THEMED ESSAY
Introduction
The environment provides human beings with all their needs for survival. Moreover, the continuity of the human race, which is ensured through procreation, is entirely dependent on the resources provided by the environment. In the recent past, the rate of resource consumption by people has surpassed the levels the environment can cater for sustainably (Howell, 2010). This means that if people continue using natural resources at this rate, the resources will become depleted soon, putting the lives of future generations at stake. Other human activities have indirectly contributed to the degradation of the environment, which limits the capacity of the earth to support life in perpetuity. The increase in human needs has led to more quest to exploit resources from the environment. Different economic models such as capitalism that have been adopted by various countries and their corporations have contributed to the increased competition. The competition has led corporations to consume resources without due consideration about their impact on the environment. This hunger for mass production has been driven by the belief that human needs supersede those of the environment. However, this notion tends to represent the egocentric nature of the current generation as it has no regard for future generations. Moreover, the resources consumption disregards the fact that other living things depends on the environment for their survival. Therefore, the claim that human needs are more important than those of the environment is misplaced and misguided.
The claim that environmental needs are less important than human needs does not hold any credibility in view of the current human consumption and environmental degradation. The increased vigor with which people are currently consuming resources to produces consumer products indicates the dependency of all human beings on the providence of the environment (Hall and Lobina, 2004). Without the environment, the so called important human needs can never be satisfied. A comparison between human and environmental needs can elaborate which needs depend on which. The environment does not depend on human needs to exist, but rather human needs depend on the environment. Basic human needs such as shelter, food and clothing depend on the environment for their fulfillment. Industries that consume raw material from the environment would cease to exist if the environment was unable to provide the raw materials (Carasco and Singh, 2008). Following this heavy dependency of human needs on the environment, environmental needs should be prioritized so that they can continue supporting human needs. Those who view human needs as more important than environmental needs utilize an aspect of the utilitarian theory that states that the ethical action is that which maximizes utility. This view, therefore, encourages people to utilize the environment to the best of their ability for their personal satisfaction. This view is dangerous to the sustainability of the environment and the resources it offers for human needs consumption. When people are in the quest of satisfying their needs, their priorities are usually misplaced. Their only target is to maximize their utility. Therefore, they do not mind about their actions’ impact on the environment. Consequently, the environment becomes degraded and is unable to cater for the needs of the species living on earth. Therefore, prioritizing environmental needs is the best of way of ensuring that the secondary needs, which are human in nature, are sustained and future generations are assured of a good future. The current human needs not to strain the environment if it were not for their greedy nature. A close analysis of the motive that drives the increased consumption needs is in accordance with the individual consumption theory (Howell, 2008). This theory asserts that consumption is driven by needs that are internally produced by both cognitive and psychological processes. Since the needs are individually motivated, ethics are limited to play a major role in regulating the massive consumption of resources. Ethics relates to how people consider others when making decisions and taking certain steps. The individualistic nature outlined by the individual choice theory provides little chance for the application ethical principles. Consequently, human beings tend to disregard the ethics that require them to consider other users of the environment, both currently and in the future.
Environmental needs are more important because they take care of the common good of the majority as compared to the human needs, which are mostly motivated by individual quest for personal achievement and satisfaction (Banerjee, 2008). Allowing personal human needs to bear more importance than environmental needs would lead to more extravagant use of the environment, which would inconvenience other living things that depend on the on the environment for their survival. Every living thing, including animals and human beings procreate with the hopes of perpetuating their kind into the future. This means that the future generations are as important as the current generation. However, the selfish nature of human beings in the current generation has simply prioritized their personal consumption at the expense of the future generation. According to the utilitarian ethics, an action should be considered acceptable if it reduces suffering and increases happiness. Degrading the environment in pursuit of happiness short-term would increase suffering for future generations instead of enhancing their happiness. Therefore, prioritizing environmental needs instead of human needs would be the best ethical decision. Ethical absolutism asserts that ethical principles can be determined objectively through rationality (Chen, 2011). Moreover, it argues that ethical principles can be applied universally in a variety of settings. Following this ethical perspective, environmental needs importance can be determined universally, through examining the effects of excessive use of resources from the environment. In any place on the surface of the earth, the effects of using environmental resources excessively are the same (Scott, 2007). For instance, the effects of cutting down trees lead to desertification irrespective of where trees are cut down. Those who argue that human needs are the priority assert that maximizing the resources in the environment with little regard for the environment leads to happiness and reduces suffering. However, this view has a weak argument because the happiness is short-lived since the future generations will suffer for a long time
Apart from over-using natural resources, human activities lead to environmental degradation through pollution. The human activities that lead to pollution are similar to those that are caused excessive use of natural resources from the environment. However, the pollution process is an indirect consequence of the human quest for maximizing their utility. Most of the environmental pollution that occurs on the surface of the earth results from industrial processes that produce non-food related products (Sibao and Huaer, 2009). The industrial processes are, therefore, aimed at meeting secondary human needs and not the primary needs, the secondary needs are those that seek esteem and status in the society. The effects of the pollution on the environment are so massive that the need for safeguarding the environment in relation to human needs becomes obvious. First, accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes global warming (José, 2009). The global warming leads to melting of glaciers at the Polar region-ns that leads to raising sea levels. Consequently, many islands sink, displacing people and may cause deaths. Such effect that results from environmental pollution indicates the importance of meeting the needs of the environment. Those who favor human needs over environmental needs argue that the code of ethics followed by various organizations limit the pollution of the environment. However, the code of ethics are never followed strictly because regulations to enforce them are either weak or absent (Meehan and Richards, 2006).
Conclusion
Environmental needs are important compared to those of the human being because of various reasons. The first reason is that human needs are dependent on environmental. Without taking care of environmental needs, no human needs can be satisfied. Secondly, the human needs that demands to be prioritized are not primary needs, but secondary needs. Compared to the impact of these human needs on the environment and their value to the human life, environmental needs should be given consideration first. The environmental pollution caused by human activities actually leads to more harm than good to many people than the little good achieved through the industrial processes. Since future generations need the environment as well as the current generation, its needs should be given priority to ensure life’s sustainability.
Reference List
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Carasco, F.E., & Singh, J.B. 2008.‘Human rights in global business ethics codes’, Business and society review, Vol. 113, no. 3, pp. 347-374.
Chen, C.H. 2011. “The major components of corporate social responsibility”, Journal of Global Responsibility, Vol. 2, no.1, pp.85 – 99.
Hall, D., & Lobina, E. 2004. ‘Private and public interests in water and energy’, Natural resources Forum, Vol. 28, pp. 268-277.
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Howell, R. 2008. ‘Globalization and the good corporation: Whither socially responsible investment’, Human systems management, Vol. 27, pp. 243-253.
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Meehan, J., & Richards, A. 2006. “Corporate social responsibility: the 3C-SR model”, International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 33, no. 5/6, pp.386 – 398.
Scott, S. 2007. “Corporate Social Responsibility and the Fetter of Profitability”, Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 5, no. 3, pp.300 – 303.
Sibao, S., & Huaer, C. 2009. “Economic globalization and the construction of China’s corporate social responsibility”, International Journal of Law and Management, Vol. 51, no. 3, pp.134 – 138.
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