Of Prometheus & The Crucifix: A Limits Discourse On Environmental Sustainability & Collective Stakeholder Action

Haj Ali 2 The industrial revolution has created many benefits, mainly a positive increase in the standard of living within the last two centuries.1 For this benefit however, mankind has exploited the earth and caused severe environmental degradation in the process. Reflecting on Garret Hardins article The Tragedy of the Commons, if the human population continues to increase, it will overburden the worlds ecosystems and eventually lead to a tragedy; The population problem has no technical solution, it requires a fundamental extension in morality.2 The Brundtland Report published by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987, states: Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs3 If economic and human growth is to continue and prosper, then protection of the environment ought to be promoted in the most environmentally benign and socially just ways possible. The last few decades have witnessed an increase in international conventions and summits that attempted to reconcile environmental problems posed by economic development, particularly with the advent of modern industrialization. Of the notable milestones: The Stockholm Conference on The Human Environment,
4

The Rio Summit on Environment and Development

and The

Johannesburg Declaration in The World Summit on Sustainable Development,6 remain the most prominent in attempting to reconcile these issues. This paper will start off by defining the main types of environmental discourses, then move on to explain the main threats to the environment (that relating to air, water and land) and argue that the most effective weapon to combat said issues rests on the collective action of Governments,

 Haj Ali 3 NGOs and mainly corporate leaders by utilizing the Virtue Matrix, a framework that can help assess opportunities for socially responsible behavior.7 John Dryzek argues that environmental discourses are helpful as they allow us to apprehend information and constrain social facts; they are also useful when dealing with research and policy making.8 The main topic of debate centers on no limits discourses versus limits discourses. Supporters of the former (Nicknamed Prometheans) argue that there are no limits to growth. This ideology is mainly prevalent in western societies as government states tend to be geared toward the idea of infinite economic growth at all costs, that humans can manipulate the world through technology and overcome all problems.9 Supporters of the latter rest on the argument that there are limits to growth and that human demand on the capacity of ecosystems will explode out of control to the extent that radical measures must be taken in order to curb this increase.10 The idea of sustainable development thus gains merit i.e. balancing economic growth with environmental sustainability. The real entities that matter are: people and their respective communities, businesses, social systems and market economies.11 There are however, unresolved questions regarding the idea of sustainability: What human needs count? What should be sustained? For whom and for how long? Critics would also be quick to point out that, from a global perspective, the concepts of sustainability and development are particularly difficult to reconcile whilst respecting the principles of intra-generational and inter-generational equity. 12 Intra-generational equity can be defined as the equitable access to resources within current generations,13 whereas intergenerational equity is a function of time parameters, requiring that: more focus lay on renewable resources rather than exhaustible resources; consumption of resources at a rate

 Haj Ali 4 lesser than or equal to that of regeneration and maintaining discharge levels according to capacity levels.14 These principles on a global scale are arguably not practical; as for wealthy nations the concept of sustainability means reducing environmental harm whilst for poor nations it means economic survival.15 Hence, a tradeoff is present between intergenerational and intra-generational equity requirements. Dryzek thus argues that the vagueness of sustainable development ought to be considered a virtue as it could allow for localized responses that could potentially encourage creative experimentation and social learning.16 Following the reasoning of limits discourses, the book: Natures Past, includes several essays concerning the various ways in which human beings have long affected their surrounding environment for hundreds and thousands of years.17 The book also indicates that dissimilar methods of environmental history show and prove that suggestive environmental changes are not a new development but that people have long been altering their natural surroundings, often in accidental behaviors. 18 Accidental human behaviors mentioned in the book show that pollution, along with many others, is one of the chief reasons for the decline of various species of animals. Anthropogenic involvement with animals is the main cause of their extinction. 19 In later decades, environmentalists were more concerned with how the environment has affected and stimulated human life more than how humans influenced the environment.20 Understanding the history and geography of the planet is the key to solving many environmental problems.21 Malcolm Newsons book: Managing the Human Impact on the Natural Environment: Patterns and Processes, examines the idea of how pollution started, how it should be monitored for the greater good of our planet and how the world

