Introduction
Industrialization has emerged as the engine for economic growth and development in countries all over the world. Business people have established operations to benefit from economic progress and development.
Over the last few decades, multinational companies have emerged and they have taken advantage of the major global integration of economies. These companies have set up industries in third world countries in order to exploit the available resources and lower production costs.
The interaction between these businesses and the third world society has led to rampant pollution, which presents some ethical issues that must be addressed.
Ethical Implications
Most poor countries are open to foreign businesses that promote economic growth and therefore provide a remedy for the poverty affecting these countries. The industries run by foreigners in the third world countries produce significant amounts of pollution.
The environment is also severely degraded as toxic substances are released into the open as natural resources are exploited. This pollution raises major ethical issues since it has a negative effect on the livelihoods of the citizens in the country.
The ethical nature of businesses polluting third world countries can be viewed in a number of ethical perspectives. The social contract theory can be used to analyze the case of polluting third world countries.
This theory suggests that actions are ethically right if they increase the benefits for an individual or the society. Pollution in the third world countries leads to the degradation of the environment reducing the quality of life for the people.
Shaw (2010) observes that pollution also increases the risk of developing ailments such as respiratory diseases. Polluting in third world countries therefore leads to many losses for the society.
Applying the consequentialism ethics also suggests that polluting the third world countries is wrong. According to this theory, an action’s merit is judged on the consequences it produces with little consideration of the intentions of the person engaging in the activity (Allhoff & Vaidya, 2008).
As such, while the businesses might have a good motive in opening industries in the poorer nations, the product is that the environment is polluted and people are exposed to toxins.
Why Companies disregard Pollution Control Standards
The manner in which businesses conduct their operations in developed and developing countries differs significantly. While businesses show a high regard for standards of pollution control in wealthy nations, they often disregard these standards in developing nations.
There are several reasons for this behavior. Third world countries adopt policies that are friendly and inviting to foreign companies.
Since foreign businesses seek locations where they can make the greatest amount of profit, third world countries try to reduce the costs that investors might incur when operating in their countries.
Implementing pollution control is often a costly affair since it requires a lot of financial infrastructure.
Allhoff and Vaidya (2008) reveal that poorer nations are so desperate to attract investment that they impose weak pollution standards so that companies can reduce their costs by saving on expensive pollution controls.
In such an environment, companies do not have to abide by the stringent pollution control standards expected by international environmental advocacy agencies.
On the occasions where the third world countries have standards of pollution control, they are very reluctant to enforce the policies on foreign businesses. In some cases, third world countries have robust pollution control standards in place.
These standards are meant to ensure that the businesses take measures to reduce their pollution levels (Yand & Yuan, 2011).
However, most developing nations lack the political will to enforce the pollution control standards in place. The companies are therefore able to violate policies without any repercussions.
Connections between Economic Development and Pollution
Some economists argue that pollution is the price of progress. This argument stems from the fact that pollution is caused by industrial growth, which promotes economic development in a country.
Such an argument is supported by historical data that reveals that the industrial revolution in England was accompanied by significant amounts of pollution in the urban areas.
Yand and Yuan (2011) observe that economic growth and development inevitably increases the exploitations of natural resources. As the resources are utilized through industrialization, the level of pollutants emitted increases.
Yand and Yuan (2011) support the claim that economic progress results in pollution increase. They argue that in the rural areas where the level of development is low, the pollution level is low and environmental degradation has not occurred (Yand & Yuan, 2011).
The majority of policy makers in developing nations are only concerned about the immediate progress that industrialization brings to their country. They fail to consider the adverse environmental effects that pollution will have.
It is widely agreed that for development to occur in the poor nations, greater levels of industrialization will have to be engaged. This will result in higher pollution in countries that previously exhibited low levels of pollution due to a lack of industrial activity.
While reducing the scale of industrial activity would lead to lower pollution, such a solution is not desirable since the economic development that arises from industrial activity is the greater priority.
For example, two of the world’s fastest growing economics, China and India, have engaged in intensive industrial activity in the last decades (Prater & Swafford, 2009).
These activities have led to the rapid economic growths in the two countries and a rise in the standards of living for citizens in these countries. However, the intensive industrial activities have made India and China some of the world’s greatest polluters.
When asked to reduce their pollution levels, the developing nations have asserted that they have a right to fuel their economic growth through industrialization in the same way that developing nations have been doing since the industrial revolution.
