Understanding Our Environment

Our Environment

• The world population is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050.
• Energy and resource consumption is increasing faster than population growth.
• Consumption is outpacing the environment's capacity to absorb its impacts.
• The climate is changing on a global scale.
• Evidence of climate change includes the loss of biodiversity, acid rain, desertification, and impacts to tropical rainforests.
• There is a significant consumption imbalance between wealthy and poor countries.

Environmental Reality

• Canada's greenhouse gas emissions rose by 19% between 1990 and 2001, ranking highest in the G8.
• Canada, the U.S. and Luxembourg are the three worst offenders in critical areas.
• High per capita emissions of greenhouse gases (SO2, CO, volatile organic compounds) come from these countries.
• These countries have high water and energy consumption
• These countries have low an energy efficiency
• There is a high volume of timber logged in these countries
• Generation of nuclear waste is also a factor in the environmental impact of these three countries.
• If everyone lived like the average Indonesian, two-thirds of the planet's biocapacity would be used.
• If everyone lived like the average Argentinean, more than half an additional planet would be needed to sustain humanity.
• If everyone lived like the average American, the Earth would need to regenerate four times its annual capacity to meet humanity's demands.

Environmental Ethics

• Environmental ethics studies the moral relationship of humans to the environment.
• It examines the value and moral status of the environment and its non-human contents.
• Environmental ethics challenges anthropocentrism, or human-centeredness.
• Ecology, politics, and the application of ethical theories are other aspects of environmental ethics.
• One ethical question is whether there is a moral obligation to restore landforms and surface ecology damaged by activities like open-pit mining.
• Another consideration is the value of a restored environment compared to its natural state.
• It raises the question of whether it's ethically permissible for humans to pollute and destroy the natural environment.

Instrumental and Intrinsic Value

• Instrumental value is the value of things as a means to an end (e.g., apples for making juice).
• Intrinsic value is a value of things as ends in themselves, regardless of usefulness.
• If something has intrinsic value, moral agents are obligated to protect and/or refrain from damaging it.
• Plants can have both instrumental (for health and food) and intrinsic (aesthetic beauty) value.

Professional Engineers and Courts

• Engineers should refuse and avoid unsafe, unethical, or illegal environmental practices, even if requested by an employer or client.
• Protection of public welfare includes protecting the environment.
• Professional engineers must uphold the values of truth, honesty, trustworthiness, and safeguard human life, welfare, and the environment
• Engineers must exercise reasonable care, prudence, and use current scientific knowledge.

Professional Engineer Knowledge

• Knowledge of environmental law/regulations/bylaws is important
• Technical knowledge of substances is a factor
• Conduct analysis and prepare plans for handling, decommissioning and accidents

Canadian Environmental Law - Jurisdiction

• Environmental regulations exist at the federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal levels.
• It is an individual's responsibility to know the regulations before conducting any work that affects the environment.
• Environmental law covers wind, water, climate change, the ozone layer, the biosphere, and ecosystems.

Canadian Environmental Law - Federal

• The Canadian Environmental Protection Act is the main legislation for environmental regulation at the federal level.
• The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act encourages sustainable development.
• Pest Control Products Act regulates pest control.
• Canada Shipping Act regulates shipping
• Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act seeks to prevent pollution
• Fisheries Act regulates fisheries
• Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act regulates such trasnport

Canadian Environmental Law - Provincial

• Provinces own most of their natural resources.
• Provincial provisions include protection measures for resource exploitation.
• Measures include water and air pollution
• Measures include wildlife conservation and management
• Environmental impact assessments
• Environmental site assessments

Professional Guidelines for Environmental Consideration

• Develop and maintain awareness and understanding of the environment related to expertise.
• Use appropriate expertise of specialists in areas of non-competence on environmental issues.
• Apply professional and responsible judgment for environmental consideration.
• Ensure environmental planning and management are part of practice when adverse effects are possible.
• Consider full life-cycle assessment: costs, benefits, environmental stewardship, and sustainability.
• Include the cost of environmental protection in economic viability studies.
• Promote transparency with stakeholders and respond in a timely manner.
• Comply with regulatory requirements and strive to exceed them.
• Work with others to improve the environmental understanding and practice.

Economic Metaphors

• Metaphors highlight the unintentional impact of the marketplace on the environment.
• The invisible hand (Adam Smith) states that businesses act in their own self-interest.
• Butchers do not prepare meat to feed people, but to make a profit.
• Organizations can be led by the "invisible hand" to promote an unintended end.
• Competition pressures corporations to improve products and lower prices, benefitting consumers.
• The tragedy of the commons states that people are thoughtless about the things that are not individually owned and seem unlimited.
• Overusing anything (air, land, forests, lakes, oceans, species, entire biosphere) will harm everyone.
• If each farmer adds a cow to a common grazing area for economic benefit, the practice, in the long run, will devastate the land.
• Devastation is shared by all.