 Haj Ali 5 became contaminated over the years.22 It is stated: One of the overriding issues of environmental management is the cost of bringing it about.23 Just like everything else, it is costly to keep our planet safe and clean, and as such, laws were created and different strategies were implemented in order to limit environmental harm. Managing human impact on the natural environment also covers the element that the waste industry is growing and that waste discharges have potential impact on all three ambient qualities: air, water and land. The proposed solution is to avoid waste by minimizing it and reusing it, recovering material by recycling, recovering energy by making waste into energy incineration and by knowing how to handle and transport waste.24 Disposal of waste ought to be carried out in a secure area with properly engineered landfill systems. Akyena Brantuo argues that deforestation is causing our planet to become increasingly more of an unsafe habitat: The importance of trees becomes apparent when we imagine a world without them.25 Not only are humans destroying forests but also they are also not taking into consideration the eminent catastrophe a lack of trees will cause. Trees are being overused for mainly timber wood, paper and infrastructure. Approximately three billion people rely on wood for heating and cooking.26 The author points out that humans disregard the fact that trees are essential in dispersing rainfall in soil and that lack of trees would also reduce soil cohesion.27 Moreover, tree leaves help the ground to maintain moisture and trap chemicals in order to keep them out of lakes, rivers, and other natural habitats. Humans are neglecting one another indirectly by cutting down trees as they produce oxygen and filter the air we breathe. The author also points out that since trees protect water bodies, the drying up of lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, and springs, due to deforestation, will cause huge consequences on human life in the near

 Haj Ali 6 future.28 Deforestation is getting out of control and the only way to curb this effect is to plant a tree every time one is cut one down i.e. sustainability.29 A recent article by Reuben Chow revolves around the importance of clean air supply for human beings and other living creatures.30 The author argues that oxygen is an essential nutrient for human survival yet it is shocking how it is taken for granted. Good health and longevity is dependent on clean air supply to the extent that research has found that the lower levels of particulate air pollution, the better life expectancy.31 Reuben uses the example of the city of Buffalo, New York, in which he argues that pollution reduction caused the average life expectancy of the demographic to increase by approximately 10 months.32 The author states that emissions from cigarettes, engines and other urban activities generally amount to the small particulates of pollution, whilst the bigger particulates have a greater impact on visibility but cause less health problems as the human body tends to filter them out.33 This article is important as it exhibits how human involvement with the environment has resulted in pollution adversely affecting human health, and that pollution reduction is a key step towards increasing life expectancy and promoting long-term health.34 To summarize thus far: The environment is too broad an area to account for and detect every conceivable risk. Separate ethical issues arise; Recall that there is a trade-off between economic development and environmental protection, thus a question is raised: What if environmental degradation resulted in a benefit to society? i.e. an increase in goods and services, creation of jobs, a higher standard of living etc. Also the perceived solution of requiring a business or an individual to pollute so long they incur additional costs for cleanup procedures is arguably unethical: should we be placing a price on the

 Haj Ali 7 environment to begin with? Having said that, it is now time to turn to the possibility of implementing and utilizing a framework in which all relevant stakeholders can participate and encourage socially responsible behavior, but first lets take a brief look on the history of the concept of The Corporation and why it could potentially be the missing piece to this long and complicated puzzle known as environmental degradation. Joel Bakan in The Corporation, argues that over the last century and a half, the corporation has become the worlds most dominant institution.35 They determine what we eat, what we watch, what we wear, where we work, and what we do.36 There exists corporations out there whose value is greater than the GDP of certain countries. The main driving force of a corporation, according to the author, is the concept of limited liability. This concept acts to separate the corporation from its true owners the shareholders, thus creating a separate legal entity that is not a human being or an individual.37 The shareholders elect directors whose purpose to create policy and in turn appoint officers whose job is to implement the policy. Thus a principle-agent problem arises: the idea that an appointed officer might not act within the interests of the true owners (shareholders) and seek personal gain instead.38 As we shall see, this is not necessarily a bad thing, instead appointed directors and officers could use their power for both personal gain and for the benefit of society. Given the structure and power that corporations possess, they could lead the way in promoting socially responsible behavior and in turn protection of human health and the environment. Roger L. Martins Virtue Matrix can be considered a suitable tool for measuring an organizations return on social responsibility.39 The Virtue Matrix consists of four quadrants. The bottom two quadrants can be described as the civil foundation of the

