Published in Oxford University, Templeton College, 1991
Business and the environment in 1996
General context
Between now and 1996 the world population will have grown by 450 million people, mostly in developing countries. About one and a half time the size of the population of Western Europe will have been added to the planet. This shocking fact is not new, we are growing at about 85 million per year for some time, but by 1996 the impact has manifested itself through some major calamities in developing areas such as India and Asia, in cities and crowded areas. Newly industrialized countries (NIC’s) such as Taiwan, Hongkong, Thailand and South Korea have vastly surpassed the limits of environmental tolerance and face a sharp decline in living standards.
The number of court cases, condemning all participants involved in natural resource damage through irresponsible environmental conduct, has risen sharply, both in the U.S. and Europe. Banks are directly and indirectly involved in liabilities for costs to restore environmental damage.
Consequences in Western-Europe
Due to the vastly increased public concern over environmental degradation of the planet, enhanced by the impact and the publicity of the UN conference on Development and Environment in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, ecologically responsible management has permanently reached the top of the agenda of the boards of all industrial, commercial and service enterprises, including the banks. The multidisciplinary aspect of the ecological dimension has been accepted by management, because the reality of the pressure coming from various direction cannot be denied any more.
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Europe in 1996