It is surprising to note the current trend the world is taking towards responding to the global climate change. Large corporations are increasingly realizing that global warming is real and affects every person, society, institution and nation. The author of the statement makes it clear that the recent reports in some of the world’s popular newspapers are really surprising.
According to the author, a number of large corporations in the modern world are realizing that they cannot make profits without proper and effective measures to deal with the problem. Moreover, the author notes that the current efforts by some of the large companies in the world to help in reducing the impact of global warming have a negative impact on shareholders.
The resources needed to reduce global climatic change are no doubt huge and not the task of a single corporation, but a combined effort by all societies, institutions and corporations alike (Gelbspan 34).
Nevertheless, it is surprising to note that some large corporations are using global warming (climate change) as an opportunity to make profits, attempting to utilize the idea of providing products and services that seek to manage the symptoms of the problem but benefiting from the deeply rooted causes of the situation.
Thus, it is clear that the author has based the argument on three important observations – corporate realization that climatic change is real, the economic impact of using corporate resources to manage global warming and the corporate utilization of opportunities posed by global warming to make profits.
This response takes into account the three observations to develop a comprehensive analysis of the problems. In addition, it takes into account evidence from modern reports on corporate behavior, which have appeared in newspapers, such as New York Times, to reflect on the situation.
First, it is worth noting that the author is concerned with corporate response to the climatic change, than to the phenomenon itself. Citing several newspaper and corporate reports in the recent past, the author notes that the current response to the problem has changed significantly (Ives A17).
Citing the example of Coca Cola corporation, the author argues that a number of corporations have come to the realization that global warming is not a theoretical notion, but a real phenomenon that affects their profitability (Davenport A23). For instance, Coca Cola lost a profitable operating license in India because of a serious shortage of water.
It is clear that the company was taking little, if any, efforts to conserve water resources in the region. The author seems to argue that the company was not aware or ignored the fact that it was set to lose if little or no efforts are made to conserve water resources as a part of protecting the environment.
In a broader sense, the company is an example of many corporations that tend to ignore the issue of global warming, assuming that it is a theoretical notion or a problem that cannot have a significant impact on their business.
Thus, the author uses the Coca Cola experience as an example to portray the fact that corporations will be the biggest losers if global warming and other aspects of climatic change are ignored. In addition, the author argues that global corporations are the major causes of the problem, yet they do not know that they are also the biggest losers if they do not make efforts to cope with the problem.
Citing the examples given in the New York Times, the author further moves to a relatively new argument, claming that the current and future efforts by corporations to take an active role in fighting global warming are not only difficult, they also affect the corporate practice. For instance, the author argues that the cost of dealing with the problem is high, making corporations reduce the value of their shareholder’ equity.
From an in-depth view, it is worth noting that the author wanted to show that the corporate worth of causing global warming is not significant, but the impact on corporate business is unbearable. In other words, the author wanted to say that companies have always ignored the idea of taking an active role in reducing the problem of global warming.
In fact, it has been shown that multinational companies are the biggest perpetrators of global warming, yet they are not aware that they are the largest users of the natural resources.
From this view, the author points out that that the biggest users of the natural resources are the largest cause of the global warming problem and eventually the biggest losers. It is clear that the author’s point of view on the matter is that the corporate world should take the leading role in dealing with the problem of global.
The third major issue discussed in the commentary concerns the corporate use of the opportunities that global warming has presented to make profits. The author seems to be concerned with a number of organizations that are increasingly pretending to manage the impacts of climate change, yet they are out to make money.
For instance, the author gives the examples of Bayer and Nephila Capital, which have started making plans to use the impacts of global warming to make profits. For example, Bayer has announced that it was developing various products to help the world population deal with the impacts of global warming.
It has set up plans to develop such products as eye and nose ointments, that will help people alleviate allergies that are likely to result from the changing in tree and plant cycles, and quality mosquito nets to help population deal with malaria when mosquitoes start moving to areas that are increasingly becoming warmer, thanks to global warming.
On its part, Nephila Capital is trying to trade water resources, pretending to be protecting sources, yet it is out to make huge profits. These cases provide clear examples that some corporations are aware that climate change is real, yet they want to help in treating the symptoms of the problem but retain the cause, which will most likely lead to profitability.
A deep analysis of the statement reveals that the corporate world has already realized that global warming is not a scientific hypothesis but a real phenomenon. While some have decided to take a leading role in dealing with the problem, others are busy setting up plans to take the advantage of the problem to make more profits (Revkin A7).
In addition, some organizations realized that they cannot take a leading role in managing the problem, because their profitability and net value is likely to reduce. Thus, the statement provides the readers with the dilemma associated with the corporate realization that global warming is real and effective. The author seems to raise the question “with the realization that global warming is real, what should the corporate world do?”
Works Cited
Davenport, Carol. “Industry awakens to the threat of climate change.” The New York Times, 23 Jan 2014, A23. Print.
Gelbspan, Ross. Boiling Point: How Politicians, Big Oil and Coal, Journalists and Activists Are Fueling the Climate Crisis—And What We Can Do to Avert Disaster. New York, Basic Books, 2013. Print.
Ives, Mike. “Slowly, Asia’s Factories Begin to Turn Green.” The New York Times, 7 Jan 2014, A17. Print.
Revkin, Andrew. “Industry Ignored Its Scientists on Climate.” New York Times, 23 April 2009, B7. Print.