 Haj Ali 8 matrix, and the top two as its frontier. 40 The civil foundation is a collection of customs, norms, laws and regulations that promote socially responsible behavior. The lower left quadrant consists of behavior that businesses engage in by choice, as per norms and customs. The lower right quadrant represents behavior required by law i.e. compliance. A dotted line separates the choice side from the compliance side, indicating that the boundary between the two is permeable.41 Thus, a business practice originally adopted by choice could find its way into the compliance quadrant if it becomes a widespread activity in a certain industry, therefore activities within these quadrants are said to be intrinsic in nature.42 So for example, businesses that make protection of the environment a primary objective could stand to gain from such a position (both financially and socially) and government could then require the innovative practice by law. The author gives the example of businesses offering health care benefits to employee dependents, and how it used to be a rare practice but that once it generated a good reputation among employees and customers it became a widespread practice eventually leading government to require it by law.43 As for the top two quadrants of the matrix, the left being the strategic and the right being structural, the author describes business activities within these quadrants as intrinsically motivated by nature and whose effect is not immediately apparent.44 Strategic behavior can be categorized as risky and part of managements overall business strategy. There is, however, the possibility of the activity drawing positive reactions from relevant stakeholders and eventually making its way towards the bottom quadrants i.e. the civil foundation; other businesses would imitate the innovator.45 Structural behavior can be described as being intrinsically motivated and could clash with the intentions of the true owners of a business (shareholders).46 This

 Haj Ali 9 behavior, although a potential benefit to society, could act as a detriment to the organization itself. The author gives an example of a company that continued to pay its employees despite economic hardship, which in turn resulted in a decrease in financial value for the owners.47 The boundary separating both upper quadrants is described as wavy, suggesting that certain business activities falling within both frontiers are neither beneficial nor detrimental to an organization.48 The author concludes by stating that although the matrix is not an absolute solution to adopting socially responsible behavior, it could act as a guide helping to foster innovation whilst balancing owner interests with that of society at large.49 In conclusion, another broader argument can be drawn from environmental health expert John Wargo in his most recent book Green Intelligence. When addressing significant environmental issues: Consider what the world might have done with the $5.5 trillion expended by the government to create, store, and deploy nearly 65,000 nuclear weapons held by both the United States and the Soviets during the 1980s. Imagine the improvements in health, education, environmental protection, parks, transit, technology, sustainable development, and foreign aid that might have changed the course of civilization if these resources had been directed for the greater good50

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Equity." Environmental Context. Web. 09 Apr. 2012. <http://www.uow.edu.au/~sharonb/STS300/equity/meaning/intragen.html>. - Intergenerational Equity." Environmental Context. Web. 09 Apr. 2012. <http://www.uow.edu.au/~sharonb/STS300/equity/meaning/integen.html>. John S. The Politics of the Earth: Environmental Discourses. 2nd ed. Oxford UP, 2005. Print. Revised.
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 Haj Ali 11 16 Dryzek, John S. The Politics of the Earth: Environmental Discourses. 2nd ed. Oxford UP, 2005. Print. Revised. 17 Goudie, Andrew. The human impact on the natural environment. 5th ed. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT
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Akyena Brantuo. (2010) Deforestation: A Threat To Human Survival. Next Generation Youth League International (NGYL)
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 Haj Ali 12 32 Chow, Reuben. (2009) Cleaner Air has Improved Life Expectancy across the United States. 33 Chow, Reuben. (2009) Cleaner Air has Improved Life Expectancy across the United States. 34 Chow, Reuben. (2009) Cleaner Air has Improved Life Expectancy across the United States. 35 Bakan, Joel. The Corporation. 1st ed. Penguin Canada, 2004. Print. 36 Bakan, Joel. The Corporation. 1st ed. Penguin Canada, 2004. Print. 37 Bakan, Joel. The Corporation. 1st ed. Penguin Canada, 2004. Print. 38 Bakan, Joel. The Corporation. 1st ed. Penguin Canada, 2004. Print. 39 Roger L. Martin, "THE VIRTUE MATRIX Calculating the Return on Corporate Responsibility."
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40 Roger

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43 Roger

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L. Martin, "THE VIRTUE MATRIX Calculating the Return on Corporate Responsibility." Harvard Business Review Mar. 2002.

48 Roger

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49 Roger

 Haj Ali 13 50 Wargo, John. Green Intelligence: Creating Environments That Protect Human Health. New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 2009. Print.