MGS521 - Ethics and Global Environment Analysis: Summer 2018

This essay explores the critical intersection of environmental ethics, sustainable development, and the Anthropocene in the context of global business operations. It examines how ethical considerations and sustainable practices are becoming increasingly important for international organizations facing environmental pressures. The analysis delves into the relationship between Anthropocene, environmental ethics, and sustainable development, highlighting their collective aim toward improving the earth's sustainability. It also addresses pressing global environmental issues like global warming and pollution, emphasizing the role of corporations in mitigating their environmental impact through sustainable practices and updated technologies. The essay references examples of companies like Unilever and Apple Inc. that are actively implementing sustainability initiatives. Furthermore, it touches upon international agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Accord, underscoring their significance in guiding organizational operations toward environmental responsibility. The essay concludes by asserting the long-term impact of environmental concerns on organizational success and the necessity for both organizations and individuals to prioritize sustainable operations and reduce their carbon footprint.

Running head: ANALYSIS OF ETHICS AND GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
ANALYSIS OF ETHICS AND GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The environmental ethics play an important role in the operations of international
organizations. The display of ethical behaviour is however not quite simple in the practical
field. The global environment has put huge amounts of pressure on the organizations to
depict ethical behaviour in an effective manner. The research essay is based on the analysis of
the ways by which the environmental ethics, sustainable development and Anthropocene and
the ways by which these factors are able to relate with each other. The concerns related to the
global environment will also be analysed in the essay.
Analysis of environmental ethics
Anthropocene is considered to be the proposed epoch dating based commencement
of the significant human impact on the geology of the earth and ecosystems. The
Anthropocene Working Group is responsible for conducting the operations of the
Anthropocene agreement. The concept of Anthropocene is proposed by Vladimir Vernadsky
in the year 1938 (Chatzoglou and Chatzoudes 2016).
Environmental ethics is considered to be a part of the environmental philosophy
which is based on the consideration that helps in the extension of the traditional boundaries of
the ethics that include humans and the non-human world as well. This factor thereby
influences a large range of the disciplines which include, environmental sociology,
environmental law, ecotheology, ecological, environmental geography. The human beings are
required to take many ethical decisions for the welfare of the environment. The academic
field of the environmental ethics has grown up based on the work of the scientists like,
Rachel Carson (Gutierrez et al. 2015). The events such as Earth Day have been organized in
various areas for the purpose of providing the required importance to environmental ethics.
The major principle that is related to environmental ethics is based on the ways by which the

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ethical relationships are created between human beings and the natural environment as well.
The human beings are considered to be an integral part of the environment and they thereby
need to fulfil their responsibilities towards taking to take care of the issues that can occur in
the environment. Human beings also need to take care of the other living beings which are a
part of the nature. All the living beings of the earth therefore have the right to live within the
environment like the human beings themselves (Palacios-Marqués et al. 2015).
Sustainable development is based on the organizing principle of meeting the
different human development based goals and at the same time the ability of the natural
systems is also sustained effectively. The natural systems are able to provide ecosystem
services and natural resources on which the society and economy is dependent. The result
that is desired after the implementation of sustainable development is the state of the society
in which the living conditions and resources are used for meeting human needs. The process
of sustainable development is based on the ways by which needs of the present generation
can be met without compromising with those of the future generations (Sekaran and Bougie
2016).
The relationship that has been established between the three factors which are
namely, Anthropocene, environmental ethics and the sustainable development is based
on the ways by which they are aimed towards the improvement of the earth. The
sustainability of the factors that affect the environment are based on these three factors or
processes. These three processes are thereby linked with each other for the purpose of
creating an environment which is sustainable in nature and is able to fulfil the needs and
demands of the present and the future generations as well (Charter 2017).
The global environmental issues have become a troubling problem in the decade.
This issue has started increasing each day and has caused a visible effect on the current

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situation. These issues need to be mitigated so that the corporations are able to operate in a
sustainable manner. The current environmental issues are mainly based on the global
warming related problems that are faced by the organization. The major issue which is related
to ways by which the changes in the external environment has taken place in the recent years.
The global warming has also caused changes in the sea levels which can prove to be quite
dangerous for the future generations. The levels of pollution have been a major reason behind
the environmental issues that have been faced by the human beings and the corporations as
well (Falkner 2017). The activities of human on the global environment have been affecting
the quality of air in a negative manner. The balance of the nature has been disturbed
constantly by the activiti4es that are being performed by the different organizations. The
corporations can play a major role in the improvement of environment and the ways by which
the different species live as well. The carbon footprint that has been created by the
organizations is an important factor that has been able to affect the environmental conditions.
The organizations need to reduce the effect that the operations and productions have on the
environment (Shishlov, Morel and Bellassen 2016). The businesses need to establish
sustainable practices that can help in reducing the carbon footprint and long term effects as
well. The sustainability audits that are done by the organizations is an important step towards
the ways by which they are able to maintain the operations properly. The materials and
technologies that are used by the organizations need to be updated in nature so that they are
able operate in a sustainable manner.
The first example of an organization that has taken useful steps to reduce the
environmental impacts of its operations is Unilever. The sustainability based operations of
Unilever are a part of the vision that has been set by the company. The reduction of the
greenhouse gases, waste impacts in the value chain and water usage are all related to the
sustainability based steps that have been taken by the organization. The raw materials that are

