Dear Editor,
The theme for this year’s World Environment Day is ‘A Green Economy – Are You Included?’ It is an appropriate theme because globalization appears to have virtually removed the dividing line between the global and the local communities.
The world is one big global village, a shared social space, where environmental problems affect everyone, everywhere on earth. Climate change, global warming, the pollution of our air and seas, the destruction of coral reefs and other aspects of biodiversity and ecology are not confined to one country; they affect every village, every community in the world.
The theme calls for a better balance between economics and good environmental stewardship. The question is which one comes first – economics or the environment? Whichever way we look at it, corporations and businesses do have a very vital role to play in facilitating a green economy. To achieve such an economy corporations must have environmental responsibility as a serious priority.
During the industrial revolution of the 19th century business was concerned with profit-making and had little interference from the authorities.
However, the concept of social responsibility came to the fore during the 1960s in response to society’s changing values. In developed countries, the public policy debates of the ’60s and ’70s raised awareness of social issues, including the environment and product safety. Businesses were forced not only to engage in social causes but also consider the social consequences of their economic activities. Therefore, business evolved from a purely economic instrument to a socioeconomic one.
As it now stands, corporations are viewed as not only economic institutions but also as social institutions.
As such they have a responsibility to society and an obligation to solve some of society’s problems devoting some of their resources to the solution of those problems.
Notwithstanding that, Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, believed that corporations have no responsibility to society that goes beyond adhering to the law and maximizing profits for shareholders. Even then, Friedman did not advocate that corporate charitable giving should be reduced if it contributed to profit-making.
Therefore, if being perceived as socially and environmentally responsible could attract customers and employees, it constituted an investment that could increase future profitability.
In the current period of human development, every organization must assume full responsibility for its impact on the environment, from the way it uses natural resources for the purposes of manufacturing, to the distribution of its products to customers. It must also account for its approach to waste management.
In Guyana, waste is becoming increasingly unmanageable. Plastics including PET bottles constitute a major public health nuisance in many communities and are suffocating the environment.
They put at risk the health of animals, birds and marine life. They are bad for the ecological system.
Much of the plastic we see in drains and on parapets was used as wrappings or packaging materials for certain products. Many of the styrofoam boxes on roadways were used by fast food outlets and other food shops to serve their customers. Corporate social responsibility requires businesses to plan not only to sell their products and make a profit but also to account for the waste of those products.
This is important because in some cases, the waste from certain products has a greater impact on the environment than the actual product itself.
However, this challenge also presents an investment opportunity for business – recycling.
There is an urgent need for an environmentally friendly recycling plant to effectively manage the abundance of plastic tossed about our communities. The utility of such an investment is not only in terms of monetary profits, but also in protecting the environment. This in itself will allow businesses to give back to society.
Imagine how different our communities would look if we could only remove the plastic bottles and other non-biodegradable materials from our environment. Imagine the impact such an environment would have on everyone’s neighbourhood and community.
Yours faithfully,
Royston King
Executive Director
ECHO
