Introduction
A one way of life is an intricate cluster of values, objectives, institutions and activities, alongside with dimensions of ethical, environmental, economic and social aspects. Currently, the unsustainable factor coincides to the larger extent of ecological concerns. With the interrelatedness of the dimensions, it is valuable to distinguish the disparate implications for sustainability of the three dimensions involved. Human relationships, for instance, mayhap become socially unsustainable independently of economic or ecological factors; and in which a particular allocation of resources may be economically unsustainable independently of social or ecological factors, like increasing budget deficits perhaps. In this paper, we would deal with the broad concept of sustainability, particularly of global environmental sustainability as it involves the discussion of corporation’s role in the sustainable development. Further, the essence of this essay is the critical analysis of the quoted statement from (2005) which states, “If China and India and the other developing countries want to live like us – and it looks like they do – where are we going to get the resources from? It is an impending environmental disaster or a huge business opportunity?”, base from the perspective within the premise of environmental management.
Main Part
Sustainability and its Dimensions
Sustainability is broad in its spectrum and is usually determined. The essential meaning of sustainability is the faculty for continuance, whether definitely or indefinitely for the future. However, with the current trend people has been exhibiting especially the irresponsibleness and negligence of some corporations, such as destructing environmental conditions for their own affairs of existence or the pervasiveness of environmental effects, like climate change, toxic pollution brought about by unmindful observance of appropriate disposal of toxic waste, depletion of natural resources, both renewable and non-renewable, all of which has been caused by unacceptable social disruption and potent threat to human health.
The concept of sustainability, as what have been mentioned beforehand goes alongside with three dimensions, social, economic and environmental, would be discussed respectively. Social sustainability pertains to the ability of the society to maintain the invaluable means of wealth-creation to replicate itself and the shared sense of social purpose to nurture social cohesion and integration. From the existence of a principal document from United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), Agenda 21, is representative of the total commitment that is perceived to be crucial for the attainment of sustainable development. Primarily, the focus of the objectives in the formulation of public policy, especially in the developing societies is the growth of the Gross National Product (GNP), such that these societies pose an environmental problem arising from the level of consumption, consequent environmental impacts and troublesome poverty that hampers an ailing nation since it leads to chronic scarcity at an individual level, thereby, it connotes reduction in the productivity. Additionally, it is an ethical problem because the scarcity results to inducement of suffering as maybe producing social injustices. To put into account, there are three reasons as to how the social dimension is critical to environment and development issues. First, is the working on of several authors, to the wide-array of environmental-degradation problems conceived to be social in nature, for example, a “downward spiral” linking poverty and environment is widely recognized (1989; 2000; 1992; 1989; 1988); (1985), (1987), (1994) argue that land degradation is a social problem, related to a “simple reproduction squeeze” ( 1979). can be viewed as a distribution rather than a production problem ( 1978; . 1998), as an entitlement problem ( 1981), or as an outcome of political conflicts (1990); a few decades ago, it was viewed as a population-control problem ( 1968). Second, is the initiative of policy makers to reconcile the environment and economy dimension, problems in relation to the implementation is still proved to be evident, such as policy makers can be confronted in the anticipation and identification of the right institutions can more or less likely be consistent with the desired conditions. Thirds, is the implementation of the incorporation of the exiting social system to the necessary changes in resource use, structure of the economy, or in nature/society relations necessitating major adjustments in relation to the said system. Therefore, the right identification of social systems should be compatible with both ecological and economic sustainability to accommodate the dynamics of social change.
Economic sustainability is most commonly interpreted as a condition of non-declining economic welfare projected indefinitely into the future (1992). According to (1995), there are already been a number of recent papers that have sought to combine optimality and sustainability in some way by pruning out of consideration those consumption paths that are ethically indefensible, by treating environmental goods as a source of utility in their own right, as well as inputs to production (1995) and by making sustainability an extra constraint on the optimal growth path (1994; 1995). Proposed treatments seemingly are promising, however, the problem arose because the proposed treatments inability to capture the diverseness of the natural environment as a contributor to the economy. Simply stated, economic sustainability encourages any activity relevant in the maintenance or at least increases the level of the four capital stocks, that maintains or increases the productive capacity.
The impacts of environment can be felt globally, continentally, regionally, nationally and locally, that is why it is of primary importance to consider environmental sustainability. The definition of environmental sustainability can take into different forms, although, the respective definitions falls into the same context of environmental sustainability. Environmental sustainability, in terms of life that is governed in human ways, pertains to the sustaining ability of the environment to preserve human ways of life. The definition of environmental sustainability, in terms of economic activity, on the other hand, refers to the environment’s ability in the production of pivotal inputs economy to maintain the welfares of the economy. Since sustainability, in relation to human ways of life and economic activity, is dependent on the maintenance of the precursor of environmental functions, is defined by (1992), as the capacity of natural processes and components to provide goods and services that satisfy human needs, which in turn can be identified as the stocks and flows of natural capital, environmental sustainability can then be defined simply as the maintenance of invaluable environmental functions. The disparate definitions of environmental sustainability, in turn provides different views, such as contrasting it with economic and social sustainability, it leads . (1993) to stress: ‘When judged by the length of time for which they (were) sustained, some of the most successful societies were also among the most exploitative, where the abuse of human rights was greatest’. Nevertheless, environmental sustainability activities are also likely to contribute to the economic sustainability.
