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6.3 CSR and the Environment - Coggle Diagram
6.3
CSR and the Environment
What is sustainability?
Here, sustainability is used as shorthand for sustainable development
Development
an improvement in living standards and material wellbeing so that people’s needs are met and they can live a fulfilling life
Traditional Development
comes at an environmental cost
The proposed alternative is
sustainable development.
According to the United Nations' Brundtland Report, ‘sustainable development’ is:
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (Brundtland Report, 1987).
How do we implement sustainable development?
Sustainable development requires
sustainable use of renewable resources
, for example, forests and fish
Sustainable development also
requires that we limit our CO2 emissions
Sustainable development is an
enormous challenge
Companies
’ responsibilities to sustainability
Triple Bottom Line (TBL) or 3 P's
Planet
Companies should operate in a way that is environmentally sustainable, i.e. leaves sufficient resources for future generations to meet their own needs.
People
Respect should be paid to all the people affected.
Profit
Companies have a responsibility to make a profit and they have a crucial role to play in sustainability. They can help drive the economic activity required for development and also find the innovations that help us use resources sustainably
Professional engineers
’ moral responsibilities
Lawlor and Morley (2017)
argue that the engineering profession has a special responsibility to tackle climate change. This is for three reasons:
Control and influence
Engineer have the power to shape the future of CO2 emitting industries.
Professionalism
defining characteristics of a profession:
Self-regulation
refers to the fact that professions are governed by their own professional bodies which set standard
Duty to the public
refers to the ideal that professions have a duty to serve the public interest.
Lawlor and Morley argue that because the profession is self-regulating, it has the power tackle climate change and because it has a duty to the public, it should tackle climate change
Public voice
engineers have more power to influence opinion than other groups
Climate change: moral responsibilities of engineers
Dr Rob Lawlor