Industry and the environment: Chief executive officer attitudes, 1976 and 1986

This research considers the question of changing environmental values within the leadership of firms responsible for the management of pollution as an unwanted byproduct. Information was obtained from a pair of surveys mailed to the chief executive officers (CEOs) of the 50 largest firms listed within the mining and manufacturing directories of Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming in 1976 and again in 1986. The authors found that industry CEOs were more supportive of environmental concerns in 1986 than 1976, suggesting that ecological values have become institutionalized to some extent. Yet, there is little indication that this attitudinal shift in environmental concern among CEOs has been accompanied by a willingness to spend a larger proportion of the company budget on pollution control or to improve working relationships with federal regulatory officials.     

Tourism and the environment: A case study from Turkey

Summary Whilst tourism is widely promoted as an instrument of economic development, it may also give rise to adverse social and environmental impacts in the host community. Recent commercial tourist development in the Patara Valley, Turkey, is examined in terms of facility provision, beneficial and adverse impacts, and tourists' reactions. It is concluded that, unless specific corrective measures are taken, the future development of the industry may be unsustainable.Dr Paul Selman is a Principal Lecturer in the Department of Countryside and Landscape at Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education. Pat' Morrison is a graduate Environmental Scientist from the University of Stirling, and she is currently studying for a PhD. in Geoarchaeology at the University of Birmingham.     

Culture and the environment in Britain

The British pride themselves on their long tradition of landscape management rooted in the aristocratic and landowning classes of the 18th and 19th centuries. The British also emphasize that the rise of modern pollution control began in the Victorian industrial era with the emergence of the national Inspectorates and the local Commissioners of Sewers. All these traditions are rooted in British social history, which was heavily influenced by class, power, and the changing shape of industrial and agricultural development. In modern Britain, affected by industrial recession, where concern over jobs and growth appears to dominate public and political attention, as well as public spending cuts that sap the morale and effectiveness of the major regulatory agencies, attitudes toward, and the execution of, environmental protection are undergoing a subtle but profound revolution. It is slowly but agonizingly being recognized that economic growth and social well-being cannot be disconnected from environmental processes and the limits these impose on management and technological intervention. A 21st century Britain will have to integrate conservation with development in order to survive.     

Mining and the environment: a case study from Bijolia quarrying site in Rajasthan, India

Mining is essentially a destructive developmental activity, where ecology suffers at the altar of economy. Unfortunately, in most regions of the Earth, the underground geological resources are superimposed by biological resources (forests). This is particularly evident in India. Hence mining operations necessarily involve deforestation, habitat destruction, biodiversity erosion and destruction of geological records which contain information about past biodiversity. Extraction and the processing of ores and minerals also lead to widespread environmental pollution.However, mankind cannot afford to give up the underground geological resources which are the basic raw materials for development. An unspoiled nature can provide ecological security to people but cannot bring economic prosperity. Scientific mining operations accompanied by ecological restoration and regeneration of mined wastelands and judicious use of geological resources, with search for eco-friendly substitutes and alternatives must provide the answer.A case study from the Bijolia quarrying area in Rajasthan, India, provides some sensational revelations of the impact of mining on the human ecosystem.     

Balancing environmental and industry sustainability: A case study of the US gold mining industry

Mandatory insurance requirements and/or mitigation fees (royalties) for mining companies may help reduce environmental risk exposure for the federal government. Mining is examined since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Toxic Release Inventory reveals that this sector produces more hazardous waste than any other industrial sector. Although uncommon, environmental expense can exceed hundreds of millions of dollars per development. Of particular concern is the potential for mines to become unfunded Superfund sites. Monte Carlo simulation of risk exposure is used to establish a plausible range of unfunded federal liabilities associated with cyanide-leach gold mining. A model is developed to assess these costs and their impact on both the federal budget and corporate profitability (i.e., industry sustainability), particularly if such costs are borne by offending firms.     