The Role of Corporations in Global Environmental Sustainability
In the early 1990’s, the recognition to environmental concerns has prompted corporations to respond, as it is considered to be one rapidly evolving change in corporate management and strategy. Often called “greening,” this response is a process by which human activity is made compatible with biospheric capacity. . . (1993) Seeing the urgent need to respond to the pressing environmental problems that would also likely affect the corporations in the long-run, corporations begun to develop and implement policies, programs, and tools to meet their environmental opportunities and constraints (1992; 1991; 1984; 1996;1991; 1990; 1992;1992; 1992). The society, in general, as well has become fervently concerned with the natural environment health and the responsibility and roles of corporations in plausibly inducing negative impact in the ecosystems and human health. In the United States, for example, companies like Ben & Jerry’s, the Body Shop, and Smith & Hawken are commonly pointed to as “green” companies, whereas, on the other hand, companies such as Exxon and American Cyanamid are considered to be environmentally unfriendly companies. If things of unsustainable environmental exist in developed countries, it is therefore, evident that it also exists in the developing countries, where, the existence of unsustainable scenarios is even worst. The struggle to advance human well-being in developing nations at times crashes with increasing efforts to shield the global environment. To prevent foreseeable conflicts, the principle of sustainable development has been proposed and has become widely accepted (World Communication on Environmental Development (1987) wherein the adoption of this principle, necessitates instilling of policies that allows industrial, agricultural, and other developments, yet also seeks to protect natural resources and public health for the benefit of future generations.
The technological expertise of corporations, will play a vital role in fostering sustainable development as it cultivates new design for energy, transport and water supply systems via lessening the environmental impact and mandating companies to activate hazardous mining and manufacturing activities performances in a manner that ensure the protection of natural resources and public health. Moreover, the said technological expertise is crucial in the prevention of persistent waste disposal problems, in the development of biodegradable packaging, and in the design of new innovative products that are more compatible with the environment throughout their life cycles, such as substitutes for harmful chemical pesticides.(1991) The continuous advancement of technological expertise is essential for global environmental sustainability since environmental parameters spells volatility. Fundamentally, as human well-being advances, developing nations will be more inclined to stress on the importance of protecting its natural resources and environmental amenities.
Another role of corporations would be in the formulation of policies promoting for sustainable development, as bearing the major proponents of developmental activities. Multinational corporations (MNC’s) are seen to have aggressively looked for new alternative resources, markets, joint ventures, and facility sites. Recent studies show that such global expansion is growing significantly because “it pays” (Anderson 1991). In industrial countries, public agencies are under pressure to expedite MNC activities in developing nations and counterpart agencies that are likewise pursuing development opportunities for developing countries with MNC’s. Thus, MNC activities are being “pushed and pulled” toward developing nations at an increasing rate, and policies for sustainable development must ensure that MNCs provide the requisite technical expertise (United Nation Centre on Transnational Corporation 1991).
Critical Analysis from the Statement
From the statement, “If China and India and the other developing countries want to live like us – and it looks like they do – where are we going to get the resources from? It is an impending environmental disaster or a huge business opportunity?”. In terms of the resources, developing nations are abundant with, particularly in the human resources, in which especially China’s population can easily come to terms with. The presence of four capital stocks namely, ecological capital, human capital, social/organizational capital and manufactured capital resources are not scarce in developing nations compare in the United States. From a perspective of an environmental management, environmental sustainability can gain in full strength if it can be perceived as fostering the well-being and opportunities of future, both humans and the environment, should not be sacrificed or be place into risk for present human advantage of an opportunist. It is an impending environmental disaster for the developing nations, such that these nations maybe susceptible to exploits from the developed nations. Exploited in terms of MNC not looking after the general welfare of the human resources through non-promotion of well-being and sometimes leads to unethical management practice of discrimination and abuse. Nike Inc., for example, has been criticized for using sweatshop labor in countries like China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Mexico, all of which are developing nations. The tendency for exploitative practices occuring in developing countries might seem to be prevalent, this in turn could lead us to say that due to this circumstances, it is indeed providing MNC’s to have a gigantic business opportunity such that it can make most of the available resources, unethically and unjust, while at the time reaping the benefits of cheap cost in operations. For example, in Ethiopia, a very poor country, Nestlé demanded millions in compensation for shares in Ethiopian agricultural firm as revealed by Oxfam in 2002. At first, Nestlé denied to pay the settlement to the Ethiopian government but in the face of public criticism, naturally, Nestlé would give in to the settlement but not implying that they are guilty of it, although, pinpoints other extraneous reasons to justify its issuance of settlement. Nestlé’s demand to a poor country in which they have operations, is a clear illustration how much some MNC’s seek to venture dig in deep into the business opportunity of operating in a developing country. For both China and India, known to have tied with their rich cultures, cannot live an American way, although, with the resources they can use and the promising social sustainability, they are likely to reach the level of America in terms of global environmental sustainability in the future.
Conclusion
The concept of global environmental sustainability implies the delivery of environmental, economic and social benefits as they are interrelated. This essay had explored the general context of sustainability and its pertinent dimensions, social, economic and environmental. Further, the appropriate pivotal roles of corporations in enriching and be the forefront of global environmental sustainability as they have the technological resources and its influence is substantial. In critical analysis of the statement, it deals with the realities as to how MNC activities demonstrate its power over the developing countries.
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