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sourced by the company are also done in such a manner which will not impact the external
environmental resources (Grunewald and Martinez-Zarzoso 2016). The reduction of
environmental impact on the ways by which the consumers use the products has proven to be
difficult for the organization. The performance levels of the organization are mainly based on
three factors which include, water, waste management and water usage.
The second example of an organization which is able to maintain sustainable
operations in the environment is Apple Inc. The company has been able to maintain its
position in the market with the help of the sustainable operations and practices that have been
implemented in the operations. The data centres of Apple are powered with the help of
renewable sources which have led to the reduction if energy usage by the production based
systems. The different infrastructures with the different features of Apple like, iTunes, Siri
and App Store are all powered by the energy and are generated on the site itself. The three
major data centres of the organization are based in North Carolina, Oregon and Nevala. The
company has entered into a power purchase agreement with the PV developer named First
Solar Inc. The deal that was made by Apple was worth 848 million dollars. The products of
Apple are manufactured in China and the organization has also launched a program which is
based on the ways by which the partners are able to become more and more energy efficient.
The energy trading based activities that have been performed by the organization haver led to
the coverage of the facilities of the organization with solar panels. The company has claimed
that it has powered around 93% of the operations with the help of renewable energy.
The Kyoto Protocol is an agreement which is linked to United Nations Framework
Convention on the Climate Change, which mainly commits the Parties with the help of
setting the international binding emission reduction based targets. This international treaty
mainly extends the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climatic Change
(UNFCC) which commits that the state parties need to reduce the emission of the greenhouse

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gases. The global warming based issues that are being faced by different organizations can
also be solved with the help of scientific consensus. The Kyoto Protocol was mainly adopted
in Kyoto, Japan in the year 1997 (Almer and Winkler 2016). The Kyoto Protocol is mainly
implemented with an objective to fight the issues related to global warming which is
increased due to the high emissions of greenhouse gases. The six major greenhouse gases
which are under the listing of Kyoto Protocol are, Carbon dioxide, Methane,
Hydrofluorocarbons, Perfluorocarbons and Sulphur hexafluoride.
The Paris Accord is an agreement which is a part of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change which also deals with the high emissions of greenhouse gases
in the external environment. The agreement will be implemented practically in the year 2020.
The language of the agreement is mainly negotiated by the representatives of 196 state based
parties at the 21st Conference of the Parties that are a part of UNFCC. Under the Paris
Agreement the countries are able to determine, plan and report the contribution which has
been undertaken for the purpose of mitigating global warming in the external environment.
The targets that have been set within the agreement need to be fulfilled by the countries
which are a part of this agreement (Davenport 2015).
The Kyoto Protocol has already been implemented in the practical field and on the
other hand the Paris Accord is still under process. The agreements will however have a long
term impact on the organizational operations. The organizations need to follow the
requirements of this protocol so that they are able to fulfil the targets that ate set for the
country by the members of the agreement.

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Conclusion
The essay can be concluded by stating that the environmental concerns are able to
affect the successful operations of the organizations in the long term. The lives of human
beings and their future generations will also be affected in an adverse manner due to
environmental degradation. The organizations and the individuals thereby need to take care
of the environmental issues and try to reduce the carbon footprint so that they are able to
operate in the environment in a sustainable manner. The sustainable operations will help the
organizations and the communities for a longer period.

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References
Almer, Christian, and Ralph Winkler. "Analyzing the effectiveness of international
environmental policies: The case of the Kyoto Protocol." Journal of Environmental
Economics and Management 82 (2017): 125-151.
Charter, Martin. Greener marketing: A responsible approach to business. Routledge, 2017.
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327-358.
Davenport, Coral. "Nations approve landmark climate accord in Paris." New York Times 12
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Falkner, Robert. Business power and conflict in international environmental politics.
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Grunewald, Nicole, and Inmaculada Martinez-Zarzoso. "Did the Kyoto Protocol fail? An
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Gutierrez, Anabel, Elias Boukrami, and Ranald Lumsden. "Technological, organisational and
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Sekaran, Uma, and Roger Bougie. Research methods for business: A skill building approach.
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