Today, the problem of the environmental responsibility is actively discussed by the scientists and researchers in relation to the global environmental problems, and the most influential one of them is the climate changes, which are caused by the phenomenon of global warming.
Who should be responsible for the process, if global warming is considered to be the result of the human dynamic and harmful activities? How is it possible to overcome the effects? Are the dangerous effects real or they are only the results of the scientists’ discussions and suppositions?
These questions are rather controversial, and they are closely associated with the issue of the environmental responsibility of engineers.
The engineers’ environmental responsibility depends on accepting the fact that the human activity can result in a lot of dangerous effects for the environment, and the people’s main task is to use all the possibilities to reduce the negative impact and utilize the scientists’ achievements for this purpose efficiently.
The main principles of any profession are based on a range of different responsibilities, which can be discussed from many perspectives. Specialists in any field should regulate their activity with references to the questions of professionalism and quality, ethics and morality, legal liabilities, and sustainability.
From this point, the issue of the environmental responsibility is also discussed by many researchers as the influential aspect of the professionals’ activity (DesJardins).
Moreover, the environmental responsibility is one of the main components of the engineers’ professional responsibility because engineering as a profession involves the elements of the scientific knowledge which are used in order to address the people’s needs with references to contributing to the issue of sustainability.
Engineers use the abstract and theoretical knowledge, which is supported with the practical experiments’ results provided by the scientists in order to implement them in practice and contribute to the public’s interests and satisfy the definite societal needs.
The fringe where the theory is changed with the practical results is rather challengeable because it is connected with such aspects as the engineers’ professional responsibility and the environmental responsibility as its significant component.
Nowadays, the debates on the problem of global warming and considerable climate changes depend on the fact that many ordinary people along with the authorities are inclined to refuse the meaning of the human impact on the environment, and they do not associate the dangerous climatic alternations with the harmful human activities or with the products of civilization and industries (Begley).
The problem has its origins in the question of global warming and climatic changes, which are discussed as the reality or mystification.
In spite of the fact there are a lot of evidence which supports the idea that the climate has changed greatly, it is rather difficult to expand this opinion among those persons who discuss the environmental problems and connected issues as hazardous for their business activities.
Thus, it is rather difficult for businessmen and those people who are inclined to orient to the high benefits from their activity to find the balance between meeting their own goals and addressing the requirements of the environment protection.
While discussing the problem of global warming, it is possible to state that “any warming is natural, not caused by human activities”, but the facts and the results of the researches support the point of view that all the dangerous changes in the climate are based on the development of the human activities during the recent years (Begley).
The denial of the causes which influence the development of such processes as the growth of the degree of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and, as a result, global warming is typical for those people who have no special knowledge on the problem and inclined to refer to the popular visions of the questions.
Doran and Kendall Zimmerman indicate that “it seems that the debate on the authenticity of global warming and the role played by human activity is largely nonexistent among those who understand the nuances and scientific basis of long-term climate processes” (Doran and Kendall Zimmerman 23).
The progress of civilization brought to the society a lot of new issues, and from this point, the problem of the environment protection is one of the main questions.
The appearance of many industries caused the increase of the degree of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a result of using different fossil fuels.
Moreover, the human activity is associated with the other kinds of pollution which influence the changes in the natural balance. Today, the air, water, and soil are polluted with the chemical substances and emissions and with the material waste.
When the problem of global warming can be considered as rather controversial and it requires the further discussion there are no doubts in relation to the sources of these types of pollution. Thus, the progress of civilization is correlated with the intensive pollution of the environment.
Moreover, if several decades ago people were not aware of the negative results of their activity, today it is impossible to close eyes and not to notice the dangerous effects. Furthermore, the development of the modern technologies allows reducing the negative effects of industries and the people’s everyday activity.
The main problem is in admitting the fact of the human harmful activity and beginning the process of changing the approach to the question according to the principles of the environmental responsibility.
The activity of engineers is based on a lot of norms and rules, which include the aspects of professionalism and the ethical issues. In this case, the problem of the professional ethics is closely associated with the question of the environmental responsibility.
Joseph DesJardins states that “many environmental issues easily fit within standard anthropocentric ethics and rely on such standard ethical concepts as rights and duties, negligence and liability, equal opportunity, fairness, property rights, and compensatory justice” (DesJardins 245).
There are a great number of professional responsibilities which are directed toward organizing the productivity and providing the effective service or offering products of the highest quality and toward the regulation of the interactions between people.
