Ethical and Sustainability Analysis of Global Resource Scarcity

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of resource scarcity as a critical sustainability issue of global significance. It examines the environmental, social, and economic elements contributing to resource scarcity, including factors like climate change, population growth, religious beliefs, labor costs, and government policies. The essay identifies ethical problems such as unequal resource allocation and reduced resource governance, further exploring business threats and opportunities arising from resource scarcity. It concludes by proposing ethical and sustainable solutions, emphasizing the importance of behavioral changes, technological innovations, and financial stability in addressing the challenges of resource unsustainability. This document is available on Desklib, where students can find a wide array of academic resources.

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Ethics and Sustainability Analysis
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Ethics and Sustainability analysis
Task 1: Important Sustainability Issue for Global Significance
In the modern corporate world, the scarcity of the resources is one of the most critical
sustainability issues of the global significance (Ding, 2008, pp. 451-464).
Task 2: Main Environmental Elements
Currently, the resource scarcity is one of the significant global sustainability issues which
has received both the overestimation and the underestimation by the ethnic groups experiencing
the challenges. Some global ethnic groups observe that the scarcity of resources mainly results
from the effects of the continuous growth of the population. In some states such as the United
States of America, Japan, and Britain the skeptics of the climate and environmental changes have
continuously made up the most significant part of the population in the affected countries (Lotze-
Campen et al., 2008, pp.325-338).
Since the environmental factors such as rain and drought affect the population in
particular sections of the world, the demand of the resources for instance food, water, energy and
other materials increases thus the supply is affected, and the possessions become scarce. The
environmental factors that affect the scarcity of the resources include elements such:
- Drought and climate changes.
- The replacement of the fresh waters and the sea water resulting to the ground salty
waters in the coastal regions.
- Reduced amount of the rainfalls.
- Global warming resulting to the seasonal climate changes

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The drought and climate are the environmental factors which influence the scarcity of the
resources such as food, water, and energy (Barnett and Morse, 2013, pp.37-44). Rain and water
is the essential requirement for the agricultural practices, therefore, the when the sustainability of
the resource is affected; it results in the low supply of food as the resource. The Hydroelectric
power also depends on the amount of the water that can be applied for the power generation. The
scarcity of water is caused by the continuous growth of the population where the individuals
clear the water catchment areas thus reducing the amount of the harvested rain (Harvey, 2017, pp
25-46).
Additionally, the environmental elements in the coastal regions are caused by the scarcity
of the fresh waters due to the replacement of the clean water with the salty water from the sea.
The increasing population in the coastal regions promotes the destructions of the water
catchment areas only leaving the sea as the source of the water in the region. The salty water
replaces the underground waters thus the scarcity of the of water resources is a crucial
sustainability issue of the global significance.
Task 3: A Critical Social elements that affect the scarcity of resources
The scarcity of resources as a vital sustainability issue in the global significance is also
affected by the social elements such as.
- Religion and knowledge
- Sentiments
- End goals
- Norms and ideals
- Sanction

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The faith and expertise affect the scarcity of the resources in a specific region of the
ethnic groups due to the high standards of uniformity in the behaviors among the individuals
(Lerner, 2013, pp.29-41). The religious beliefs act as the controlling interventions of various
categories of the human societies. The scarcity of the resources such as the food might be
affected by the religious practices might allow for the consumption of the selected menu.
Therefore, the supply of the specific food reduces thus described as the sustainability issue of the
global significance.
Sentiments as a social element affect the scarcity of the resources since it is the practice
where an individual believes of the living with a reason (Mildner, Lauster, and Wodni, 2011,
p.156). Therefore, sentiments such as social, filial, and nationality have played a significant role
in making a consistent continuity of the society by the cultural practices. The consistent cultural
practices ensure the maximum utilization of the resources in a particular region thus increasing
the demands for the specific resources.
End goals as a social element of the scarcity of the resources are experienced when the
individuals believe of the over-dependence on appropriate support with the aim of total
satisfaction.
The social system of a specific ethnic group is kept constant by the norms of the society.
The rules such as the customs, folkways, morality, and fashion ensure the maximum utilization
of the available resources to attain a specific norm in the society. For instance, the resources are
used for the completion of the structures used for the fashion and when the demand increases the
amount of the raw materials also reduce thus the scarcity of the resources (Martin-Carrasco et
al., 2013, pp.1693-1705).
Task 4: Economic Elements that affect the scarcity of the resources

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Several economic elements are considered when analyzing the scarcity of the resources
as one of the outstanding issues affecting the global significance. Some of the most common
aspects considered include;
- Labor costs
- government policies
- Management
- Taxes.
The costs of labor may result to the scarcity of the resources since the high labor costs
lead to the fewer employment chances thus the production and supply of the products and
services might reduce significantly (Fischer et al., 2012, pp.129-134). The scarcity of the human
resource may result in a significant loss to the engaged industries accountable for the creation of
the goods that are on high demands.
Government policies assist in the monitoring of various natural resources. Due to the
increasing population in multiple nations worldwide, the government has developed numerous
programs to help in the regulation of the utilization of the public funds. When the government
policies have regulated the usage of a specific resource, the supply of the item reduces thus high
demand of the things. Therefore, it can be regarded as the sustainability issue of the global
significance (Schawe et al., 2014, pp.3245-3250).
The management and taxation also affect the availability of the resources since the
government uses the sources as some of the causes for its revenues. Various industries might not
attain the required amount charged for taxes. Thus they might consider not to participate I the
business activity. Therefore, the demands for the products increases since few industries produce

