Should Companies Be Held Responsible For The Environment

As humans nothing is guaranteed to us. The future of our race isn’t guaranteed and with the rate of depletion of our planet we should seek the longevity of our environment. As humans it is our responsibility to sustain the environment. The Bhopal disaster and the British Petroleum oil spill are two of the biggest environmental disasters to occur, with over 14,000 deaths. Many people have debated throughout history if companies should be held responsible for the damages this causes for the safety and economic welfare of society. So… Should companies (such as Union Carbide and BP) be held responsible for environmental disasters that endanger safety and economic welfare of societies? Simply put, the answer is yes. With the technology available multinational companies such as BP and Union Carbide, should be able to practice their business safely within

There are three key indicators for environmental global sustainability; “Ability to maintain the current standard of living based on the current capital stock, ability to solve environmental problems, and figure out the climate in the sense of global warming and CO2 emissions (Welfens, 163).” Multinational firms should have these three goals in mind and proceed to do anything possible to achieve these. For instance, Union Carbide in the Bhopal disaster hadn’t take enough measures to maintain the safety of the nearby society. The lack of protection for the methyl isocyanate tank, lack of management leading to disgruntled workers, and lack of regulations for the surrounding community highlights that Union Carbide wasn’t focused on environmental global sustainability. Their lack of concern for these key ideals that all firms should follow is what led to this disaster. Global sustainability is an integral part to any business’s practice and should be not overlooked by big firms in the