Moral Right to a Livable Environment
Pollution ignores the fact that every person deserves a livable environment regardless of whether he or she lives in a developed or developing country. The global community stresses on the importance of equality (Neil, 2013).
This concept underlines that each person should be treated in a fair and equitable manner in spite of his socio-economic background. Using this perspective, all members of the society should be afforded equal rights and opportunities.
Polluting third world countries violates this principle since it suggests that some people can be treated as lesser human beings. Considering the emphasis placed on equality, every person has a right to exist in a livable environment.
Implementing Greener Industries in Poorer Nations
In an effort to reduce the level of pollution and environmental damage done by industries, scientists have developed greener industries and sources of energy. The green industries make use of technology that results in significant reduction in pollution levels in the industry.
Such industries make use of energy sources that have low carbon emissions. Whenever possible, renewable sources of energy are preferred to the commonly used fossil fuels that have led to immense pollution all over the world.
The environmental damage done by green industries is minimal making such industries desirable for sustainable development (Neil, 2013).
However, implementing them is costly and poor nations are unwilling to incur the high cost of using these technologies. The poor nations therefore continue to operate industries that cause greater pollution.
Wealthy nations have an obligation to assist poorer nations to reduce their pollution levels for a number of reasons.
To begin with, wealthy nations do not have the moral right to demand that poorer nations make use of the expensive green industries since the developed nations have been using non-green industries to fuel their economic growth for decades.
Research indicates that the high pollution and environmental degradation experienced today can be blamed on the industrial activities of the developed nations (Neil, 2013). It is only in recent years that the wealthy nations have developed greener industries and started to use them.
It is therefore unjustifiable for the wealthy nations to impose on poorer nations’ standards that they did not live up to. The only way that developed nations can encourage the use of greener industries is by offering poorer nations incentives to do so.
Without the assistance of the wealthy nations, poor nations will incur significant expenses as they implement greener industries and this will be detrimental to their economic growth and development.
The high cost of greener industries has been the greatest obstacle to their widespread implementation especially in developing nations.
Poorer nations have often chosen to use the non-green technologies since it is cheaper and helps in the economic development even if at a steep environmental cost (Allhoff & Vaidya, 2008).
If the wealthy nations want to encourage the use of greener industries, they should reduce the cost associated with implementing these industries for the poorer nations.
Proposals and Recommendations
Currently, the pollution control standards are inconsistent and in some cases, countries leave it up to companies to impose standards on themselves.
Self-regulation among industry players will not work for most companies are primarily concerned with increasing their profit margin and this often entails using cheap environmental unfriendly technologies and fuels (Yand & Yuan, 2011).
Binding uniform global pollution control standards would be the most desirable since all companies would be forced to implement pollution control measures.
Government regulatory policies and guidelines have significant impacts on how businesses conduct themselves in the country. The problem with the current regulations is that they vary significantly from country to country.
Companies are likely to exploit inadequate pollution controls and cause great destruction to the environment. Multinational companies are also likely to move to countries that have less restrictive pollution control policies (Neil, 2013).
If all nations adopted the same regulations, then companies will be forced to engage in environmentally conscious activities in all countries since they will not have any option of a country where they can engage in unregulated pollution.
Businesses should engage in activities aimed at benefiting the society.
Neil (2013) asserts that businesses cannot be judged solely on the contribution that they make to GDP; they must also be judged on the impact they have on the quality of life of the workforce as well as the local community and society.
One concept that has gained significance in today’s business world is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which involves companies acting in a way that is advantageous to the society (Neil, 2013).
CSR requires organizations to act in an ethical and socially responsible manner and show great concern for the society in their actions.
References
Allhoff, F., & Vaidya, A.J. (2008). Business in Ethical Focus: An Anthology. NY: Broadview Press.
Neil, F. (2013). Ethical business is better business. African Business – Le Magazine des Dirigeants Africains, 394(1), 52-54.
Prater, E., & Swafford, P. (2009). Emerging Economies: Operational Issues in China and India. Journal of Marketing Channels, 16(3), 169–187.
Shaw, W.H. (2010). Business Ethics: A Textbook with Cases. NY: Cengage Learning.
Yand, L., & Yuan, S. (2011). The Relationships between Economic Growth and Environmental Pollution Based on Time Series Data: An Empirical Study of Zhejiang Province. Journal of Cambridge Studies, 7(1), 33-42.