Introduction

The earth's natural resources, air, water and land are becoming increasingly polluted and abused at alarming rates because of human activities, resulting in an estimated 100 species becoming extinct every day (Wilson 1989). This rate of extinction could be accelerated by rapid climate change caused by increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere from industrial-scale burning of fossil fuels. The expansion of human settlements and intensification of agriculture have led to the destruction of natural habitats and ecosystems, such as tropical and temperate rainforests, freshwater lakes and streams and coral reefs, on a global scale. This situation raises questions about the social and environmental responsibility of business and the engineer.

The rise in green thinking and sustainability concerns since the early 1970s has been accompanied by the development of environmental ethics. Environmental ethics concerns itself with the ethical relationship between human beings and the natural environment in an attempt for both to co-exist without compromising the future of either by assuming that moral norms govern human behaviour towards the natural world (Des Jardins 2006).

In this chapter we will examine:

• Environmental ethics

• Sustainability

• How business can respond to these issues, including the development of audits

• The Chernobyl and Interface case studies

Environmental Ethics

There are three primary schools of thought with respect to environmental issues, instrumental, axiological and anthropological, each placing different priorities on human activities and the natural world (Carson 1962).