Poverty and Pollution - Essay Example

Until 1960s, businesses aimed at making profits, accumulating wealth, and offering job opportunities to the community around it. The number of jobs produced and the amount of profits in a given year determined success of any business. This view of businesses has changed in the 21st century after establishment of a better relationship between organisations and the society. Businesses have taken up social responsibility role and have to consider environmental implications before running a production process. However, poverty seems to challenge government efforts of eliminating environmental pollution. For instance, Cubatao in Brazil, which maybe the most polluted area in the whole world, has about 100,000 people living in the valley. Inhabitants have refused to sell their land and resettle elsewhere because of the readily available jobs from the industries and the cheap life around. This paper will examine the ethical implications of pollution in the third world, pollution as the price for progress, moral right to human beings of a liveable environment, and global pollution standards. Additionally, the paper will examine whether the wealthy nations have an obligation to provide poorer nations with resources to develop greener industries. Determine the ethical implications of businesses polluting in a third world country. Explain your rationale. Ethical implications of businesses polluting in a third world countries are common. First, every animal, plant, and other living things have a right to a better environment. It is unfortunate that pollution destroys their habitat shortens their lives. Additionally, pollution causes extinction of some animals resulting in an incomplete life cycle of such animals. Living things depends on one another for survival and human beings depend on them. It is unethical that a human decision can result to death and loss of livelihood. Although human beings are superior to other beings, they have an obligation to other human beings and nonhuman beings. Secondly, right to bodily security supersedes all other human right including right to property. The health of the environment is more important than all other rights because they protect human life. Therefore, pollution is unethical as it undermines a basic human right. Suggest the reasons a business may conduct operations in a third world country and disregard any standards of pollution control Some businesses may conduct operations in a third world country and disregard any standards of pollution control. To reap the benefit of cheap labour and circumvent the strict conditions of working, many companies have moved their factories to third world countries. Third world countries are in the process of development and a move by any international company to open its factories in such countries will go a long way to reduce the level of unemployment. Third world countries provide readily available cheap labour that enables overseas companies to lower their cost of production. On the other hand, the host government rejoices over the lower unemployment levels, classic products in their markets, and some taxes on profits made by such companies. Therefore, it is possible for the government to ignore some of the policies it has passed to curb pollution on such companies. Due to the significant contribution such a company makes on the economy, the government may allow loopholes on compliance of pollution policies. For instance, after Nike moved its factories in China, it continued to enjoy cheap labour without any regard to standards of pollution control until the year 1997. One of the recommendations made to Nike to improve its standards was to undertake a healthy and safety review of its factories with regard to dust, noise pollution, heat, fumes, and congestion. Additionally, Nike was to make public a list of accidents and work related illnesses that have affected workers in the past three years, determine any compensation to workers, and how the company can prevent illnesses in future (Lichtig & Wilsey, N.d). For so many years, Nike operated without paying regard to pollution policies in China because its government was silent about it. Multinationals companies establish their companies in countries whose politics can allow it. According to international and comparative law quarterly journal, politics and political risk factor is an important restraint on the flow of investment to natural resources in the third world countries (Brown, 1984). Take for instance the companies that engage in mining of oils, gold, and other natural resources. Third world countries do not have machinery to invest in the extraction of these naturally occurring resources. Therefore, they engage the services of multinationals, or sell such lands to the multinationals. Most of these mines produce harmful gases, which pollutes the atmosphere. In other cases, miners abandon mining areas after depleting the minerals without closing up the trenches they had dug. Poor politics cause such multinationals to pollute and degrade lands without the government questioning it. It has been said that pollution is the price of progress. Assess the connections between economic progress and development, on the one hand, and pollution controls and environmental protection, on the other. Some scholars suggest that pollution is the price of progress. Development determines the level of progress of any nation. It is possible to measure the level of development through income per person or through economic growth. Therefore, economic development is the process of expanding, attracting jobs, income, and wealth to improve quality of human life. Each community differs in the social, economic, and political dimensions of wealth but encourages equality in the opportunities for wealth creation. According to Cypher and Dietz, “development requires a fundamental structural change in an economy and society, which necessitates new markets, institutions, new values, and new products” (Cypher & Dietz, 2004). A nation will attract more jobs through opening