CHAPTER 9
SUSTIANBALE DEVELOPMENT AND
GLOBAL BUSINESS
, Business and Society in the Nature
Environment
Business and Society, and the environment are interrelated. Business
and society operate within and depend on the natural environment.
Natural Capital: the world’s stock of natural assets, including
geology, soil, air, water and all living things.
For human society to survive over time t must operate
sustainably, in a way that does not destroy or deplete these
natural resources for future generations. This fundamental truth
confers on business leaders both great challenges and great
opportunities.
Preserving our common ecosystem and assuming its continued use is an urgent
imperative for governments, business and society.
Sustainable Development
Sustainable Development: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs; ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and
for generations to come.
The need for balance between economic progress and environmental protection is captured in the concept
of sustainable development.
The core of sustainable development is about fairness- central tenet of ethics.
o Fairness requires that the benefits and burdens of an action be distributed equitably, according to an
accepted rule.
o Sustainable development requires an equitable distribution of the benefits gained from the use of
natural resources for both current generations and across generations.
Government and business leaders work to promote economic development that does not further degrade
the environment.
Threats to the Earth’s Ecosystem
Humanity has entered new geological era, called Anthropocene. The period in which human activity has been
the dominant influence on climate and the environment.
Humans have become a powerful force, altering the face of the planet, and rivalling the forces of nature
herself – glaciers, volcanoes, asteroids and earthquakes – in impact.
Humans have literally rerouted rivers, moved mountains, and burned vast forests.
The climate itself had been profoundly altered by emissions of global warming gases. Although significant
natural resources- fresh water, fertile land and forest- remained, exploding populations and rapid economic
development had reached the point where, by most measures, the demands of human society had already
exceeded the carrying capacity of the ecosystem.
They face limited supplies of critical resources, unpredictable weather changes, and increased political risk,
among many other challenges.
Force of Change
Two critical factors have combined to accelerate the ecological crisis facing the world community and to make
sustainable development more difficult:
→ Population growth
→ Rapid Urbanisation
The Earth’s Carrying Capacity
The rapid population growth, together with economic development of many of the world’s poorer nations
and people’s rising expectations, are on a collision course with a fixed barrier: the limited carrying capacity
The world’s resource base, air, water, soil, minerals and so forth, is essentially finite, or bounded.
SUSTIANBALE DEVELOPMENT AND
GLOBAL BUSINESS
, Business and Society in the Nature
Environment
Business and Society, and the environment are interrelated. Business
and society operate within and depend on the natural environment.
Natural Capital: the world’s stock of natural assets, including
geology, soil, air, water and all living things.
For human society to survive over time t must operate
sustainably, in a way that does not destroy or deplete these
natural resources for future generations. This fundamental truth
confers on business leaders both great challenges and great
opportunities.
Preserving our common ecosystem and assuming its continued use is an urgent
imperative for governments, business and society.
Sustainable Development
Sustainable Development: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs; ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and
for generations to come.
The need for balance between economic progress and environmental protection is captured in the concept
of sustainable development.
The core of sustainable development is about fairness- central tenet of ethics.
o Fairness requires that the benefits and burdens of an action be distributed equitably, according to an
accepted rule.
o Sustainable development requires an equitable distribution of the benefits gained from the use of
natural resources for both current generations and across generations.
Government and business leaders work to promote economic development that does not further degrade
the environment.
Threats to the Earth’s Ecosystem
Humanity has entered new geological era, called Anthropocene. The period in which human activity has been
the dominant influence on climate and the environment.
Humans have become a powerful force, altering the face of the planet, and rivalling the forces of nature
herself – glaciers, volcanoes, asteroids and earthquakes – in impact.
Humans have literally rerouted rivers, moved mountains, and burned vast forests.
The climate itself had been profoundly altered by emissions of global warming gases. Although significant
natural resources- fresh water, fertile land and forest- remained, exploding populations and rapid economic
development had reached the point where, by most measures, the demands of human society had already
exceeded the carrying capacity of the ecosystem.
They face limited supplies of critical resources, unpredictable weather changes, and increased political risk,
among many other challenges.
Force of Change
Two critical factors have combined to accelerate the ecological crisis facing the world community and to make
sustainable development more difficult:
→ Population growth
→ Rapid Urbanisation
The Earth’s Carrying Capacity
The rapid population growth, together with economic development of many of the world’s poorer nations
and people’s rising expectations, are on a collision course with a fixed barrier: the limited carrying capacity
The world’s resource base, air, water, soil, minerals and so forth, is essentially finite, or bounded.
