BUSINESS ETHICS

Lecture # 26
Handout
Report of World Watch Institute

FORESTS AND BIODIVERSITY

The number of plant and animal species inhabiting the planet is not accurately
known. Nearly 2 million species have been identified, but estimates of the
number yet to be described range from 10 million to 30 million (United Nations
Environment Program, 1995). Ecosystems of all kinds are under pressure
worldwide. Coastal and lowland areas, wetlands, native grasslands, and many
types of forests and woodlands have been particularly affected or destroyed.
While forests decreased by about 5 per cent between 1980 and 1995, the rate of
deforestation has been declining slightly (Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations, 2000b). Additional threats confront fragile aquatic habitats,
including coral reefs and freshwater habitats, which face an array of assaults
from dams to land-based pollution to destructive fishing techniques.

Over the past 150 years, deforestation has contributed one third of the
atmospheric build-up of CO2 , and it is a significant factor in the loss of species
and critical ecosystem services (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
2000). Since the beginnings of agriculture 10,000 years ago, by some estimates,
almost half of the earth’s forests have been converted to farms, pastures and
other uses, and only one fifth of original forest remains in large, relatively natural
ecosystems. Forested areas, including forest plantations as well as natural
forests, occupied about one fourth of the world’s land area in 1995. Tropical rain
forests are important for the quantity and diversity of life they support. They cover
only 7 per cent of the earth’s land area, but contain at least 50 per cent of
terrestrial species (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
1999b). The influences of forests and biodiversity are global, reaching far beyond
national borders, in both space and time. Therefore, international cooperation is
essential in order to integrate environmental issues better into global, regional
and national decision-making processes.

Ozone depletion is also a serious concern. Caused by the release of CFCs into
the atmosphere, ozone depletion may lead to several hundred thousand new
cases of skin cancer each year and destroy many valuable food crops. Also,
ocean plankton, on which the entire ocean's food chain depends, may be
severely damaged. Even though CFC production has been nearly halted, we can
expect the gasses already released to continue damaging the ozone for the next
century.
Burning fossil fuels causes acid rain and global warming. Though not as
devastating as global warming, it nevertheless is harming many fish populations
and trees, corroding bridges and buildings, and contaminating drinking water.
Airborne toxins and air quality in general are also serious concerns for human
health.

Airborne Toxics are less catastrophic but highly worrisome air pollution threats;
2.4 billion pounds of airborne toxic substances released annually into the nation's
atmosphere, including phosgene, a nerve gas used in warfare, and methyl
isocyanate.

Water pollution is likewise a serious problem. About 40% of the world's surface
water is too polluted to fish or swim in. Pollution comes from agriculture, mines,
oil wells, human wastes, manufacturing, detergents, and the food industry,
among other sources. Today, almost 1 billion people lack access to safe water
and the world’s per capita supplies of water are shrinking.

The pollution of the land by toxic substances also causes increased mortality and
illness. Hazardous or toxic substances are those that can cause an increase in
mortality rates or irreversible or incapacitating illness, or those that have other
seriously adverse health or environmental effects. Over 58,000 different chemical
compounds are currently being used in the U.S., and the number is increasing
each year. How many of these chemicals affect humans, no one really knows.
The sheer volume of solid waste is staggering: each U.S. resident produces
about seven pounds of garbage per day. Though this quantity is massive, it is not
even close to the quantity of industrial waste. The EPA estimates that about 15
million tons of toxic waste is produced in the U.S. each year. This does not
include nuclear wastes, which, because they are so concentrated and persistent,
present special problems for storage and disposal. Each nuclear reactor
produces 265 pounds of plutonium waste a year, a substance so toxic that only
twenty pounds would be sufficient to cause lung cancer in everyone on Earth. So
far, no one really knows how to dispose of this and similar wastes safely and
securely.

As if pollution was not serious enough, we also must consider the depletion of
species, habitats, and natural resources. The world loses about 1% of its rain
forests each year, and between 15% and 20% of species had become extinct by
2000. Our consumption of fossil fuels has recently been rising at exponential
rates, but this cannot continue much longer because we are coming close to the
depletion point of fossil fuels. Minerals are also being depleted, so we can expect
them gradually to become more scare and expensive. This scarcity will have a
serious impact on the world economy.

The Ethics of Pollution Control

Businesses have been ignoring their impact on the natural environment for
centuries, largely because the economic costs and harmful effects of this impact
have been unclear. Businesses have treated air and water as free goods that no
one owns. Since the carrying capacity of both is so large, each individual firm
sees its own contribution to pollution as negligible. Combined, however, the
effects are enormous. The harm comes not only from the direct activity of
businesses. Pollution also occurs as a result of consumer use of manufactured
items. The problems of pollution have a variety of origins, and will require a
similarly varied set of solutions. The rest of this chapter concentrates on a single
range of problems, the ethical issues raised by pollution from commercial and
industrial enterprises.