up of more factories engaged in production for exports. Government fiscal and monetary policies foster activities that result in economic progress and development. In the United States, there is a body called EPA that formulates laws and procedures that ensure protection of health and environment at large. Different acts including atomic energy act, chemical safety information act, national environmental policy act, and noise control act. Each act requires the industries concerned to comply and produce effective products using the least noise and causing no harm on the environment. However, economic progress goes with establishment of many industries that emit toxic gases and add noise to the environment. Even in the countries with strict policies against pollution, it is inevitable to experience some degradation. Moreover, some economic development goes with increased pollution. For instance, building of roads opens up places and allow establishment of investments in such areas. Consequently, increased cars on the roads lead to increased levels of carbon monoxide. Therefore, pollution is the price of progress. However, improved technology with higher levels of innovation can help establish pollution free production lines, cars, and other pollution agents. Support the argument that human beings have a moral right to a livable environment regardless of the country they live in. Human beings have a moral right to a liveable environment regardless of the country they live in. I disagree with Lawrence Summers, director of national economic council and former president of Harvard University. He argues that industries currently in the developed countries should be moved to the third world countries because pollution caused would justify the forgone earnings from injuries and death. Additionally, he argues that an American life is more worth than an African one because of the lower life expectancy (Shaw, 2010). This means that some human beings are more human that others and should receive a lesser treatment. A principle from Aristotle suggests that all human beings are equal and that they share a number of similarities. These include ability to experience pleasure or pain, have sophisticated intellectual abilities, have a moral ability to distinguish right and wrong, and share an implicit social contact with each other. It is a government obligation to see to it that each of its individuals regardless of the part of the country they hail from lives in liveable environment. Therefore, all human beings deserve a liveable environment. Take a position on whether wealthy nations have an obligation to provide poorer nations with, or help them develop, greener industries and sources of energy. Explain your rationale. Developed nations have an obligation to provide poorer nations with necessary resources to greener industries and better sources of energy. Developed nations should note that planet earth is volatile, temporally, and unsustainable. Therefore, it is important that every nation strive to achieve a permanent and sustainable state. According to economist Schumacher as quoted in world health journal, technocratic individuals advocate for non-equal distribution of costs, benefits, and risks ignoring the fact that existing resources may not be sustainable or equitable in the long-run. Developed nations continue to deplete non-renewable resources, distributing them inequitably (Shrader-Frechette, 1991). Therefore, in helping developing countries, developed countries help themselves for many reasons. First, they will avoid the heavy burden they have to bear every year in support of developed countries. For instance, changes in environment and increased emission of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere have affected seasons in developing countries. This has caused less rainfall, which has led to long periods of drought and death of animals and people. Developed countries have to come in every year in support of such countries. Secondly, a polluted environment gradually affects developed countries. For instance, developed countries visit third world countries as tourists interested in watching animals in the extinction list. They also depend on third world to produce some crops like coffee and tea. Therefore, for developed countries to continue enjoying products of the third world countries and avoid huge budgets for them, they have an obligation to take part in developing greener industries. Propose a plan for uniform global pollution control standards and how you would enforce them. It is possible to formulate uniform global pollution control standards through a non-governmental organisation. The first step will require public awareness of the current situation and where the world is headed at if we do not control human activity. The second step will require support and funding of the NGO by various governments who will also accept to adhere to its policies. Thirdly, the NGO will work concurrently with the government to formulate laws and procedure to be followed by every company with the environment and health in mind. Fourthly, to ensure that each company follows these rules the NGO will agree with consumers of different products that they will not consume them if they are depleting resources and polluting the environment. Informed consumers have the power to change the normal operations of businesses and enforce a sustainable one with a liveable environment (Shrader-Frechette, 1991). References Brown, R. (1984). “The relationship between the state and the multinational corporation in the exploitation of resources,” International and Comparative Law Quarterly Journal, 33(1), 218-229 Cypher, J. & Dietz, J. (2004). The process of economic development, USA, Routledge Lichtig, S. & Wilsey, M. (N.d) “The Nike Controversy,” Retrieved from, http://www.stanford.edu/class/e297c/trade_environment/wheeling/hnike.html Shaw, W. (2010). Business Ethics: Text Book with Cases, USA, Cengage Learning Shrader-Frechette, K. (1991). “Ethics and the environment,” World Health Forum Journal, 12, 311-320 Read More