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while other companies cannot access the resources. Thus, taxation also contributes to the
influence of resource scarcity as an issue of the global significance.
Task 5: Ethical Problems Related to Resource Scarcity
The most common ethical problems related to the resource scarcity as the sustainability
issue of the global significance include:
- Unequal resource allocations.
- Reduced maintenance and the governance of the available resources.
Task 6: Discuss the Identified Ethical Problems
Most of the scarce resources for the global significance include the naturally occurring
resources. Various parts of the world have different resources available for the use by the local or
the international communities. Unequal distributions of the available resources might be
considered as some of the problems leading to the resource scarcity as some of the sustainability
issues. The products found from the identified sources might be of use to several individuals, but
the locations where they are found might be a challenge to the users in the areas far away from
the sources (Smith and Lewis, 2011, pp.381-403). Therefore, the increased demand resulting
from the unequal distribution of the resource can be experienced.
Reduced maintenance and governance of the resources might also be regarded as the
main problem affecting the resource scarcity as the sustainability issue of the global significance.
Without proper and well-established management programs for the available resources, the
individuals interacting with the sources might misuse and waste the resources, not putting them
into a constructive use thus making a limited available list which cannot satisfy the demands of
the consumers. For instance, the wastage of water as a natural resource might cause the high
demand to the consumers if the significant part is wasted and not used for meaningful purposes.

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Task 7: Business Threats and Opportunities
Resources such as water and energy have a high demand for the business activities. For
instance, several companies realize that water is a finite resource since the scarcity of water may
have a significant effect on the business activities of the affected companies. In most cases, the
shortage of resources such as water and energy might result in the closure, poor status or threaten
the operation of the organization (Brown and Matlock, 2011, p.19).
The scarcity of the resources might also be an excellent opportunity for the establishment
of various business organizations. The shortage of support shows that the supply is not enough to
satisfy the demands of the consumers. Therefore, it creates a business opportunity for various
organizations to establish the business that might assist in the meeting the requirements of the
required item. For instance, whenever power is scarce due to the low water levels, an
organization might come up with the business opportunity of establishing a solar power plant
which is used to supplement the scarce power resource (Homer-Dixon, 2010).
Task 8: Ethical and Sustainability Solution.
The scarcity of resources as the sustainability issue of the global significance is caused by
various barriers ranging from factors such as financial, technological and behavioral barriers.
Different ethical and sustainable solutions have been generated to help in solving the challenges
of the unsustainability of the resources (Brown and Matlock, 2011, p.19). For instance, about
behavior, the responsible community can come up with a relevant policy which can be used to
maintain the resource thus protecting it from misuse and wastage of the resource. The technology
also has a solution to the scarce resources where the inventions help in providing alternative
solutions to meet the demands of the supply. For instance, the solar technology can be used to
substitute the scares sources of the other energy resource. Financial abilities also help in

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acquiring the resource however costly or distant it might be; the financial stability can assist in
attaining the supply without many struggles.

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References
Barnett, H.J., and Morse, C., 2013. Scarcity and growth: The economics of natural resource
availability (Vol. 3). London: Routledge. pp. 37-44.
Brown, A., and Matlock, M.D., 2011. A review of water scarcity indices and methodologies. The
white paper, 106, p.19.
Ding, G.K., 2008. Sustainable construction—The role of environmental assessment
tools. Journal of environmental management, 86(3), pp.451-464.
Fischer, G., Hizsnyik, E., Prieler, S., van Velthuizen, H. and Wiberg, D., 2012. Scarcity and
abundance of land resources: competing uses and the shrinking land resource base. pp.
129-134.
Harvey, D., 2017. Population, resources, and the ideology of science. In Environment (pp. 25-
46). London: Routledge.
Homer-Dixon, T.F., 2010. Environment, scarcity, and violence. New Jersey: Princeton
University Press.
Lerner, M.J., and Lerner, S.C. eds., 2013. The justice motive in social behavior: Adapting to
times of scarcity and change. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 29-41
Lotze‐Campen, H., Müller, C., Bondeau, A., Rost, S., Popp, A. and Lucht, W., 2008. Global
food demand, productivity growth, and the scarcity of land and water resources: a
spatially explicit mathematical programming approach. Agricultural Economics, 39(3),
pp.325-338.
Martin-Carrasco, F., Garrote, L., Iglesias, A., and Medeiros, L., 2013. Diagnosing causes of
water scarcity in complex water resources systems and identifying risk management
actions. Water resources management, 27(6), pp.1693-1705.

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Mildner, S.A., Lauster, G. and Wodni, W., 2011. Lack and abundance revisited: A literature
review on natural resources and conflict. International Journal of Conflict and
Violence, 5(1), p.156.
Schawe, J., Heinke, J., Gerten, D., Haddeland, I., Arnell, N.W., Clark, D.B., Dankers, R., Eisner,
S., Fekete, B.M., Colón-González, F.J. and Gosling, S.N., 2014. Multimodel assessment
of water scarcity under climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, 111(9), pp.3245-3250.
Smith, W.K., and Lewis, M.W., 2011. Toward a theory of paradox: A dynamic equilibrium
model of organizing. Academy of Management Review, 36(2), pp.381-403.