Environmental Ethics &Environmental Costs

1. Su
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Environmental Ethics &
Environmental Costs

2.  www.indiana.edu
 ftp://ftp.amberton.edu
 A textbook on Business Environment by Dr. G.S Gireesh Kumar,
Prakash Publications, Changanacherry
References

3. Environmental Ethics
 Ethics is concerned with what is good or bad, right or wrong
and just and unjust.
 Environmental Ethics studies the moral relationship of
human beings towards environment and its non-human
contents.
 Environment ethics is theory and practice about appropriate
concern for, values in and duties regarding the natural
world.
 It is concerned with our responsibilities towards
environment

4. Environment ethics makes 3 judgements. They are;
1. The earth and it’s creatures has Moral Status, in other words are
worthy of our ethical concern.
2. The earth and it’s creature has Intrinsic value, meaning they have
moral values merely because they exist, not only because they meet
human needs.
3. Drawing from the idea of an Ecosystem human beings should
consider other forms of life and the environment

5.  Environmental costs are one of the many different types of costs,
businesses incur as they provide goods and services to their customers.
 The Environment Protection Agency (1996) defines environmental costs
are those costs that has a direct financial impact on a company and costs
to individuals society and the environment for which the company is not
accountable.
Environmental Costs

6.  Internal Cost
These are costs that directly impact on the income statement of a
company. They are;
1. Conventional Cost
The costs of using raw materials, utilities, capital goods, and supplies are
usually addressed in cost accounting and capital budgeting, but are not
usually considered environmental costs.
2. Hidden Cost
It refers to results of assigning environmental cost to overheads
Types of Environmental Costs

7. 3. Contingent Cost
Cost that may or may not be incurred at some point in the future
termed as contingent costs.
4. Image and Relationship Costs
These are less tangible cost related to the subjective perceptions of a
firm's stakeholders

8. External Cost
An external cost is a cost that a producer or a consumer imposes
on another producer or consumer.
External cost includes;
1. Environmental degradation for which firms are not legally liable
2. Adverse impact on human beings, their property and their welfare that
cannot always be compensated for through legal systems