Upholding corporate environmental responsibility and accountability
In Bangladesh, cities have sprung up along the banks of different rivers. Industrial effluents have totally destroyed the biota in the rivers near these large urban areas
SHISHIR REZA
Corporate environmental responsibility refers to social, ecological, agricultural and public health concerns on the part of companies in their business strategies, operations and interactions with stakeholders. The environmental responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary expectations that society has of organizations at a given point of time.
Corporate bodies have a shady side represented by its potential negative impacts in the natural environment, labour and human rights areas. Social and environmental accounting and reporting may be able to make visible relationships between economic, social and environmental impacts. Environmental pollution and economic growth are inversely correlated. The impact of water and air pollution has been estimated to contribute negatively around 4% of the GDP. Environmental degradation threatens to undercut years of poverty reduction efforts. It has occurred alongside the boarder process of economic progress, unplanned urbanization, industrialization and puts pressure on life and livelihood. The particular environmental concerns are: industrial, urban air and sound pollution; waste load and effluent discharge from factories; loss of bio-diversity, deforestation and conversion of forest lands and wetlands to other usage; loss of agricultural land to rapid urbanization and associated settlements, sand and gravel mining, and brick manufacturing kilns; and conversion of coastal polder protection lands to shrimp farming that causes loss of mangrove forests and coastal agriculture.
The top 100 companies listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange corporate environmental disclosures are still at a low level. A media investigation implies that major pollution is caused by the Dhaka Export Processing Zone in Ashulia where most of the garment factories are located. This pollution is adversely affecting public health, community livelihoods and nearby water bodies. About 22% of diseases in our country are caused due to environmental degradation.
The construction industry is an important consumer of timber as windows and doors are made of wood in most cases. Wood is also used for making furniture and for interior decoration. Besides these, fuel wood is used in road construction, in brick making and cooking. Brickfields alone consume more than 25 % of the total firewood produced in the country. All these activities lead to deforestation and a loss of biodiversity in the forest ecosystem.
A Guardian report, 2012 has captured the condition of Hazaribagh in the following words: Bangladeshs toxic tanneries turning a profit at an intolerable human price. Different industries and their contribution to pollution in Dhaka are: pulp paper - 47.4%; pharmaceuticals - 15.9%; metals - 14%; food industry - 12.1%; fertilizers/pesticides - 6.6%. In urban areas, sewages are being discharged directly into the rivers and low-lying part around the urban areas. Asian water development outlook, 2016 mentions 80% wastes are dumping into river in Bangladesh. Water security index indicates Bangladesh is 44th out of 48 countries. Around 250 industries are discharging chemical pollutants into Buriganga and Sitalakhya River. Every day four thousand tons solid waste and 22 thousand tons tannery waste mixes with water in Buriganga River.
Wetlands around the Dhaka city are being destroyed through land development and dumping of toxic effluents and untreated sewage. In Bangladesh, cities have sprung up alone the banks of different rivers. Industrial effluents have totally destroyed the biota in the rivers near these large urban areas. In Dhaka, 20 canals have lost her life out of 42. Liquid, solid wastes and heavy metals copper, iron, lead, nickel is distressing the BOD, COD, DO, TDS, PH of water. The level of ground water is decreasing at an alarming rate and is being freely taken for corporate production.
In Bangladesh, the level of air pollution is highest in Dhaka followed by Chittagong and Khulna, the two other industrial cities. Incidence of air pollution is not an isolated event but is a continuous process as the sources of pollution operate throughout the year. The concentration of CO, NOx, PM10 and CO2 in Mohakhali is respectively, 2519 g/m3, 376 g/m3, 547 g/m3 and 435 ppm; Farmgate- 7730 g/m3, 752 g/m3, 289.92 g/m3, 590 ppm; Science lab- 5726 g/m3, 113 g/m3, 169.93 g/m3, 500 ppm. Mogbazar- 5726 g/m3, 339 g/m3, 383.53 g/m3, 475 ppm. The concentrations of sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide in the air have been increasing over the years.
