UNIT 4
Environmental Ethics
Environmental ethics-
Environmental ethics is a branch of ethics that studies the relation of human beings and the environment and how ethics play a role in this. Environmental ethics believe that humans are a part of society as well as other living creatures, which includes plants and animals. These items are a very important part of the world and are considered to be a functional part of human life.
Every life form is unique, and has intrinsic value, regardless of its perceived value to humans.
Environmental ethics is all about the ethical relationship between us as human beings and his natural environment.
Human beings take a lot of ethical decisions concerning the environment. These decisions could be about whether a forest area needs to be cleared to create space for humans or for human consumption, whether zero-emission vehicles should be used in order to save on fossil fuel resources, whether consumption should be cut down to preserve resources for future generations, whether it is right to be indifferent to the extinction of certain species only because it is convenient for the society, and so on.
Suppose some farmers burn and clear forest areas for cultivation, would it be possible to justify their act? Suppose a green area is totally cleared of the vegetation to make space for commercial or residential complexes, would this act be justified? Suppose a company conducts open-pit mining in some virgin territory, does the company hold the responsibility to restore the ecology of that region?
Is it right to spread awareness against pollution only because it affects human beings and not because the values of certain members of the natural environment also need to be protected? Environmental ethics is all about raising such questions and finding their answers.
Environmental movements started when the environmentalists the world over acted together to draw attention to the philosophical aspects of environmentrelated problems. People woke up to realize the importance of a natural ecological balance between the living and non-living entities. Activists across the globe are spreading awareness about global warming and the significance of environmental preservation.
Marshall supports three ethical approaches to classify the various attempts at explaining the significance and importance of environmental preservation — the Libertarian extension, the Ecological extension and Conservation ethics.
The first approach emphasizes on the theories that promote the application of human rights to non-human animals as well as the inanimate entities. The second approach emphasizes on the fundamental interdependence of both biological as well as abiological entities and their diversity. This classification would include the theory that earth as a planet modifies its geophysiological structure with time to be able to support the equilibrium of evolving organic and inorganic matter. The conservation approach considers only the worth of the environment, that is, the purpose it serves for human beings. In other words, conservation is solely concerned with human beings and their intergenerational considerations.
Environmental ethics as an institution gained prominence only in the1990s. Nowadays, universities offer programmes that specialize in environmental ethics and philosophy.
Corruption-
Corruption refers to the abuse of public office, that is, use of public office for some personal benefit. Ethical governance propagates that all are equal in the eyes of the law. But, corruption practices the exact opposite. Increasing corruption has led to a situation where only dissipation of corruption can result in equality before the law.
The root cause of corruption is moral decline. Changing lifestyles have not only affected the individual’s sense of values, but also the values that were nurtured and preserved by the society. These changes have affected the system of governance.
Corruption works against the nation, against the poor strata and against the economic progress of the country.
The history of our country’s governance is fraught with examples of corruption that put the nation at security risk. There have been instances of corruption in politics, in defence deals and even cases of militants being funded through Hawala.
Corruption in today’s society can be linked directly with the falling morality standards. The level of corruption in any society is dependent on the following three factors. These are:
Corruption is harmful for the society in different ways. Corruption is antinational. The Hawala scam that was exposed a few years ago has shown how the militants based in Kashmir were receiving cash from abroad through hawala channels. Through this same route politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats were also collecting money.
The nation witnessed another major scam, which was exposed by Tehelka.com. The expose highlighted the high level of corruption in defense deals. From such events, one can judge that corruption is anti-national as it threatens national security.
Moreover, corruption is anti-poor. There have been reports in the Indian media of high level of corruption in the Public Distribution System (PDS). A major portion of sugar and other food grains, which are designed to ensure food security to the population living below poverty line, goes to the black market.
The Indian Government incurs huge expenditure every year on PDS by way of subsidizing the food-grain prices for the poor. This means that huge amounts of money lands in the pockets of the corrupt PDS shopkeepers and their godfathers in bureaucracy and politics. Out of every rupee meant for anti-poverty programmes, it is a known fact that only a fraction reaches the beneficiary. Corruption is, therefore, anti-poor.
