Importance of Environmental Responsibility in Business

Business organizations depend on natural resources

All the business organizations all over the world are dependent on the natural environment as well as their activities affect the natural resources. Globalization has affected all the organizations to expand their boundaries. The process of globalization has increased the stakeholders interested in the business of the organizations. The stakeholders of the current world are interested in the different business activities of the organizations, whereas the ethical and responsible conduction of the activities is also observed significantly (Downe, Cowell, and Morgan, 2016). This has enabled the businesses to include ethical and responsible strategies towards the community. Thus, it can be obtained that the natural environment is a stakeholder for the organizations as they are affected and dependent on the natural environment. Not only are the businesses, but the stakeholders of the businesses are also dependent on the natural environment. Therefore, the significance of the responsibility of the business towards the natural environment increases focusing on the megatrends that would affect the business of the organization in the long run (Sternberg, 2009).

Various megatrends relate to sustainability and affect the future of the business such as deforestation, climate change scarcity of food, resource and water, population growth, fuel and energy use and many more (Lethbridge, J., 2016). These megatrends affect the natural environment of the planet vastly. It is important to use the resources of the planet with environmental limits, such that they can renew themselves for the betterment of humans. Thus the water systems should be protected ensuring the accessibility of safe and affordable drinking water to people all around the globe. As in the case of the Niger river delta of Nigeria, the oil industries of Nigeria have highly polluted the area with hydrocarbons in the process of extracting oil every day. The pollution has not only affected the area with pollution, but the people living in the area have also faced the consequences of the same resulting in the increase of infertility, cancer and malnutrition in children of the area (Osobajo, and Moore, 2017).

Similarly in the case of oil spillage in the Amazon because of the raptures in the main oil pipeline of Peru has resulted in the loss of many fishes and animals of the biodiversity as well as contamination of water that is used by the local community for drinking and other uses. Through the study of both the cases, it can be observed that the activities of the business organizations have affected the people of the community living around the natural environment of the businesses in terms of health, economy, community as well as individuals of the area (Jonasson, et.al. 2019). The organizations need to be responsible, ethical and sustainable and include strategies in the business respecting the people and planet to earn profit with equal importance to all the 3Ps. Businesses depend on society, therefore they must respond to the needs of the society. The communities of the local environment rely on them and degradation of the environment is unethical (Brockerhoff, et. al.,2017 ). It is the responsibility of the business organizations to ensure the local community is not harmed by the organizational activity and the resources are available for the people of the community as well as the global population including different stakeholders of the organization.

To ensure that the people of the universe have access to safe and affordable water for drinking and the protection of the water systems, the organizations can include various strategies in the conduction of business activities in their daily activities. Some of the steps that the organizations can take are as follows:

Proper Disposal: The organizations must dump the wastes properly, the wastes of the factories may consist of various hazardous and acidic chemicals, which may contaminate the land or water or environment it is thrown into. Therefore, the organizations must properly dispose of the waste products so that it does not affect the water and land resources of the environment.                                  

Reuse of water: The organizations require water for various activities. The organizations can reuse the water by cleaning as much as possible. The organizations can reuse the water through the use of water cooling towers, reuse process water for washing. The process waters can also be reused for various other purposes through the system of decentralization.

Regular Maintenance and checking of Equipment: The organizations require various types of equipment like pipelines, drainage systems and other activities in their day-to-day activities. The malfunction of these types of equipment can be hazardous and lead to disasters that can affect the environment and its resources adversely. The regular maintenance and proper checking of this equipments lead to precautions from these disasters, saving water and other resources of the environment.        

References

Brockerhoff, E.G., Barbaro, L., Castagneyrol, B., Forrester, D.I., Gardiner, B., González-Olabarria, J.R., Lyver, P.O.B., Meurisse, N., Oxbrough, A., Taki, H. and Thompson, I.D., 2017. Forest biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services.

Downe, J., Cowell, R. and Morgan, K., 2016. What determines ethical behavior in public organizations: is it rules or leadership?. Public Administration Review, 76(6), pp.898-909.

Jonasson, M.E., Spiegel, S.J., Thomas, S., Yassi, A., Wittman, H., Takaro, T., Afshari, R., Markwick, M. and Spiegel, J.M., 2019. Oil pipelines and food sovereignty: Threat to health equity for Indigenous communities. Journal of public health policy, 40(4), pp.504-517.

Lethbridge, J., 2016. Overview of global megatrends affecting local and regional governments. PSIRU Reports, August.

Osobajo, O.A. and Moore, D., 2017. Who is Who? Identifying the Different Sub-groups of Secondary Stakeholders within a Community: A Case Study of the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria Communities. International Business Research, 10(9), pp.188-209.

Sternberg, E., 2009. Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance 1. Economic Affairs, 29(4), pp.5-10.