Integrated mediterranean programmes and the natural environment: A case study in Greece

Summary A pilot action forming part of the Integrated Mediterranean Programmes (IMPs) was carried out in Prespa National Park, Greece, to improve the socio-economic conditions in the area and to develop the agriculture, fisheries, manufacturing and tourism. A study on the environment of the park was carried out as part of this Programme. The study evaluated the natural conditions in the area, assessed the effects of the proposed operations on the environment, suggested opportunities for socio-economic improvement and provided guidelines for the organisation of the National Park. This paper presents certain aspects of this study and describes the mechanisms and conflicts attached to environmental conservation during implementation of the IMP.Evaluation of natural conditions was made possible by studying the land cover/use changes between 1945 and 1984 using aerial photographs. It showed a continuing concentration of land use activities in the wetland, which is the nucleus of the park. The most alarming findings were of soil erosion on the watershed, accelerating ageing and eutrophication of the lake, and destruction of the wet meadows. Evaluation of the latter revealed their remarkable biological value as feeding and resting habitats of the rare waterbird species.Assessment of the effects of the projected operations on the environment was accompanied by suggestions of alleviation measures. Further development of agriculture and an expansion of the irrigation system were expected to have a severe impact on the wetland and increase the eutrophic level of the lake. Measures for cultural practices, policy and education of the farmers were suggested. It was recognised that the projected fish breeding station would also have adverse effects on the wetland, the lake and its fisheries. Construction of the hatchery on the particular site chosen by the authorities was to cause major environmental degradation in the park.Despite the documentation provided, proposals stemming from the study and mitigation measures were disregarded. Implementation of the IMP operations had detrimental ecological effects in the area. From the first stages of the Programme, and throughout its implementation, secrecy prevailed in the procedures. There was no participation of the public nor of the local government. Lack of coordination appeared between the various levels of administration nationally and within the European Community (EC). Agencies concerned with the environment lost their jurisdiction in the area, as all decision-making was undertaken in Athens by a Ministry relatively insensitive to environmental issues. Implementation of the IMP in Prespa violated national and EC legislation as well as international treaties concerning the environment. The development plan had been prepared without integrating conservation and development while no concern was given to the impact on the environment. Lessons learned from the Prespa case should be used to improve IMPs and make development sustainable.Dr Myrto Pyrovetsi obtained her doctorate at Michigan State University, USA and is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.     

Land use planning,pollution control and environmental assessment in the E.C. environment policy

The Environmental Council of the European Communities is giving consideration to a procedure to provide a common basis for the assessment and control of potentially polluting development. This discusses the rationale and theory underlying the use of land use planning procedures to control potentially polluting development, and the need for harmonisation of procedures within the European Communities in order to avoid the emergence of pollution havens. It goes on to discuss the proposed Directive on environmental assessment, and the implications of its adoption and incorporation into the planning procedures of the U.K. and other member states.     

Environmental economic,political and ethical integration in a common decision-making framework

This article develops a decision-making framework for environmental management that integrates technical, economic, political and legal, and ethical decision levels. It attempts to show how these decision levels can be ordained, integrated and interconnected and postulates a hierarchic concentric sphere system that proposes an environmental management model for long-term solutions. This model can be used as a check list for environmental management decision-making and also as a guide for environmental conflict resolution where environmental problems necessitate several levels of decision making. It integrates various environmental ethical positions and evaluates political decisions into a comprehensive, broadly applicable multidisciplinary approach. The objective of this decision-making model is to interconnect into a simplified sequence different levels of environmental management processes in order to account for sustainability, efficacy, efficiency and the acceptability of environmental management processes in the long term. This is done by observing when an environmental problem needs to be solved within a certain sphere of solutions and when it requires wider frameworks, how these can be established and how this process proves that solidarity is the widest and most reasonable sphere.     

Tri-sector partnership for community development in mining: a case study of the SAPI Foundation and Target Fund in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

This paper explores the nature of tri-sector partnerships applied to community development in the mining sector. The case study approach was used to examine an initiative for environmental improvement and socio-economic development in the diamond province of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), in the Russian Federation. The study follows the journey of this initiative from a potential tri-sector partnership model between the diamond mining company ALROSA, the Government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the SAPI Foundation, to a bi-lateral partnership between ALROSA and the Government represented by the Target Fund. The study explores the community development in the diamond province in the light of economic and political transition within the mining sector of the Russian Federation.     

Practical and ethical considerations of agricultural research assistance for the Third World

The right to eat and to an adequate standard of living for everyone motivates agricultural research assistance to developing countries with the primary objective of assuring sufficient food supply. This article focuses on aspects of food production and related agricultural research with specific examples from animal production. It discusses ethics of agricultural research in light of the utilitarian theory and compares livestock production in developing and developed countries. Major reasons for low outputs of animal production in developing countries are identified, and the potential for increasing the productivity of original, extensive production systems is evaluated. The article reviews the current status of biotechnology in developing countries and discusses several advanced animal technologies. The conclusions emphasize the need to involve local professionals in all phases of research and technology transfer in developing countries, avoidance of research that may worsen the situation of the recipients, sustainability of production systems, and the need for detailed assessment of potential impacts of technology on recipients.     

