Sustainable Development and Ethical Conduct in Business
Chapter 5: In Defense of Nature (Including Humans)
5.2 Towards Sustainability
To ensure that technological development is sustainable and supportable by current and future generations, a fundamental change of mind is needed above all. Natural resources cannot be exploited indiscriminately. This is not only because they are limited, but because such exploitation denotes an attitude that forgets humans are an integral part of nature. Most importantly, ecology and the environment are first and foremost a human right. Those who seek to calculate everything, including the global optimum population, risk ending up in the desert.
Companies are incorporating the need to reconcile development with respect for nature into their strategies. There is an increasing demand for preliminary studies on possible environmental impacts. These requirements demonstrate that we have moved beyond the time when ecological concerns were simply an added value.
5.3 Utility of a Code of Conduct
For a long time, our culture has incorporated the belief that resolving social problems must be based on a common quest in a dialogue aimed at achieving agreement and consensus. Hence the interest in the development and implementation of codes of conduct that ensure a high degree of employee involvement.
In this context, what the spontaneous emergence of many codes teaches us is perhaps that critical and dialogical rationality is accurately based on a set of previously accepted convictions. What can be agreed upon by all requires something that is previously agreed to by all rational beings taking part in the discourse. All this undoubtedly represents a serious step forward.
When considering the interest of codes of conduct, we must distinguish different levels:
- Recommendations for professional ethics
- Codes of style
- Self-regulatory proposals
Only then can we judge the appropriate degree of specificity of its statements and its ability to impose penalties. Ultimately, the development and implementation of these codes can present an important strategic opportunity, apart from offering us lines of development regarding the implications that follow from the personal dignity of those who constitute the firm.
Deontology
A set of principles and ethical rules governing and guiding professional activities.