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Instructor Manual
Chapter 12: Global Sustainability
CHAPTER 12 LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND END OF CHAPTER QUESTIONS
After reading this chapter, you should be able to
12.1 Describe how fossil fuel economies impact the Earth’s climate and human
well-being.
End of Chapter Question 2: How have the three largest carbon dioxide emitting
countries responded to the 2015 Paris Agreement?
12.3 Articulate the competitive advantages of being eco-friendly.
End of Chapter Question 3: What are the competitive advantages of being eco–
friendly?
12.4 Identify big impact greenhouse gas reduction solutions and science-based
targets.
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CHAPTER 12 OVERVIEW
Treating the Earth with respect is one of the greatest ethical and management challenges.
This chapter summarizes environmental problems and the efforts of environmental
organizations, government, and businesses to address them. Sustainability is a competitive
CHAPTER 12 LECTURE OUTLINE
Suggested Time: 2 to 3 hours of class time is recommended to present this chapter.
I. Chapter Question 1: How do fossil fuel economies impact the Earth’s climate
and human well-being?
Economic Growth
III. Chapter Question 3: What are the competitive advantages of being eco-
friendly?
IV. Chapter Question 4: What are some of the big impact greenhouse gas reduction
solutions?
Green Energy, Technology, and Jobs
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V. Chapter Question 5: What are the 10 aspects of the environmental change
process and how do they contribute to managing environmental change?
VI. Chapter Question 6: What are some of the key features and best practices
of green organizations?
Green Mission Statement
CHAPTER 12 SUPPORTING MATERIALS
Textbook Inserts
Ethical Dilemma Analysis
• What Would You Do: Environmentally Friendly Cabinets
Tables and Figures
• Table 12.1: CO2 Emissions from Fuel Consumption, 1990-2018
• Table 12.2: Competitive Advantages of Being Eco-Friendly
Instructor Resource
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
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• Figure 12.4: Health Issues Related to Climate Change
Self-Assessment
• Self-Assessment 12.1: Green Living Checklist
Thematic Boxes
CHAPTER QUESTION 1: HOW DO FOSSIL FUEL ECONOMIES IMPACT THE
EARTH’S CLIMATE AND HUMAN WELL-BEING?
ECONOMIC GROWTH
• The Earth is 4.5 billion years old.
• John Ehrenfeld’s definition of sustainability: “the possibility that humans and other
• The higher the population, the greater the number of organizations needed to meet
ever increasing consumer needs.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Instructor Resource
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
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Have students go to www.census.gov/popclock/ and observe the world population and United
States population increase every second. Direct students to explore the number of people in the
world and United States at the year of their birth. Discuss their general impressions of this
information?
• Environmentalism has a long history in the United States dating back to beginnings of
Industrial Revolution.
CLIMATE CHANGE
• Reliable annual global climate measures date back to 1880.
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which monitors
weather patterns, reports:
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Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
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▪ In addition, they argue, there is no proof that the higher temperatures are the
direct cause of the weather extremes currently being experienced.
• NASA’s five vital signs can be found on their website (https://climate.nasa.gov/):
1. Global temperature: increased 1.9 °F [0.95 °C] since 1880
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, composed of 2,500 scientists and
risk experts, estimates an increase in the Earth’s temperature of between 2.5 to 10.4
degrees Fahrenheit by 2100 if no major efforts are undertaken to reduce greenhouse
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students go to NASA’s Vital Signs website, https://climate.nasa.gov/, and address the
following questions:
• What causes climate change? According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, “the
primary cause of global warming is from human activity, most significantly burning
Instructor Resource
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
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o Earth is habitable because solar radiation travels through outer space, bounces off
the Earth, and some of it is captured by heat-trapping greenhouse gases (GHG) in
atmosphere that serve as an insulator, and influence surface temperatures.
o Primary human contribution to GHG is CO2 emitted from conventional fossil
CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS
• Altered weather patterns have increased the frequency and severity of droughts and
flooding in summer, and snowstorms in winter, which damage the economy.
• Climate change is being assessed as risk management:
CHAPTER QUESTION 2: HOW HAVE THE THREE LARGEST CARBON DIOXIDE
EMITTING COUNTRIES RESPONDED TO THE 2015 PARIS AGREEMENT?
GLOBAL CO2 EMISSIONS
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• The situation is likely to worsen internationally as population continues to increase
and underdeveloped nations industrialize. Journalist Thomas Friedman puts
population growth impacts in perspective using an Americum unit of analysis.
o An Americum is any group of 350 million people living an American lifestyle.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students prepare, and then give, a 3-minute elevator talk that describes how business
activities may impact climate change to someone from an alien planet.
GLOBAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND COOPERATION
• Pollution knows no international boundaries.
• In June 1992, the United Nations sponsored an Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil to discuss greenhouse gases, alternative sources of energy, and water scarcity.
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• The national goals would be binding for industrialized nations who signed the
agreement, but not developing nations. Nations that surpassed their goals could sell
the excess capacity to nations who did not meet their goals.
• Ratified by more than 180 nations, the Kyoto Protocol went into effect in 2005
• 2015 Paris Agreement agreed on goal to limit average global temperature increases
to 1.5°C of pre-industrial levels.
o Negotiated by representatives from 195 nations
• China is world’s largest CO2 emitter.
• Since 1978 free market reforms, China significantly reduced extreme poverty through
industrialization.
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o After 2015 Paris Agreement, China focused on reducing “carbon intensity”
(ratio of CO2 emissions to GD) to 40 to 45 percent by 2020 compared to 2005
benchmark, and 60 to 65 percent by 2030 at which point China’s total annual
CO2 will decline.
o Driver’s for reduction are:
o A company that exceeds its allocated pollution permits must purchase an
equivalent amount of unused permits from companies that polluted less than their
allocated limits, or pay a substantial fine.
• European Union (EU) is leader in CO2 reductions.
o 22 percent reduction in CO2 emissions from 1990–2014
U.S. GOVERNMENTAL EFFORTS
• Swinging of political pendulum has Republicans favoring free market solutions and
Democrats favoring regulatory solutions.
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• Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama leaned toward government
regulation and subsidies.
WALL STREET INVESTORS AND HIGHER EDUCATION EFFORTS
• 2016, socially responsible investing (SRI), also referred to as environmental, social,
and governance (ESG), market accounted for $8.7 trillion in assets, more than triple
2010.
• Beginning in 2016, Barron’s provides annual list of the top 200 sustainable mutual
funds.
• Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Rockefeller Family Fund are divesting their
endowments of oil and gas companies.
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DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Put students on teams to examine several different types of environmental websites, discuss their
impressions, and present what they found to the entire class. Websites to consider include:
* White House, Energy and the Environment, available at www.whitehouse.gov/issues/energy-
and-environment
* U.S. Energy Information Administration statistics, available at www.eia.gov/
CHAPTER QUESTION 3: WHAT ARE THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES OF
BEING ECO-FRIENDLY?
• Improving environmental performance is a long-term investment. Emphasize the
business case when communicating the need for an organization to achieve superior
environmental performance.
• Table 12.2, Competitive Advantages of Being Eco-Friendly, lists some of the
competitive advantages in terms of the following:
o Cost savings
▪ Reduction in escalating energy costs
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o Innovative market opportunities
▪ Product differentiation through eco-labeling
▪ New markets for green products and producing green technologies
▪ Customers with higher environmental expectations developing greater loyalty
to products
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students choose what they consider to be the top three reasons for being eco-friendly from
Table 12.2, Competitive Advantages of Being Eco-Friendly, or other reasons. In small groups,
share individual lists and have each group reach a consensus on the top three reasons. Then have
small groups share their lists with the class and as a class reach consensus on the top three
reasons.
CHAPTER QUESTION 4: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIG IMPACT GREENHOUSE
GAS REDUCTION SOLUTIONS?
GREEN ENERGY, TECHNOLOGY, AND JOBS
• Project Drawdown ranks the impact of sustainability solutions based on their projected
global GHG reductions by 2050
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than they are consumed
SCIENCE-BASED FIRMS
• Scope 1 consists of direct GHG emissions from owned or controlled sources, such as on-
CHAPTER QUESTION 5: WHAT ARE THE 10 ASPECTS OF THE
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE PROCESS AND HOW DO THEY CONTRIBUTE TO
MANAGING ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE?
• Becoming an eco-friendly organization requires leadership from the CEO or president
and a values-based organizational culture that not only honors compliance with
environmental regulations, but also emphasizes the benefits associated with
exceeding them.
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o Committee duties can include acknowledging previous environmental
accomplishments, gathering relevant data, engaging employees in small
Environmental Change Process at Edgewood College
• Formed Green Campus Task Force, which became a green team
• Catalogued previous green campus initiatives and shared with college community
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students assess each of the 10 aspects of Managing Environmental Change, for the college,
business school, or employer. How many of the managing environmental change aspects are in
place? Which aspects are current strengths and weaknesses? How can the organization transform
a weakness into a strength? Discuss the assessment in small groups.
CHAPTER QUESTION 6: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE KEY FEATURES AND BEST
PRACTICES OF GREEN ORGANIZATIONS?
GREEN MISSION STATEMENT
• Some organizations create an environmental mission statement that clearly articulates