Energy consumption has increased dramatically in the past century due to industries shifting away from coal to fossil fuels, the development of new technologies, the human population growing exponentially and the rise of energy for personal use. This is affecting the earth in a significant way by causing global climate change, ozone depletion, desertification and many other phenomena. There is a fear that by striving to meet our current needs, we will deplete the earth’s resources.
The idea of sustainability is meeting our present needs without compromising the needs of future generations. As the public becomes more informed of the adverse effects of excessive energy consumption through the media, there is a push for industries to adopt Corporate Social Responsibility, which means “achieving economic growth with social and environmental limits”.
Take Wal-Mart for example. In this article from Bloomberg, it states that last year Wal-Mart announced that it will be launching a sustainability index and that “it expects the products on its shelves to comply.” Wal-Mart has adopted a CSR and this will help the retailer to measure its sustainability and enact policies in order to become more sustainable. It will also push producers that supply Wal-Mart’s shelves to become more sustainable as well.
Other companies and their CSR
