ENVIRONMENTA

L ETHICS
NAZIL KHAN
SUSAN
MATHEW
AKSHARA
VINU
KAVYA P
MADHU
ETHICS IN
ENVIRONMENT
A branch of applied philosophy that studies the conceptual foundations of environmental
values as well as more concrete issues surrounding societal attitudes, actions, and policies to
protect and sustain biodiversity and ecological systems.
Environmental problems and effects of stake holders
• The growth of consumerism leading to higher consumption of resources, is the heart of many
environmental problems.

• Increasing awareness in these issues lead to arising public sentiments

• Public opinion is crucial to resolution of environmental problems.

• Media holds a considerable influence to sway public perception of governments and

environmental groups.

• The shift of corporate attitude is the key to environmentalism. Corporations are becoming more
proactive in finding sustainable solutions.

• Government intervention can stop most environmental damage from happening.

 What is Sustainable Development?

• The concept of sustainable development is described as “development that meets the

needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.” 

• There are four dimensions to sustainable development – society, environment, culture

and economy – which are intertwined, not separate.

• Sustainable development is the key concept of numerous international and domestic

environmental policies.
 What is environmental auditing?

Environmental auditing is essentially an environmental management tool for measuring the

effects of certain activities on the environment against set criteria or standards.

Environmental auditing is used to:

• investigate

• understand

• identify

There are many reasons for undertaking an environmental audit, which include issues such as
environmental legislation and pressure from customers.
VEDANTA LIMITED
Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources
Limited, is one of the world's leading diversified natural
resource companies with business operations in India,
South Africa, Namibia, and Australia. Vedanta is a leading
producer of Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Iron
Ore, Steel, Aluminium & Power.
 VEDANTA’S CORE PRINCIPLE

“Good governance and sustainable development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety
and environment, and on enhancing the lives of local communities.”
 STERLITE COPPER SUBSIDIARY

One of India's largest copper producers, Sterlite Copper was set up in the coastal
town of Thoothukudi in the year 1996. Since then, the company has strived to
promote the holistic development of the district through targeted interventions in
areas such as Livelihood, Education, Women and Child Development,
Employment Generation, and Skill Development.
 STERLITE - GAS LEAKS
CHENNAI: Sterlite’s copper smeltering unit in Tuticorin was closed only because it was emitting substantial amounts

of sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the atmosphere and toxic effluents into the ground, Tamil Nadu government has informed

Madras high court.

“The unit was chronically non-compliant with the statutory conditions. The poor compliance of the conditions by

Sterlite was visible in terms of gas leaks on at least 84 occasions in 2013 alone, besides non-disposal of hazardous

wastes, accumulation of high volume wastes within the premises and widespread poisoning of the air and water,

leading to protests from the locals and widespread agitations,” Shambhu Kallolikar, principal secretary of department

of environment.
RELATED CONTROVERSIES

5
Tamil Nadu Copper Smelter

Mining In Odisha’s Niyamgiri Hills

Power Plant In Punjab

Goa Mining

Zambia Copper Plant Spillage

 ISSUES
Water
Improper Unlawful Inadequate Slag
green belt
contamin
location expansion dumps
ation

Hazardous
waste Height of
Unreliable
emissions
Health air quality
Eg :
chimney Gas leaks
monitoring
mercury, stacks
arsenic
 COMPANY RESPONSES
• The company finds fault in India's malleable regulatory norms

• The company quotes “it has operated the plant for over 22 years in most transparent
and sustainable way”.

• The company might challenge the current shutdown because the authorities have no
evidence of pollution.
WHAT STERLITE COPPER
COULD’VE DONE?
• Reducing cost through recycling or energy conversion.
• Reducing possibility of accidents.
• Establishing a good corporate reputation.
• Mitigating employee’s discomfort by providing better working
environments.
• Maintaining good relationship with local community and regulatory
authorities.
• Conforming to code of ethics.
 PASUMAI THOOTHUKUDI-
GREEN THOOTHUKUDI

The aim of this initiative is to plant 1 million trees across the district. To this

end, the company has already joined hands with schools, colleges and

villagers in the vicinity of the area towards making this project a success. So

far, over 12,000 trees have been planted under this initiative.
 GREEN COMPANIES
Companies that claims to act in a way which minimizes damage to the environment.
 ENVIRONMENTALISM IN INDIA
• Environmentalism is often criticized for being too costly for business.

• However industries are beginning to recognize gravity of environmental issues.

• They have also recognized benefits of pollution prevention. Potential saving through pollution prevention measures have

been increasing.

• The Environmental protection Act 1986 and The National Environmental policy 2004 provides for improvement and

protection of environment and other matters concerned.

• To keep their consumer base they have to ensure that their products are environment friendly.

• ECO-labelling is the best example of companies trying to pacify their consumers.

• The tightening of regulations by government and court of law has induced fear in companies preventing them from

damaging the environment.

 MANAGING
ENVIRONMENT ISSUES
As Reinhardt suggests five approaches to manage environmental issues are:
 Investing in environment friendly processes or products
 Managing environmental regulations
 Investing in environmental performance improvement, without increasing cost
 Combining methods(above mentioned)
 Looking at environmental issues from a risk management perspective
 CONCLUSION
Environmental management and practices in India have improved significantly in recent
times.
The importance of environmental preservation through better state and corporate
governance practices cannot be overstressed.
Corporate business today has the responsibility towards the society, not only to render
social justice, but also to promote the greatest good to the largest number of people.
A better choice of technology both preventive and curative can reduce the damage already
done to the environment and prevent further damage.
Business people have realized the advantages of taking a proactive stance towards
environmental regulation.
An increasingly large number of companies are going eco-friendly ; from planting trees, to
using solar energy, corporate India is going all green.