Contrasting community and corporate perceptions of sustainability: A case study within the platinum mining region of South Africa

The concept of sustainable development is debatable within the mining context as the fact that mineral resources are non-renewable makes mining inherently unsustainable. The need for a realistic definition of sustainability that can be applied to mining is important, in light of claims by the industry that sustainable development principles underpin aspects of their operations. Furthermore, the socio-economic upliftment that should logically follow the implementation of these principles is not visible in many mining areas. Within the theoretical frameworks of intermediate sustainability, our study aimed to determine the level of sustainability that is appropriate for the mining context. The evaluation of community perspectives within the Rustenburg platinum region in South Africa as a case study, based on qualitative information derived from structured questionnaires and informal interviews brings further clarity. We found out that the environmental and social costs associated with mining were high, while economic benefits to surrounding communities were low. The perceptions of community and corporations were found to contrast sharply: the reality experienced by community members fell well short of the optimistic scenarios presented in the corporate social responsibility reports of the mining companies, which has implications for the mining industry in the area. The Rustenburg region is typical of mining areas, more especially the developing world, and application of a realistic sustainable development concept here can help the mining industry elsewhere to move its operations onto a genuinely more sustainable path.     

Developing the ethical matrix as a decision support framework: GM fish as a case study

The Ethical Matrix was developed to help decision-makers explore the ethical issues raised by agri-food biotechnologies. Over the decade since its inception the Ethical Matrix has been used by a number of organizations and the philosophical basis of the framework has been discussed and analyzed extensively. The role of tools such as the Ethical Matrix in public policy decision-making has received increasing attention. In order to further develop the methodological aspects of the Ethical Matrix method, work was carried out to study the potential role of the Ethical Matrix as a decision support framework. When considering which frameworks to apply when analyzing the ethical dimensions of the application of agri-food biotechnologies, it is important to clarify the substantive nature of any prospective framework. In order to further investigate this issue, reflections on the neologism “ethical soundness” of an ethical framework are presented here. This concept is introduced in order to provide more structured evaluations of a range of ethical tools, including ethical frameworks such as the Ethical Matrix. As well as examining the philosophical dimensions of the method, theoretical analysis and literature studies were combined with stakeholder engagement exercises and consultations in order to review the Ethical Matrix from a user perspective. This work resulted in the development of an Ethical Matrix Manual, which is intended to act as a guide for potential user groups.     

Corporate social responsibility, partnerships, and institutional change: The case of mining companies in South Africa

Internationally and in South Africa, mining companies are increasingly referring to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and partnerships in terms of the business case, or the expectation that being responsible and collaborating with stakeholders is good for profits. Based on a case study of platinum and chrome mining in South Africa, this article argues that the business case is circumscribed by companies’ institutional context. In the past, mining companies’ dominant interpretation of CSR has been in terms of charitable donations and support to good causes. These efforts have not alleviated the contribution of mining companies to growing social problems around the mines, primarily because they have not impacted on core business practices and have not contributed to necessary cross‐sectoral collaboration. Recently, however, there has been an important transition involving the broadening of the interpretation of CSR and increasing commitment to these issues amongst corporate leadership. Though market‐based incentives have contributed to this, the key driver has been the State's legislated transformation programme premised on State sovereignty over mineral resources. Hence, while the interrelationship between companies and their institutional context has, in the past, brought about a vicious cycle of irresponsibility and minimal collaboration, this cycle may be reversed into a virtuous one, driven in particular by the State. The broader implication is that references to a business case for CSR and partnerships cannot be relied upon independently of continued efforts at shaping the public sector context of companies.     

Pressing the Local Account: a case study of meanings and responsibilities with regard to the local press and a local nature reserve

This case study concerns the effect of meanings and use of language by a local newspaper in relation to an environmental incident in a town in south-east England that will be called Woodbridge. It explores the implications of insensitive, or misleading, use of language over a four-month period towards the end of 1995 through recordings and observations made at the time. The event is explored through the eyes of a local teenager called Tim who was involved in a school environmental education research project and who became a key player in the developing out-of-school conflict. Although the account concerns a controversy that raged several years ago, it nevertheless raises general concerns regarding newspaper coverage of environmental issues at the local level, the tension between profits and reporting truth and the apparent lack of a medium- to long-term approach to environmental issues. All names are fictitious to ensure anonymity in what remains a sensitive memory.     

