Throughout history, economic development has otherwise been synonymous with practices that damage the sanctity of the earth and its inhabitants; many practices throughout history and today affirm this notion, such as colonization, unfair trade practices, and more recently understood environmental degradation coming from a variety of sources; most notably in the burning of fossil fuels. Practicing business in a way that can be beneficial for both the global economy yet while still maintaining respect for the planet and its inhabitants is one of the defining and challenging topics we as a society face.
To establish a historical precedent, as a means for countries to accumulate wealth, European countries began extracting raw resources and transferring them back to their countries to be processed into goods. In doing so, colonies were stripped of their resources and the economy being exclusive to single commodities in each colony created what are known as monocultures. Lack of diversification in these resource rich colonies often had crippling effects on their economies and forced their dependency on the countries who initially took these reserves from them. Recovering from years of colonial abuse has posed many challenges, with those most damaged, particularly African colonies, being indicated low in the ranks of the Human Development Index , which measures life expectancy, education, and GDP.
The ethics and values of companies and countries play a significant role in how they administer their corporate values. Ethics evolves over time, and countries and corporations alike seem to be adopting the notion of fair trade, or social entrepreneurship. Rationale is rather ambiguous however, as public could be leaded the charge and dictating the way the companies garner market share.
Economic growth has also come with compromising effects on the environment. Our current dependency on fossil fuels has lead to excess C02 (Carbon Dioxide) in the atmosphere and consequently a blanket absorbing infrared radiation and preventing it from reaching the universe beyond the earths atmosphere. The absorbed energy has a warming effect on the atmosphere and on the surface of the earth; this can be problematic, most specifically in glaciers, as rising sea levels can lead to overtaking of low lying port cities and countries. Green environmental policy as well as the strategies indicated from various companies are important in combatting this taxing environmental issue.
Often social, environmental and economic values are viewed interchangeably. Identifying with the idea of sustainability, as opposed to corporate responsibility, is the first step in connecting these systems and providing economic growth that can be beneficial and with little negative impact on future generations.
Media References
https://www.thegaurdian.com/sustainable-business/talk-point-systemic-solutions-change
http:/www.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/fossil-energy-future/1167#ch
hdr.undp.org/en/2016-report
Sawyer, S; Gomez, T; (2012) The Politics of Resource Extraction: Indigenous Peoples, Multinational Corporations and the State, page 13
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