The article in the url below profiles a report released earlier this year that attempts to calculate the aggregate damage to the environment of the operations of the 3,000 largest global public firms:
“The study, conducted by London-based consultancy Trucost and due to be published this summer, found the estimated combined damage was worth US$2.2 trillion (£1.4tn) in 2008 - a figure bigger than the national economies of all but seven countries in the world that year.”
Rather than specific numbers (which, no doubt, contain debatable assumptions), I think the article’s overall message is an important indication of the scale of the problem and the changes that are necessary if things are to improve:
“The figure equates to 6-7% of the companies' combined turnover, or an average of one-third of their profits, though some businesses would be much harder hit than others.”
At present, the vast majority of these costs are externalized by these firms and paid for by others or no-one at all:
“The biggest single impact on the $2.2tn estimate, accounting for more than half of the total, was emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for climate change. Other major "costs" were local air pollution such as particulates, and the damage caused by the over-use and pollution of freshwater.”
Needless to say:
“The true figure is likely to be even higher because the $2.2tn does not include damage caused by household and government consumption of goods and services, such as energy used to power appliances or waste; the "social impacts" such as the migration of people driven out of affected areas, or the long-term effects of any damage other than that from climate change.”
Have a good weekend
David
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Stakeholders in a Global Environment (2e)
© Sage Publications, 2011
Instructor Teaching Site: http://www.sagepub.com/strategiccsr/
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Global: World's top firms cause $2.2tn of environmental damage, report estimates
Global: World's top firms cause $2.2tn of environmental damage, report estimates
February 25th, 2010
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