However, DesJardins accentuates the idea that a range of responsibilities should be directed toward the nonhuman natural world and be associated with the environmental issues (DesJardins). It is obvious that a real professional should not do harm to the environment as well as to people.
There are no justifications for abusing persons, but a lot of businessmen are inclined to abuse the nature and the world around them because of the desire to gain more merits with less contributions to the process.
Thus, the main cause of the uncontrolled industrial pollution and the increase of the domestic waste’s level is the unwillingness of people to spend their finances in order to meet the ecological and environmental demands.
This approach is opposed to the idea of the environmental responsibility as one of the main aspects of the professional ethics.
On the other hand, it is stated in the findings of the recent researches that following the principles of the environmental responsibility is one of the most progressive tendencies in the world, and it is based on the idea of the sustainable development and globalization.
Thus, DesJardins concentrates on the fact that “sustainable development must be economically, environmentally, and socially satisfactory” (DesJardins 260).
It is possible to complete all the engineers’ professional requirements, which are dependent on the issue of the environment responsibility with references to the principles of the sustainable development.
The climate changes are dangerous not only for the modern society but also for the future generations, and the first signs of the further problems can be noticed today.
When definite persons reject the idea of the climate changes and the role of people in contributing to the greenhouse effects and global warming it is impossible to deny the increase of the average temperature globally, the negative effects of droughts and floods, the expansion of the heat waves and the other climatic anomalies.
The modern state of the environment is caused by the human activities because the whole history of the population is the history of the humans’ adaptation to different climates and of making the accents on the progress of civilization.
The question of the sustainable development is associated with all the professional spheres and with any specialization which can influence the people’s life, their interactions, and their surroundings.
However, it is possible to say that it is the engineers’ task to build the bridge between the requirements of the sustainable development, the needs of the society, and expectations of the organizations’ leaders.
The human activity should not be discussed as harmful for the society or for the environment that is why it is necessary to pay attention to the environmental responsibility.
Engineers can organize their work in such a way to prevent the pollution of the environment with a lot of waste and different chemical substances and use little energy for realizing their functions.
In spite of the fact the activity of one person cannot influence the problem of the environmental pollution and the usage of a lot of energy, significantly the idea of the environmental responsibility is based on the fundaments of the professionals’ ethical responsibility when the actions of one person determine the actions of the other individuals according to the concepts proposed by Immanuel Kant (DesJardins).
Nevertheless, the problem is in the fact that to achieve the real results and to follow the principles of the environmental responsibility, it is necessary to change the whole system of the definite organizations and enterprises in relation to the questions of the ecological and environmental demands.
That is why, there are a lot of enterprises which use the idea of the sustainable development as the main principle for organizing their processes.
Today, scientists expand the opinion that the usage of the natural resources should be regulated, and they propose new ways for producing the necessary energy and reducing the negative effects of utilizing the fossil fuels as the main source of the energy which provokes the growth of the carbon dioxide, the destruction of the ozone layer, and global warming.
Thus, the norms of the sustainable development depend on the efficient use of all the possible resources without the further pollution of the air, water, and soil or with their minimal negative effects. The usage of new technologies and renewable energy can be discussed as the first step to supporting the principle of sustainability.
DesJardins accentuates that due to the fact the productive capacity of the biosphere “is a true public good and because of the many market failures and incentives for individuals to act irresponsibly in such cases, reinvestment in natural capital is perhaps one business responsibility that should be especially subject to government regulation” (DesJardins 263).
Sustainability refers to the future generations which should not suffer from the results of the present-day activity of those people all over the world who ignore their environmental responsibility, and the responsible attitude of the governments and professionals to the problem can help to overcome the challenges.
When engineers ignore the principles of the environmental responsibility it is the problem of their immoral behavior in relation to the people round them, to their children and their future, and to the nature.
The ideas of the healthy environment should not be changed with the possibility of the financial benefits and merits. There are a lot of problems which are connected not only with the climate changes.
The aspects of the overpopulation and the overuse of the natural resources depend on the general approach to the organization of the modern industries.
The references to the idea of sustainability can be discussed as progressive contributions to changing the whole situation connected with the environmental issues for better.
Works Cited
Begley, Sharon. The Truth about Denial. 2007. Web.
DesJardins, Joseph R. “Environmental Responsibility”. The Blackwell Guide to Business Ethics. Ed. Norman E. Bowie. USA: Blackwell, 2002. 244-264. Print.
Doran, Peter T. and Maggie Kendall Zimmerman. “Examining the Scientific Consensus on Climate Change”. EOS 90.3 (2009): 22-23. Print.