For this essay, I’d like you to start by reading “Application and Ethics: Climate Change” (Attachment file). Please also make sure to review the videos and readings assigned below. Then, I’d like you to respond to the following:
1) We are living in a time of an enormous threat on a planetary level. Many have said that business has the potential to play a significant–perhaps even a leadership–role in addressing climate change. What do you think is the responsibility of businesses right now? Should they be actively trying to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions? What about fossil fuel usage? (5 points)
2) Imagine a company is trying to decide where to locate a new factory. It could locate in the US, where labor and environmental regulations drive up the cost of production, or locate in a developing region, where it might be able to lower the cost of production by paying workers less and lowering environmental standards. Discuss how either of these choices might be in the “best interest” of the corporation. If you were advising the corporation on this decision, what factors would you consider? What decision do you think you might make? Would your decision vary based on the type of company and industry in which it operates? If so, how? (5 points)
3) Finally, I want you to do some research on a company whose products or services you use, or a prominent company you would like to know more about. To start, navigate to the company’s website and look for what information they provide about the company’s sustainability and/or corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. Often, the company will create a stand alone report. Review the report, and then answer the following questions about your company in this forum. (5 points)
–Summarize the key activities the company is engaging in around CSR/sustainability.
–Do the company’s activities seem genuine to you? Do you believe the company has a real commitment to these program, or do you think it’s greenwashing? What would make you think it is genuine? What would make you think it is not?
–Who do you think this report is written for? Investors? Customers? How would it be different if it were for one or the other?
–Does reading this report make you more or less likely to buy this company’s products? Why or why not?
I am looking for an essay in the range of 4-6 double-spaced pages that demonstrates that you have thought seriously about these issues, read and watched the materials, and applied your own critical thinking to the topic. If you’d like to use data or information from one or more of the articles that I have provided, or any other source, please provide a citation to that article. I’m not worried about format, just make sure to include basic information and a link.
[materials]
1. Attachment file
2. International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group) http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/topics_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/ifc+sustainability/learning+and+adapting/knowledge+products/publications/publications_brochure_businesscaseforsustainability
3. http://time.com/4045572/big-business-climate-change/
4. LISTEN OR READ: https://www.npr.org/2018/11/24/670513629/new-climate-change-report-places-blame-on-human-actions-for-natural-disasters
5. WATCH
6. WATCH
