6.4.6 Corporate Responsibility

6.4.6 Corporate Social Responsibility

How can we reduce the environmental impact of globalization?

Do corporations need to take some responsibility? Pollution, deforestation, and desertification are all important issues. Most nations in the developed world and many developing nations have established policies and laws to deal with these issues. But what about the corporations themselves? Do they have any responsibility to protect the environment?

Watch

Watch the video for a short explanation about how the furniture company Ikea tries to act in a sustainable way.



Industries and individuals have taken action to ensure the environment is protected though voluntary measures.

Alberta's forests are one of our chief renewable resources. The forestry industry knows that unless actions are taken to ensure new forests can grow, no trees will be available for harvest in the future.

The Alberta Forest Products Association is a non-profit association designed to promote the sale of wood products, but it does much more than that. It also establishes safety guidelines for the forestry industry, sets standards for the lumber it produces, and encourages responsible stewardship of the forest environment. Its FORESTCARE program helps and encourages members continuously to improve

• Forest sustainability
  
• Multiple use of the forest
  
• Environmental protection
  
• Employee and public safety
  
• Communications
  
• Community support
  

This includes ensuring that harvested forests are reforested and that healthy forests grow in their place. It includes protection of air and water quality, watersheds, and wildlife habitat as well as consideration for recreational use of our forests.

Case Study: Canadian Boreal Initiative

Eight thousand years ago, forests covered most of North America's surface. Human activities, including agriculture and urbanization, have greatly reduced the forests of North America. Along with the Russian boreal and the Amazon basin, Canada's boreal contains all that remains of the world's large frontier forests.
 
Today, the world's largest intact ecosystem is the boreal area of Canada. About 35% of Canada is boreal. In an effort to conserve the boreal region of Canada, an unusual alliance of groups, including industry, First Nations, and non-profit organizations, created a plan that would protect and preserve this part of the world. Diverse groups such as Suncor in the northeastern Alberta oilsands, Alberta Pacific Forest Products, which owns and operates a large pulp mill, Ducks Unlimited, a non-profit organization that preserves waterfowl habitat, the World Wildlife Federation, the world's largest conservation organization, and the Dehcho First Nation formed a leadership committee.

The Canadian Boreal Initiative is a plan to "conserve the cultural, sustainable economic, and natural values of the entire Canadian boreal region by employing the principles of conservation biology to

• protect at least 50% of the region in a network of large interconnected protected areas, and 
  
  
• support sustainable communities, world-leading ecosystem-based resource management practices, and state-of-the-art stewardship practices in the remaining landscape." 
  

(from the Canadian Boreal Initiative)

This conservation approach includes a balanced approach to conservation and development with the establishment of large numbers of parks, protection for Aboriginal rights and employment, and the use of scientific research to employ state of the art technology in industries at work in the boreal to limit their negative environmental impacts.

What about you? Seventy percent of Albertan consumers stated they were prepared to change to banks, retail outlets, and other services that demonstrated a commitment to the environment. Many Canadians say they are prepared to make personal sacrifices in their lifestyles to protect the environment; others say they will do so but only if industry is prepared to take its share of the burden. What do you think?