Pressing the Local Account: A case study of meanings and responsibilities with regard to the local press and a local nature reserve

This case study concerns the effect of meanings and use of language by a local newspaper in relation to an environmental incident in a town in south-east England that will be called Woodbridge. It explores the implications of insensitive, or misleading, use of language over a four-month period towards the end of 1995 through recordings and observations made at the time. The event is explored through the eyes of a local teenager called Tim who was involved in a school environmental education research project and who became a key player in the developing out-of-school conflict. Although the account concerns a controversy that raged several years ago, it nevertheless raises general concerns regarding newspaper coverage of environmental issues at the local level, the tension between profits and reporting truth and the apparent lack of a medium- to long-term approach to environmental issues. All names are fictitious to ensure anonymity in what remains a sensitive memory.     

Seeing the environment through islamic eyes: Application ofShariah to natural resources planning and management

A comprehensive paradigm of environmental ethics should encompass two things: (1) a particular way of life, and (2) a path to achieve that ideal. An effective paradigm must also be internally consistent, yet externally workable in the real world. On the whole, the modern environmental movement has failed to provide these essential components and qualities in its associated philosophies, most of which suffer from being too abstract or too utopian.This paper suggests that Islam, as a religion and as a body of knowledge, is capable of providing its followers with a comprehensive and practical system of environmental ethics. The basic principles and guidelines of the faith represent the conceptual ideal, while Islamic institutions and laws provide the operational components of an ethical system.     

Anticipated Performance Index of some tree species considered for green belt development in and around an urban area: a case study of Varanasi city, India

It is well established that trees help to reduce air pollution, and there is a growing impetus for green belt expansion in urban areas. Identification of suitable plant species for green belts is very important. In the present study, the Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) of many plant species has been evaluated by analyzing important biochemical parameters. The Anticipated Performance Index (API) of these plant species was also calculated by considering their APTI values together with other socio-economic and biological parameters. Based on these two indices, the most suitable plant species for green belt development in urban areas were identified and recommended for long-term air pollution management.     

Place attachment,identification and environment perception: An empirical study

The relationship between people and places is characterized by affective and cognitive dimensions, defined, respectively, as place attachment and identification. This paper aims at clarifying differences between place attachment and identification by (1) identifying their predictors in a structural equation model and (2) exploring their association with the environmental perception. To this purpose, we conducted a research on a sample of 328 residents of a city in the north of Italy. Results show that the affective and the cognitive dimensions (1) are directly predicted by different demographical and psychosocial variables and (2) are strictly associated to the perception of the place and its inhabitants. Place attachment and identification are two distinct but correlated components. Semantic contents related to the environmental perception are described in respect to different levels of attachment and identification.     

Addressing disputes in a coalition framework: The case of agriculture and the environment

A coalition framework is proposed to address the contentious issues facing agriculture and the environment in urbanising areas, by bringing stakeholders together in homogeneous focus groups to identify areas of common interests, and then in heterogeneous groups to validate the results of the framework. Such a framework encourages greater understanding, consensus building, the resolution of conflicts, and the establishment of coalition efforts in areas of mutual interest and agreement by allowing stakeholder groups collectively to pursue agenda-building on issues of common interests. Based on the authors' observation of the process over an 18-month period, it is encouraging that the coalition framework is an appropriate strategy for building consensus among diverse audiences.     

Air assimilative capacity-based environment friendly siting of new industries--a case study of Kochi region, India

Air pollution has become a matter of grave concern, particularly in mega-cities and urban areas, where the situation is alarming and becoming more and more severe day-by-day and warrants, therefore, careful planning to facilitate future industrial development. Site selection, with the objective of minimizing adverse environmental impacts based on environmental criteria is a vital prerequisite, particularly for air polluting industries. In order to locate any air polluting industry, the assimilative capacity of the region needs to be assessed carefully and planned accordingly, so that the receiving environment is not adversely affected. Assimilative capacity of a region/airshed, widely represented through the ventilation coefficient by many researchers in the past, does not give a clear picture about the amount of emission load that can be assimilated in a given region. The ventilation coefficient, at best, can only present a broad picture about the air pollution dispersion potential (low, medium or high) of the region. A modified approach, which utilizes air quality modelling as a tool to estimate the maximum allowable emission load that a region can assimilate without violating the stipulated standards, has been used for estimating the assimilative capacity of the air environment. Details of this approach have been presented in this paper through a case study carried out for the Kochi region, located in the Kerala State of India. A variety of emission and meteorological scenarios have been considered and critical emission loads have been estimated. This approach shall provide necessary technical guidance to the environmental regulatory authorities as well as to the industries in planning environment friendly industrial development.