Corruption also has another characteristic of being anti-economic to development. In mid-1997, the collapse of the South East Asian economies had shown how even the so-called tiger economies were not immune to the disastrous consequences of crony capitalism and corruption. In 1999, the Mahbub Ul Huq Centre in Islamabad in its Human Development Report for South Asia said that India’s GDP will grow by 1.5 per cent and the foreign direct investment will grow by 12 per cent if the country’s corruption level comes down to that of the Scandinavian countries
Gender ethics-
It is hard to believe that even a progressive phenomenon such as globalization can actually heighten gender inequality. It has been pointed out many a times that gender equality plays a major role in the development of a nation. However, despite modern initiatives it is disappointing to note that the situation of women all over the world has not improved significantly. This is where gender ethics takes a back seat.
Societies that still remain backward are those where women have been marginalized and where poverty has been feminized. Globalization means a situation or condition that encourages the movement of capital around the globe at a fast pace. It also implies the disappearance of tariff barriers and the spread of new information and communications technologies. But the benefits of globalization are not always equally distributed. Needless to say, the efforts to help women progress are also stunted.
It would be quite a challenge to encourage women from all over the world to participate in the whole process of globalization, because not all women enjoy freedom of movement. For those who are not even allowed to leave the four walls of their home, the need to create channels that would help throw the doors open for participation arises. In the women-friendly regions, the focus should be on creating more facilities for women to participate in different ways and at different levels in the market.
The majority of the Internet users consists of men which means women still remain far behind when it comes to benefiting from information technology. The benefits of progress, modernization and globalization have not been fairly distributed and the gap between the haves and the have nots has not been bridged. With women forming the majority of the poor in the world, this only strengthens the fact that gender inequality is certainly not a myth.
Women clearly shoulder more responsibilities than men and are also expected to play dual roles as bread-winners as well as housekeepers. This exposes them to more mental and physical stress as well as health hazards than men. The underdeveloped countries have been victims to unethical peddling of medicines that do not meet the global safety standards. Women, especially those who are pregnant are at the receiving end of all the harmful effects of these dangerous medicines. They not only risk losing their lives, but also endanger the lives of their unborn children.
In the Third World countries, often aggressive and unethical sales campaigns lead the illiterate women to believe that breastfeeding is no longer the best way to feed an infant. With declining breastfeeding rates, the state of health of women and children have been far from enviable. This is just one of the ways in which unethical practices are targeted at women.
A look at today’s best advertisement will prove to us that gender ethics has yet not been given due importance in the world today. It is here that women are exploited the most in terms of their sexuality. Most often than not, the products advertised possess no connection with the figure of the scantily-clad women displayed beside them, for example, advertisements featuring motorbikes and men’s wear. These advertisements and the concept of sex tourism which has gained alarming popularity clearly reflect the manner in which women are regarded in society—their value or worth being measured merely in terms of their sexual appeal and glamour.
Sexual harassment and discrimination-
In USA and UK, sexual harassment is considered to be a serious form of violence and proper legislative measures have been taken to protect women and combat sexual harassment at work.
However, in India, it has not been very long since The Supreme Court recognized sexual harassment, for the first time, as a violation of human rights and a genderbased discrimination affecting women’s ‘Right to Life and Livelihood’. Although mandatory guidelines for resolution and prevention of sexual harassment of women at work have been put in place, the issue of sexual harassment and discrimination still remains under carpet for most employers and women.
The Supreme Court of India defines sexual harassment as ‘any unwelcome sexually-determined behaviour that includes a demand or request for sexual favours, physical contact, sexually-coloured remarks, pornography display, and any other verbal, physical, or non-verbal conduct that is of a sexual nature
A sexually-harassed person would be one who:
1. Is subjected to an unwelcome act of physical intimacy.
2. Has been asked for sexual favours in return for employment, payment of wages or a promotion.
3. Has been at the receiving end of sexually explicit compliments, or sexist remarks or jokes with sexual connotations.
4. Has been forced to view sexually explicit pictures, cartoons, calendars or even e-mails, etc.
5. Has been subjected to offensive gestures, sounds or any conduct of a sexual nature which could be either verbal or non-verbal.
6. Has been threatened for refusing to cooperate with the person demanding sexual favour.
7. Has been repeatedly asked out by the boss or forced to answer queries (by the boss) regarding personal life.
8. Has been made to feel embarrassed by a group of colleagues joking or sniggering about sexual conduct.
In India, the Vishaka guidelines provide a framework that emphasizes on prevention of sexual harassment and facilitates the adoption of preventive measures. These guidelines apply to women employed in both the organized and unorganized sectors and also to all women whether working full time or part time, on contract or in a voluntary capacity. As is expected, the guidelines stress on the adoption of a sexual harassment policy prohibiting sexual harassment at the workplace and providing well-thoughtout grievance procedures for all employees irrespective of their level in the organization.
