 Is it right for humans to knowingly cause the extinction of a species
for the convenience of humanity?

The environment is a vast and largely growing issue. “Whether negligently

or intentionally, human activities have caused the deterioration of the
natural environment and the extinction of many species”. Pollutants are a
hazard to every living creature and human on the earth. The potential to
cause serious climate changes and deplete our resources may alter
society. “These effects are expected to worsen by the end of the twenty-
first century when the earth is expected to have a approximately thirty
billion people” (Santos, 1999). It is overwhelming to think of all the many
issues facing our world, but there are many thousands of people and
organizations attempting to resolve these problems and are achieving
some measure of success along the way.  

Environmental History

Environmental issues are not new. “Its origins date back to the nineteenth
century, when trappers, fishermen, and naturalists campaigned against the
unrestrained exploitation of America's pristine environments. In 1872 the
United States established the world's first national park...

Role Of Government Intervention In Environmental Issues

          In environmental cases, a policy framework is sometimes more

effective when there is less government intervention.   As the level of
government intervention diminishes, this allows more flexibility for
corporations to achieve efficiency.   Furthermore the traditional command
and control approach has proven to be costly, bureaucratic and often
inefficient.
It is important to address the fact that there are numerous benefits that can
be achieved for both policy makers and industries, if a policy framework is
based on market forces.   However it is important that there is a need for
some government intervention, but should be as minimal as possible.
          I have chosen to examine the article from the New York Times
entitled RU.S. Seeking Options of Pollution Rules.   Although pollution is
detrimental to our environment, you have to take into account that it is
almost impossible to entirely prevent pollution. This is scientifically
impossible and it would have severely negative economic impact on the
industries. So the core issue becomes the fact no matter what, there will
always be pollution, as long as these industries exist.   So we should
focus on how we can minimize this and yet at the same time have an
efficient market system? Further more, we should also focus on
how we can accomplish this so that sustainable growth and development
can take place.   So there is definitely a need for some form of government
intervention to enforce and monitor this.   Reason being that there is always
an element of equality that has to be enforced, when dealing with cases
such as this.   For instance, larger corporations may have an advantage
over smaller corporation, since they have stronger influence on politicians
and lobbyists. So the government role should be to ensure that all
industries (regard less size and/or power) have equal opportunities to
benefit from this type of approach.

U.S. Government Response

 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
 Air quality legislation
 Water quality legislation
 Land-related legislation
 Endangered species protection

Strategic Environmental Management

performance.
continual improvement of environmental
systems, and documentation aimed at
ISO 14000
environmental objectives, issues, policies,
which includes organizational
The international management standard,