MBS662 - Planetary Boundaries and Sustainable Development Report

This report delves into the critical intersection of business, society, and the environment, focusing on planetary boundaries and sustainable development. It begins by examining the Stockholm Resilience Centre's work on global sustainability, highlighting the Planetary Boundaries framework and the environmental impacts of consumerism as illustrated by the 'Built to Trash' concept. The report reflects on discussions about the extent of environmental problems caused by waste and the role of scientific research in promoting sustainability. It further explores the influence of political inequalities on coordinated environmental efforts, referencing the World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report and the challenges of international policy coordination. The report also investigates local initiatives such as Josh's House and the Whitegum Valley project, which promote sustainable housing and community development. The analysis underscores the importance of sustainable practices, policy-making, and addressing political hurdles to achieve meaningful environmental sustainability.

Running head: BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Session 2- Planetary Boundaries and Sustainable Development
Pre seminar 2
Stockholm resilience center is a research and development organization that concerns
itself with several environment oriented researches and projects. The organization deals with the
science of sustainability. The main work of the organization concerns finding solutions to the
complex problems that challenges humanity. It was formed in Stockholm in 2007. Their work
planetary boundaries are focused towards forming a framework for global sustainability. The
group is funded by a number of organizations. Some of the largest funders include, Sida,
European Research Council, Vetenskapsradet, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency,
Nordforsk, The Nippon Foundation and other significant funders. Some of the largest funding
partners are, Zennstrom Philanthropies, Arctic Research Foundation with Jim Balsilie and
Johansson Family Foundation.
Built to trash is a significant work that focuses on the severe environmental impact that
can be caused due to the cheap consumerist commodities that are being made by manufacturing
enterprises. The question arises that how much of these materials would be used in the world and
affect the future generations. In the present scenario there is a shortage of genuine materials for
manufacture of products. It can be seen that usually the 3rd world countries are the ones that are
facing serious environmental concerns due to usage of cheap material for making various
products. The use and throw nature of the presently manufactured goods raise serious
environmental concerns.

2BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Post seminar 2
The discussion challenged my thinking of the extent of the environmental problems that
were being caused by wastes being generated. It was confirmed that the problems that the world
faces due to environmental issues are much larger than the other issues. Moreover, the
generations of more waste as a cycle of cheaper manufactured products that do not last long was
confirmed trough the studies that were consulted. It is important to note that the production of
waste is increasing despite the efforts some dedicated organizations. The Stockholm Resilience
Centre was known and its work effectiveness was easily understood. I developed understanding
of the required scientific research that can help the generation of waste in the world. What
remains to be understood is how much the research work, awareness and funding of the research
projects can improve the chances of better sustainability in the future. The things that need to be
significantly explored are the areas from where the larger part of the wastes are being generated.
The exact steps that are required to be taken to generate positive outcomes concerning waste
control and sustainability need to be explored further.

3BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Bibliography
Brown, K. (2015). Resilience, development and global change. Routledge.
Built to Trash. (2019). Retrieved from http://inthesetimes.com/article/5023/built_to_trash

4BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Session 3- Cosmopolitanism and the Cosmopolitical
Pre seminar 3
Consulting the provided sources, it became clear that the global sustainability is more
about the policymaking that goes into it rather than reaching a direst consensus. It was found that
despite pollution and climate change being a global problem, there are different levels of
interventions by different national governments. In the 2019, report of the World Economic
Forum some significant emerging threats were identified in regards to global environmental
sustainability (The Global Risks Report 2019). It was found through the report that within the
next 10 years extreme weather and failure of climate change policies were seen to be major
threats. Moreover, it was found that 9 of 10 respondents expect the conditions to get worse in
regards to economic and political conflicts between major powers this year. This points to the
fact that environmental initiatives are being overshadowed by political and economic tensions.
As essentially found through various empirical studies, political hurdles often jeopardize
the implementation of effective environmental sustainability policies. I found out that the
prospects of national policymaking in terms of sustenance suffer greatly from the lack of
international coordination. This leads to highly ineffective environmental policies. Social
inequality, climate change and migrations are issues that several nations are failing to cope with.
It can be said that policies suffer from the polarized political environments.
Post seminar 3

5BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
I used to think that global powers are working together to solve the climatic problems.
However, the major thing that I was able to learn was the effect that political inequalities were
having on the prospects of coordinated handling of environmental challenges. It was confirmed
that politics has a definitive role to play in the formation and implementation of laws to save the
environment. Moreover, it was also confirmed that given the present economic and political
situation of the world, it will be difficult to continue with many of the environmental
sustainability plans. It remains to be seen how the world powers can re-negotiate the prospects of
environmental sustainability. Political issues have to be identified and tackled significantly
towards improving the prospects of future sustainability. It is important that at this time the
countries that have contributed the most to global pollutions reach a consensus among
themselves to stop global pollution. I would like to explore the possibilities for improving future
political hurdles. At work I have begun to notice that more people are inclined towards recycling
and sustainability. The organizations are giving more preference to ecological solutions.

6BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Bibliography
Heinrichs, H., & Biermann, F. (2016). Sustainability: Politics and governance. In Sustainability
science (pp. 129-137). Springer, Dordrecht.
In times of political polarization, progressive policymaking suffers. (2019). Retrieved from
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/12/political-polarization-bad-policymaking-
sustainable-government-indicators/
Maak, T. (2009). The cosmopolitical corporation. Journal of Business Ethics, 84(3), 361.
The Global Risks Report 2019. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-
global-risks-report-2019

7BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Session 4- Cities, Glocality and the business politics
Pre seminar 4
Josh’s house is an organization that takes part in building of energy efficient homes. This
contributes greatly towards environmental sustainability. The current project of the organization
is very important. It focuses on building a 10 star energy efficient home for the head of the
organization Josh Byrne. The organization is focused towards providing smart low cost
sustainable home building solutions. It is focused towards changing the notion that the
sustainable buildings need to be made through bearing more expense. This project would be an
experimental project to start a similar trend in the sustainable building industry. Whitegum valley
project is a sustainability project in Australia. It focuses on the removal of developers and
replacing them with people that can build more community centric sustainable housing. The
housing designs are affordable and effective. It gives more importance to space with streets on
both the sides. It focuses on developing the community as well as the environment. This can
greatly be attributed to the modern concepts of greener and cleaner cities. If successful both of
these projects can promote greener, cleaner and sustainable communities and cities.
Post seminar 4
My thinking in regard to the future of the cities and the water resources that sustain them
have been changed. It was confirmed that sustainable development of newer houses are the
essential factors for future development. The questions that were answered were in regards to the
effectiveness that can be achieved through the privatization of the water resources. The
feasibility of privatization of water resources and the utilization of sustainable designs were
questions that were unanswered. I would like to explore better ways of making greener and

8BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
cleaner homes for better sustainable solutions. I would like to explore the prospects of green
initiatives.

9BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Bibliography
About the Project - Josh's House. (2019). Retrieved from https://joshshouse.com.au/about-the-
project/
Barber, B. (2013). If mayors ruled the world. (Chapter 1.) New Haven: Yale University Press,
3-24
Should water be privatized? in Taylor, R. (2014). Taking Sides: Clashing Views on
Sustainability (2nd edition). New York: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 289-319.
White Gum Valley project a first in Australia - Fabric Quarterly. (2019). Retrieved from
https://fabricquarterly.com.au/2018/07/white-gum-valley-project-a-first-in-australia/