The number of motorized vehicles plying in streets of Dhaka was around 140,000 in 1995, 185,000 in 2000 and 290,000 in 2005. Now it is around 3, 85,000. Apart from that, there is a question of registration and non-registration. Motorized vehicles are escalating day by day. Two stroke three wheelers, diesel powered trucks and buses and defective motor vehicles of all types are responsible for the emission of NOx, SOx, CO, CO2 and hydrocarbons.
As urban population and urban economic activities increase, more land is needed for housing, industries and commercial units. Construction of unplanned buildings, roads and earth excavation for land development lead to soil erosion. Increased demand for bricks is the outcome of an expanding construction industry, which follows rapid urbanization. To meet this demand, the number of brickfields keeps on increasing in the outskirts of urban areas. Growing numbers of brickfields mean further loss in prime agricultural land. Brickfields are also responsible for air pollution in the area. Hundreds of brick factories are creating severe air pollution, as the carbon compound, sulphur compound, dust particles are being released into the air.
Noise has become a part of urban living creates annoyance, hampers mental and physical peace, and may induce severe damage to public health and environment. The source of most outdoor noise worldwide is transportation systems, including motor vehicle noise, aircraft noise and rail noise. In Dhaka city, the average noise level of selected industries, hospitals and traffic places is respectively 87.09 dB, 70.58 dB, 100.79 dB which crosses the standard level of noise (Survey, 2015). The noise level of traffic place was higher than hospital and traffic places because vehicle horns make more noise intensity. Frequent exposure to noise at a level of between 80-100 decibels is likely to lead hearing loss. High level of noise can cause high blood pressure and other cardio-vascular disorders.
High-rise apartment buildings may seem to be the answer to the housing problem of growing city where space is also limited. Unplanned proliferation of high-rise buildings sprouting in odd places throughout the urban landscape is a threat to its environment. Site selection and construction of high-rise buildings should be guided by zonal planning and should follow certain building codes.
The ship-breaking industry which not only provides one of the most hazardous jobs in the world it is also responsible for widespread damage to local environments through effluent discharge from the ships and hazardous materials like asbestos and lead leeching into the shore and the sea.
Bangladesh has a plethora of policies and rules with provisions and guidelines for regulating social and environmental behavior of corporations notably the Factories Act 1965, Industrial Relations Ordinance 1969, Employment of Labor Act 1965, Bangladesh Environment Conservation Rules 1997, and Bangladesh Environmental Conservation Act 1995. However, in realty these policies and regulations are routinely flouted due to lack of enforcement by the relevant agencies and weakness lack of an integrated approach, weak institutional mechanisms widespread corruption; bureaucratic elitism; centralization and non-participatory working style, politicization and favoritism in service delivery, unwillingness of manufacturers to install effluent treatment plants; and the systematic neglect of and partial compliance with regulatory sanctions and resistance to reform and change.
The government (MoEF, 2008), for example, suggests a number of roles for the private sector. These include more responsible corporate behavior and compliance with relevant policies and regulations including the polluters pay principle; and picking up the responsibilities of redressing consequences of environmental degradation.
In the context of the current move by the Bangladesh Bank to require all banking companies to report on environmental matters, a number of our corporate participants have argued for mandatory forms of corporate environmental reporting. Corporate bodies are required to
formulate environment risk management guidelines with the purpose of understanding and managing risks that arise from environmental concerns.
Environmental hazards will likely be very crucial factor in the next three decades. We have to ensure, development of mechanism to value ecosystems in national accounts; increasing demand for green bonds; Bangladesh bank may make carbon reporting or the reporting of environmental damage mandatory for financial institutions; Technology may increase the opportunity of weather insurance products; higher asset allocation from institutional investors in climate change mitigating financial instruments.
The development phoenix has risen, including environment in development, excluding all dreadful conditions and let it fly.
The writer is an environmental analyst and associate member of Bangladesh Economic Association