In most developed countries, it is considered a crime to discriminate against any person seeking employment, on the basis of his/her sex. Hiring, terminating or promoting a person merely on the basis of the person’s sex can result in legal intervention.
In the developed nations, laws have been enforced that require equal pay to be given to both men and women for equal work. Compensation discrimination based on the sex of the worker is also prohibited. However, the truth is that despite such laws, discrimination at work is a malady that refuses to be cured.
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace and Constitutional Guidelines and Norms
The three Judge Bench of the Supreme Court in Vishaka vs. Union of India in an epoch-making judgement made a significant contribution in evolving the code against sexual harassment. While emphasizing the need to have guidelines, the Supreme Court said that:
The legislature and the executive have the primary responsibility to ensure the safety and dignity of women creating the right legislations and also building mechanisms for their enforcement. However, when instances of sexual harassment that have resulted in violation of fundamental rights of women workers under Articles 14, 19 and 21 are brought before us for redressal under Article 32, an effective redressal requires that some guidelines should be laid down for the protection of these rights to fill the legislative vacuum.
Guidelines and norms
For the enforcement and preservation of the right to gender equality of the working women, the Supreme Court of India has laid down norms and guidelines that are to be strictly observed at all workplaces. According to the Supreme Court, these directions are enforceable and binding in law until suitable legislation is enacted to occupy the field. However, these guidelines shall not prejudice any of the rights available under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.
2. Preventive steps. All persons in charge of the workplace or employers, be it in the private or public sector, should take suitable steps for prevention of sexual harassment. The following steps are required to be taken by them:
a) At the workplace prohibition of sexual harassment, as described above, should be published, notified, and circulated in suitable ways.
b) The rules and regulations relating to conduct and discipline of the public sector and government bodies should include rules and regulations that help in prohibiting sexual harassment and also provide the right penalties against the offender.
c) As regards the employers in the private sector, steps should be taken by them for inclusion of the aforesaid prohibitions in the standing orders of their company, under the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946.
d) To further guarantee that there is friendly environment towards women at the workplace, appropriate work conditions should be provided in respect of health, work, leisure and hygiene and no woman employee should have reasonable grounds to believe that she is disadvantaged in her current employment.
3. Disciplinary action. The employer should initiate disciplinary action in accordance with the rules, where the conduct of the accused amounts to misconduct in employment under the relevant service rules.
4. Complaint mechanism. For the redressal of the complaint made by the victim, the employer is required to create an appropriate complaint mechanism in his organization to decide whether or not the conduct of the accused constitutes a breach of service or an offence under law. The timebound disposal of complaints should be ensured by such a complaint mechanism.
5. Complaint committee-
(i) It shall be headed by a woman.
(ii) Not less than half of its members of the committee be women.
(iii) The committee should involve a third party, either an NGO or another body familiar with the issues of sexual harassment, in order to prevent the possibility of any undue pressures or influence from the senior levels.
c. Annual report: The complaint committee of the concerned government department shall prepare an annual report of its activities of the previous year. Such report should also state complaints and actions taken by them. The committee shall forward a copy thereof to the head of the organization concerned who shall forward the same to the government department concerned with its comments.
d. Compliance report: The employer and the person in charge is also required to report: (i) On compliance with the aforesaid guidelines. (ii) Compliance on the reports of the complaint committee. (iii) Such report must be sent to the concerned government department.
6. Workers’ initiative. In order to prevent and control sexual harassment at the workplace, employers should be allowed to raise these issues:
(i) At workers’ meetings.
(ii) In other appropriate forums the issues of sexual harassment should be affirmatively discussed in employer–employee meetings.
7. Awareness. In order to create awareness about the right of female employees in regard to sexual harassment, the employer should take the following steps: (i) prominently notify the guidelines in a suitable manner; and (ii) enact appropriate legislation on the subject, and also be suitably notified and displayed.
8. Third party harassment. Where sexual harassment occurs as a result of an act or omission by (i) any third party or (ii) outsider, the employer and persons in charge are required to take necessary and reasonable steps to assist the affected person (a) in terms of support; and (b) take preventive action.
9. Steps to be taken by the government. The Central and state governments are required to: (i) Take suitable measures (including legislation) (ii) Ensure that the guidelines are observed by the employers in private sector.
Key takeaways –
Sources-
1) Business Ethics and Corporate Governance: B.N.Gosh, TMH .
2) Governance & Business Ethics: Bimal Jaiswal & Deepak Verma.
