Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics: Environmental Protection - Term Paper Example

Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics: A Case for Environmental Protection Table of Contents Introduction 3 CSR and Environmental Sustainability4 Conclusion 8 References 9 Bibliography 9 Introduction Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a very broad term that includes a corporate’s responsibilities towards the organization as well as to the welfare of the society. In short, CSR is something that is aimed at making a corporate house a good citizen of a nation. The extent of CSR by a particular company shows its concern towards corporate ethics. Corporate ethics or corporate social responsibilities cover a number of aspects from economic, legal as well as discretionary grounds. CSR and Corporate ethics are more profitable from a long-run perspective only. It might not help in generating additional revenues in the short-run. But, it can enhance employee productivity in the long-run through maintaining a healthy relation with them and becoming responsible for their personal well-being. Again, through maintaining a good customer relation, the company can create a positive image in the society that will definitely help it in winning customer loyalty. Moreover, a good image can help a company in preventing implementations of government regulations on its activities that are sometimes known to be a consequence of popular public demands. This paper however, concentrates upon corporate social responsibilities, i.e., a corporate house’s concern towards environmental sustainability and climate changes and the strategies that a corporate should adopt to protect them (Social Responsibility and Organizational Ethics, 2001). CSR and Environmental Sustainability Environmental sustainability implies the measures that an organisation can take for the purpose of environmental protection and thus social welfare. It becomes a very important aspect of corporate responsibility since the well-being of the entire population as well as the future generation depends on it. Some important terminology being used in this paper while discussing the strategies that a company should ideally undertake for environmental protection and making room for climate changes are – Natural Resources – these are resources that are found in nature and are not necessary to be created artificially. Natural Resources can be of two types – exhaustible and inexhaustible. The former ones are those that cannot be restored once they are spent and hence need to be used with much care and concern. On the other hand, inexhaustible resources are those that could be restored and thus do not have a diminishing stock. So, it becomes an important corporate responsibility to protect these exhaustible natural resources and make as little use as possible of them, since everything in our nature is a part of a balanced ecosystem. Green Belts – these are artificial belts built around zones responsible for causing a high environmental pollution and consist of thousands trees that aim at reducing the adverse effects that any poisonous gas emission can have. Corporate responsibilities for the environmental protection could be observed in a more disciplined way if a company adopts some strategies for the purpose. Four such strategies that aim at environmental sustainability and is widely implemented by corporate houses throughout the world are discussed as under – 1. Using Natural and Inexhaustible Sources for energy production Using natural sources like water, wind or bio-fuel for the production of energy can not only prevent pollution but are also good substitutes of other energy resources that are exhaustible and must be conserved, e.g., coal, oil, etc. many business houses need to produce energy in order to carry on with their core production process. However, if all of them start using such energy resources that are harmful for the environment then the society would not be a very safe and a healthy place to live in. that is why many firms have stopped the usage of such resources like uranium or oil that cause pollution to the environment. Moreover, those resources are scarce and thus are very expensive. Thus, it is also profitable for a company from an economic point of view, to make use of any other naturally available resource that is not a scarce resource. Keeping these points in view, many firms have shifted from using coal, oil, uranium or other scarcely available, expensive and pollution-causing resources to bio-fuels, wind energy, hydroelectricity, solar energy, etc. which can perfectly take care of such environmental and economic issues. The Chevron Oil Refinery has shown concerns over such issues and has recently promoted research projects that are aimed to invent methods of using of fuels formed from bio-mass and those which emit lower volumes of carbon monoxide gases. Moreover, efforts have also been shown by the company to reduce the green house gases emission during the drilling process (Climate Change, n.d., Chevron Human Energy). 