Globalization

• Business processes are distributed across many countries due to globalization.
• E-communication has dramatically increased human collaboration across all fields.
• Social and economic partners must guide technology toward sustainable development and global prosperity.

Sustainable Development

• Does not deplete irreplaceable resources
• Does not destroy ecological systems
• Helps reduce gross social inequalities
• Sustainable development is about living off the interest, not the principal!

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

• CSR demonstrates an organization's social and ethical performance and accountability to its stakeholders.
• Stakeholders are groups that affect and/or are affected by the organization's activities.
• To account for something is to explain or justify actions, omissions, risks, and dependencies.
• Social and ethical issues rely on an organization's values, aims, and societal norms and expectations.

Canadian Democracy and Corporate Accountability Commission (CDCAC) Survey Results

• A CDCAC survey reveals that 72% of the public and 74% of shareholders believe corporations should prioritize social responsibility over profits.
• 80% believe the government should set social responsibility standards.
• 75% agree that the government should boycott non-compliant firms.
• 80% believe that enforceable trade agreements safeguarding the environment, workers, and human rights would reduce opposition to globalization.
• 84% think Canada should independently enforce corporate ethics codes if other nations don't.
• 54% want the federal government to ban political donations from corporations.

CSR and its Drivers

• Organizations face increased pressure to show ethical performance and accountability, driving CSR.
• Europe has the Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability (1999).
• Canada has the Canadian Democracy and Corporate Responsibility (2002).

CSR Issues

• There needs to be a required commitment from top management
• Business schools are not teaching CSR
• Accessing CSR information of companies is difficult
• Information is disclosed only if it has a significant “material” effect on their bottom line.
• 37% of Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) shareholders voted to make the results of ethics audits public, which management opposed.
• Smitham has stated that opening companies books could put them at a competitive disadvantage.
• HBC factory workers in Lesotho, South Africa, were hit by supervisors, forced to work overtime, and fired for union involvement.

Principles of Social Responsibility

• Accountability
• Transparency
• Ethical behavior
• Respect for stakeholder interests
• Respect for the rule of law
• Respect for international norms of behavior
• Respect for human rights

Management Systems for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development

• ISO 9001, Quality Management System: Identify negative customer impacts, Manage for continual reduction and comply with laws
• ISO 14001, Environmental Management System: Identify negative environmental impacts, manage for continual reduction and comply with laws
• OHSAS 18001, Occupational health and safety: Identify negative occupational human risks, Manage for continual reduction and comply with laws
• SA8000, Management system for Social Accountability: Commit to healthy, safe, fair and equitable working conditions and identify negative impacts on employees and the environment
• AA 1000, Management system for accountability: Identify and engage all stakeholders and identify impact on all stakeholders

Reasoning for Management Systems

• Provides confidence that everyone understands who is responsible for doing what, when, why, where and how
• It demonstrates the ability to consistently meet customer, stakeholder, and regulatory requirements
• Addresses customer and stakeholder satisfaction
• Identifies opportunities for improvement
• Is part of continuous improvement

ISO 9001: Management Responsibility

• Establishes quality policy and objectives
• Communicates the importance of meeting customer, stakeholder, and regulatory requirements
• Conducts management and performance reviews
• Ensures availability of resources
• Obtains feedback on the effectiveness and efficiency of the quality management system
• Encourages involvement and development of people
• Determines the root cause(s) of nonconformities or deficiencies

ISO 14001 Reasons for Implementation

• Customer Demand e.g. black–green lists
• Government factors for implementing these include demand for compliance, regulatory relief and basis for Plea of Due Diligence
• There is also a marketing opportunity when implementing these
• Reduced liability and improved confidence
• Positive bottom-line impact

ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001

• Pollution and accident prevention.
• Compliance with laws.
• Tracking and acting on changes in legal requirements.
• Understanding the impact of products, processes, and activities on environmental and employee health/safety.
• There should be communicatiion that is internal and external

Social Accountability (SA) 8000

• Conduct and factory certification code
• Based on ILO and UN declarations
• Right to organize and bargain collectively.
• Prohibition of child labor/forced labor/discrimination.
• Compensation.
• Many certified factories in the textile/toy industry.
• Requirements apply to geographic locations, industry, and company size.
• The company must comply with national and applicable laws.

Principles of CSR continued

• Accountability: Answer for the impact of decisions and activities to those affected including society, the environment and stakeholders
• Transparency: The purpose, nature and location of a company's activities must be transparent
• Ethical behavior: Organizations should actively promote ethical behaviour by all members
• Respect for Stakeholder Interests: identify stakeholders and respect their legal rights and legitimate interests
• Respect for Rule of Law: comply with legal and regulatory requirements
• Respect for International Norms of Behaviour: Respect international norms of behaviour
• Respect for Human Rights: Following the rights set out in the International Bill of Human Rights