Environmental Responsibility

ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
By Vasantt K. Jogoo

Introduction

1.0 Concern over environmental issues has definitely reached new heights if judged by the headlines it is making in the press and the number of international meetings devoted to its debate. The natural resource base of most countries continues to be degraded at an alarming rate. While the state has a major role to play in the arbitration of conflicts that arise between environmental and developmental goals, it is becoming obvious that the stewardship of the natural environment has to be the responsibility of everyone. In fact, many of the environmental challenges could be resolved if every section of the society, individual or organization accepted greater environmental responsibility by changing its habits and practices slightly.
Traditional Responses to Environmental Threats
2.0 The primary goal of all governments is to foster economic growth, create wealth, improve human welfare, and satisfy the material wants of their citizens. The environment is viewed as a storehouse of minerals and raw materials that are essential to the production of goods and services for decent standards of living. We often fail to realize that it also supports plant and animal life, and provides the means of growing food. It is, furthermore, a source of aesthetic experience and recreation. With increasing rates of economic growth, however, the environment has become a sink for all the waste that is generated by modern activities, giving rise to numerous environmental problems. As more and more countries are racing towards greater industrialization and economic growth, transformation of the ecological capital is now outstripping the natural processes by which the resources replenish themselves, a fact that severely compromises the ability of future generations to sustain a decent livelihood.
3.0 The state, conscious of the fact that neither businesses nor personal interests can on their own effectively ensure the sustainable use of resources, has traditionally played a prominent role in the arbitration of conflicts that arise between environmental and developmental goals, and the preservation and enhancement of the existing stock of ecological capital. It has done so by putting in place an armada of legislative texts and a multitude of bodies entrusted with a wide variety of tasks ranging from pollution control to coastal zone management. However, the lack of coordination among the different agencies involved in environmental protection and management, and the perception by economic planners that environmental legislation is anti-development, means that the environment has continued to be under increasing threats. However, political imperatives have so far dictated an incremental approach to threats, with decision-makers preferring to wait for a perceived threat to reach crisis stage to take action, encouraged by the complexity of environmental issues and the fact that such issues become visible at different points in time. But such a fragmented approach is very dangerous, as the threats become more serious and more difficult to deal with as time passes. Climate change, for example, is now an immediate reality, with global mean temperatures and sea levels rising, and communities across the world confronting the harsh effects of more frequent and more extreme weather conditions.

Redefining Environmental Stewardship

4.0 The failure to halt environmental degradation has prompted the global community to take a closer examination of past responses to serious environmental threats. This comes with the realisation that many of these environmental problems, if unresolved, will jeopardise economic development efforts of many countries, which find themselves ill-equipped to deal with the impacts. In fact, the complex relationship between environmental degradation, population increase, poverty and other development issues have provided enough evidence that sustainable development and conservation of the environment cannot be achieved through legislation and regulation alone. Environmental protection has to be addressed in a more open and inclusive manner, relying more on effective partnerships, networking, awareness-building, and institutional development. Hence, every individual, organisation, or community needs to feel responsible towards the environment, and bring those little changes to the way one travels, uses energy, or shops. All these little initiatives will eventually reduce the pressure on environmental resources quite significantly. At the level of organisations, Corporate Environmental Responsibility will require that initiatives encompass material and energy management, a fully transparent stakeholder engagement, and a commitment to achieve environmental performance levels beyond the minimum set by environmental regulations.

5.0 For environmental responsibility to be effective, whether at individual or corporate level, the Government needs to remove all the barriers to its advancement by: reinforcing environmental regulation rather than encouraging deregulation; promoting voluntary environmental initiatives (like use of green technologies, renewable energy, waste reduction, and water and energy conservation) through subsidies, grants, loans, tax rebates, and so forth; eliminating subsidies of businesses causing environmental damage; implementing market-based mechanisms (like emissions trading); and building the capacity of organizations and communities to help them implement sound environmental management systems. A combination of regulation, awareness-raising, and self-discipline, has shown that society can adopt environment-friendly habits. Waste recycling, for example, has in a decade become second nature to many urban dwellers across the globe.

How Governments can Promote Environmental Responsibility

6.0 More importantly, though, the Government has the obligation to lead by example. In fact, governments account for a very significant proportion of total economic activity in many countries, and as such they assume a far bigger share of environmental responsibility. They can leverage their considerable purchasing power by implementing a strong green procurement policy, and thus encourage businesses to adopt environment-friendly practices and become more competitive.

7.0 Many governments are actively promoting environmental responsibility schemes with some success. The United Kingdom, for example, is currently implementing a policy tool based on a combination of corporate responsibility and the "polluter pays" principle. Such “producer responsibility” ensures that businesses who place products on the market take responsibility for them once they have reached the end of their useful life. This policy aims to achieve a more sustainable approach to resource use and a reduction in the quantity of waste, thereby eliminating the need for more landfills, and by encouraging re-use, recycling or other forms of recovery. Such a policy has the added advantage of inciting the businesses to design products that uses fewer resources, eliminates the use of hazardous substances, and generates lower quantities of waste.

Conclusion

8.0 The continued deterioration of the environment poses a serious threat to the well-being and survival of many communities and countries, especially small island states. Traditional approaches to dealing with such threats have failed in halting the continued degradation of the world’s natural resources. It is now clear that the protection of the environment has to be the responsibility of everyone. Such environmental responsibility has to be exercised at all levels, be it by the individual (by changing some daily habits) or the corporation (by adopting green technologies). But, above all, the Government, through its enormous purchasing power, can lead the way, not only by enforcing adequate legislation and providing a combination of regulatory and financial incentives, but also by implementing a strong green procurement policy. The United Kingdom, through its “producer responsibility” policy has shown that businesses can be encouraged to design greener products and remain competitive, while reducing the volume of waste that goes to landfills.