 |  Business and Society: Corporate Strategy, Public Policy, Ethics, 10/e James Post,
Boston University
Anne T Lawrence,
San Jose State University
James Weber,
Duquesne University
Ecology, Sustainable Development, and Global Business
Chapter Summary- Many world leaders have supported the idea of sustainable development-economic growth without depleting the resources on which future generations will depend. But achieving sustainable development remains a challenge, and the community of nations has not yet worked out who will pay.
- Major threats to the earth's ecosystem include depletion of nonrenewable resources such as oil and coal, air and water pollution, and the degradation of arable land.
- Population growth, poverty, and rapid industrialization in many parts of the world have contributed to these ecological problems. The limits to growth hypothesis maintains that human society will soon exceed the carrying capacity of the earth's ecosystem, unless changes are made now.
- Three environmental issues-ozone depletion, global warming, and declining biodiversity-are shared by all nations. International agreements have been negotiated addressing all three issues, although more remains to be done.
- Global businesses have begun to put the principles of sustainable development into action through such innovative actions as life-cycle analysis, industrial ecology, design for disassembly, and technology cooperation. But many believe that voluntary actions by business cannot solve environmental problems without supportive public policies.
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education