Free Essay Example on Environmental Issues

What does the word sustainable mean?

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Sustainable as tossed around means the method of using or harvesting a certain resource so that that particular resource does not completely finished or damaged. A way of trying to control the usage of the resource to preserve for later or future use.

Is it fair for environmentalists to single out companies like Uniliver and Nestle that are relatively small consumers of palm oil, or is this justified simply as a matter of strategy?

I think it is fair for the environmentalists to single out small consumers of palm oil since small consumers exercise sustainable use of the pam oil. Small consumers do not need too much of the palm oil hence will only use a small percentage of the resources they require in this case the palm oil. However the demand for the products of the small consumers may increase with time which will in turn make the small consumers go for more of the palm oil. When small consumers go for more of the raw materials and their demand increases they will be big consumers thus endangering the environment as well.

How far must corporations go to ensure that various ingredients used in their products are produced in an environmentally satisfactory way? What if they aren't any truly sustainable options?

Corporations should be more open and transparent about how their products are being produced which will provide a medium through which it can be assessed. They should also partner with environmentalist corporations which should check through the production process to ensure compliance with environmentally satisfactory needs. Corporations must also ensure that their rules, regulations, and mission are well adhered to by their employees in order to achieve their goals thus their products will be produced in an environmentally satisfactory way.

Even with lack of any truly sustainable options the corporations should be considerate of the environment where we all live in. The corporations should dedicate themselves to saving the environment which makes the world beautiful, they should therefore set forth their own rules to ensure production of products in an environmentally friendly ways.

Can monitoring and self-regulation by industry groups like the Roundtable effectively address the environmental issues, or will outside pressure always be needed? Was the Greenpeace right to act as it did, or should it have tried to work with the companies in question?

Monitoring and self-regulation can address the environmental issues if only efforts to deal with the issues can be put in by everyone concerned. When everybody decides to save the environment it is very possible to solve the environmental issues. However with the personal differences and competition where one group wants to outshine the other and greed to accumulate wealth through all means make it very hard to solve the issues and have a purely clean environment. With the differences make it possible for the outside pressure to be needed to solve the issues. When monitoring and self-regulation fails then will pave way for outside pressure when we start losing wildlife and the forests. Self-regulation and monitoring will drag their feet consuming time leaving outside pressure with no choice.

Greenpeace was right to act as it did because even if the companies in question were given time they would still drag the process thus continue endangering the environment. Although Greenpeace should have engaged the companies in talks to try to reach amicable solutions together before storming their offices with protesters.

Preventing deforestation is important but once previously forested land has been cleared, whether six months or sixty years ago, is there anything wrong about using it to produce palm oil now?

I think there is something wrong with using it to produce palm oil since with the deforestation, when palm oil is burnt it emits hazardous gases to the air which endangers wildlife. I think the best way to use it now is to decompose them for agricultural process which will be very useful to farmers as well as very friendly to the environment unlike using to make palm oil. Although when the palm oil is used as biofuel there is nothing wrong since it saves us a big deal from using petroleum which is more harmful.

Used as a biofuel, palm oil reduces our dependence on petroleum. How do we balance that against deforestation?

We can balance using palm oil as a biofuel over petroleum with deforestation by sustaining the amount of palm trees cut down. We can plant as much palm trees more than the palm trees cut down annually, this will ensure that the palm trees are never depleted no matter what. It will be like recycling palm trees where when one palm tree is cut down more than two are planted for that one cut down.

Developing countries like Indonesia are responding to increased demand for palm oil by Western consumers. Is it fair to the producer nations to restrict the expansion of this industry?

It is fair for the producer nation to restrict the expansion of the industry since their environment is the most affected as compared to consumer nations. It is fair for the producer nation to take care of its environment since there will be no nation that will come do it for them if they don't lead by example. Although the expansion of the industry will mean growth of the economy for the producer nation as well as availability of employment resulting from the industry. If the producer nation can sustain the industry even with the increased demand then it is also fair to expand the industry to grow their economy and provide employment to its citizens.

References

Pande, S. (2011). The Theoretical Framework for Corporate Governance. Retrieved from: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1949615

Webster, M. (2015). http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sustainable

Shaw, W. (2013). Business Ethics Philosophy https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1285415175 Bangalore, (2011) Framework For Corporate Governance www.slideshare.net/.../the-theoretical-framework-for-corporate-governan

The Guardian, (2015). Palm Oil and Environment www.theguardian.com/environment/palm-oil