2. Controlling harmful emissions Many business houses use raw materials that are responsible for causing harmful emissions that cause environmental pollution and sometimes even a permanent environmental damage. For example, the emission of chlorofluro carbons from a number of sources has resulted to a permanent damage of the ozone layer in earth’s atmosphere. The ozone layer is responsible for the prevention of ultra-violet rays from entering the earth’s atmosphere. However, a mutilation in this layer has increased the vulnerability of the creatures on earth to ultra-violet rays and the harmful effects from exposure to it. Thus it becomes necessary to put a check on the emissions by various factories throughout the world for the sake of social welfare. Example could be cited from the strategies undertaken by the Coca-Cola Companies. Soft-drink companies are the major contributors in the emission of various carbon gases, like carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. All such carbon compounds are harmful and hazardous for life on earth. These are actually green house gases that cause serious environmental disturbance through global warming. Hence, it forms a part of the responsibility of such corporate houses to put a check on their emissions. The Coca-Cola Company has initiated such measures and is now examining the possibilities of shifting into natural gases from carbon, adopting cogeneration systems and using better energy and cleaner energy sources. 3. Waste Management Waste management implies the proper disposal of waste products after the production process is over. This proper disposal means collection, transport, processing and recycling of the waste that is being produced. Disposing off the waste can be done in any of the following ways – burying away the waste being produced, known as the process of land filling, burning away the waste being produced, known as incineration and recycling the products. However, the first of the three methods is not a proper one in the sense that they are not perfectly harmless. For example, although a properly built landfill can avoid much of the problems, an imperfectly built landfill can cause the problem of littering of the disposed away wastes or can decompose in open air that can cause environmental harm if not buried properly and can also attract pests. The best ways of disposing off wastes are through burning them away or through recycling them. Most of the corporations throughout the world have today inclined towards recycling as their preferred way of waste disposal. A good example is that of the USA based Coca-Cola Company, the famous soft-drink company. It has started disposal of the waste products being generated from its coffee grounds by recycling them. In 2008, when the waste products being generated exceeded the amount of raw materials being used by the company, it decided to take serious measures to manage it. But instead of burning them away, the company decided to recycle them into some useful product. So, in January 2008, Coca-Cola, a soft-drink company, for the first time in the world, manufactured carbon activated pocket-warmers (Coca-Cola Environmental Initiatives, 2009). 4. Developing Green Belts and Artificial Ecosystems Green belts are zones that are built in order to check for environmental protection. It is an area that comprises of thousands of trees and an artificially built ecosystem, around industrial belts or urban areas in order to restrict the effects of environmental pollution caused by harmful emissions by industries. It is basically an initiative taken by the government of a nation or even a locality (municipalities), but sometimes, such zones can also be created on a private initiative as a part of the corporate responsibility to protect the environment. Many municipalities in the European and American countries have taken such initiatives. A good example is that of the Chevron Richmond refinery that took the initiative to build such a green belt and an artificial ecosystem, named Richmond Water Enhancement Wetland that is now a home to a varied range of endangered species like the water-fowl, a migratory bird much of whose natural habitat has decreased due to increasing commercialization. It has also shown efforts to restore the Wildcat Creek Marsh, a natural wetland that is housed by some more endangered species, two of which are the salt harvest mouse and the California clapper rail. These efforts show the company’s concern towards environmental protection and an understanding of the balance in the ecosystem (Climate Change, n.d., Chevron Human Energy). Conclusion It forms a very important responsibility of the various corporate houses to introduce environmental protection measures in their daily operations. In fact, recently, the corporate houses throughout the world are on a fast track in the initiation of such measures. Only a few examples have been provided here. But, it remains for the future generation to see the effectiveness of those measures. References Climate Change, n.d., Chevron Human Energy, retrieved on August 27, 2009 from http://www.chevron.com/globalissues/climatechange/ Coca-Cola Environmental Initiatives, 2009, The Environmental Management System [pdf]. Retrieved on August 26, 2009 from http://www.cocacola.co.jp/positively/pdf/2009/eng_additional.pdf Encyclopedia of Business and Finance. 2001. Social Responsibility and Organizational Ethics. Retrieved on. 26 Aug, 2009 from http://www.enotes.com/business-finance-encyclopedia/ social-responsibility-organizational-ethics Bibliography Blodgett John E., 2003, Environmental protection: New Approaches. Nova Science Publishers. Read More