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Trinity Moore
International Business
Veronika Humphries
October 4, 2020
Ch. 5 Ethical Sustainability
Ethics and sustainability are important terms that are commonly discussed and mainstream
awareness has been established. Unfortunately, because of their complexity and the drastic
improvements in behavior it suggests, they are almost impossible to execute and maintain. The
production and distribution of technologies needed is especially difficult, with the vast majority
having substantial possible detrimental impacts on the welfare of both humans and the world.
Most major corporations do not see the need to produce their product in regards to the future of
the world. As long as they are able to meet the bare minimum of what the law requires,
ethicality is usually ignored. With that being said, if sustainability is not established in our
society and maintained successfully, there will be a noticeable negative affect on the future
generations and the world that they must live in. To understand sustainability, you need to look
at its root word-sustain. The definition of sustain is to keep something at its current state.
Sustainability means being able to provide for the current needs of yourself and others using
available resources without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
Ethical standards and sustainability go hand in hand. Neither are required, but if they are
ignored, then the effects are appalling and irreversible. Respecting the environment and long-
term sustainability is the best course of actions for you, your family, the future generations, and
the earth we all live in.
To achieve successful sustainability, we must first look at sustainable development. The three
pillars of sustainable development are social equity, environmental protection, and economic
visibility. In other words, we must focus on the people, planet, and profit. The United Nations’
Department of Economics and Social Affairs developed a set of seventeen goals during the 2012
UN conference that strive to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. These goals
and more in-depth information can be found on the United Nations website. Goal number one is
to end poverty. This goal aims to eradicate poverty in all its forms everywhere. Years of success
in reducing poverty has been undone by the virus, making it the largest rise in global poverty in
decades. Around four billion individuals did not benefit from any sort of social security in 2016.
It's closer to around 5.25 million today, with students and election staff not counted. The UN
announced a direct economic loss of $23.6 billion in 2018 for over 63 nations. Goal two is zero
starvation. It aims at eliminating malnutrition, achieving food stability and increasing nutrition
and encouraging sustainable farming. Stunting and wasting among children are expected to
worsen, according to the UN study in 2019. 21.3% or around 144 million children under the age
of 5 are stunted; wasting affects 6.9% or around 47 million. The pandemic struck small-scale
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food manufacturers hard and compromised 40-85% of all food producers in developing regions.
Goal three is good health and well-being. It seeks to ensure safe lives and foster well-being for
everyone, at any age. Essential healthcare facilities serve fewer than half of the global
population. The health care system needed attention, but after covid, decades of improvement
has been reversed. In about 70 nations, pediatric immunization campaigns have been disrupted
and hundreds of thousands of potential under-5 casualties are expected in 2020. Quality
education is goal four. It seeks to ensure that quality education is comprehensive and equal and
fosters lifelong learning opportunities for all. Change for equitable and fair standard education
was too slow even before Covid-19. Now, in 2030, more than 200 million children will be out of
school. The closing of schools has left 90% of all children out of school, which has reversed
years of educational growth. Remote learning for at least 500 million students is unobtainable.
Goal five is gender equality. It aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and
girls. Despite improvements, full gender equality remains unreached. Fortunately, there are
fewer girls pushed into early marriages and more women in positions of leadership. In 2020,
women accounted for 25% of leadership posts in national parliaments and 36% in local
governments. They now represent 70% of the coronavirus-fighting health and social workers.
Unfortunately, there is an increased risk of physical, sexual, and physical violence against
women and girls due to the lockdown. Nevertheless, women still bare extra household pressures
and spend about three times as many hours in unpaid domestic and care work as men.
Goal number six is clean water and sanitation. It aims to ensure availability and sustainable
management of water and sanitation for all. Billions of people lacked access to fresh water and
adequate sanitation facilities due to the outbreak. Two out of five healthcare facilities worldwide
do not have soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizers, according to the UN 2016 survey.
Now, 3 billion individuals globally lack simple handwashing facilities at home because of Covid,
which is the most powerful tool for avoiding viruses. 700 million people could be displaced by
water shortages by 2030. Some countries are being awarded by receiving a funding gap of 61%
if they are able to achieve water and sanitation targets. Goal seven is affordable and clean
energy. It aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
Efforts had to be made to raise renewable resources prior to the outbreak, because more than 789
million people lacked electricity. Better green energy initiatives are required, as renewables
account for just 17% of overall energy consumption, according to a UN study in 2017. The rate
of change in energy efficiency fell short of the UN goal of 3%, touching just 1.7%. More than
ever, inexpensive and safe electricity is essential for healthcare facilities due to covid. Goal
eight is decent work and economic growth. It aims to promote sustained, inclusive and
sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. With just
2.0 percent GPD per capita growth from 2010-2018 and 1.5 percent GPD per capita growth in
2019, global economic growth slowed down significantly prior to Covid. By the end of 2020,
GPD per capita is projected to fall by 4.2 percent. It has been the worst global crisis since the
Great Depression that the world has encountered. Around 1.6 billion workers in the informal
sector have been impacted by the pandemic by losing their lives. Due to the lockdown, the
tourism sector has been affected in particular. International tourist income has nosedived in
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2020 due to covid and travel restrictions. Goal nine is industry, innovation, and infrastructure. It
aims to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive, and sustainable industrialization and
foster innovation. Production growth was slowing prior to coronavirus, due to tariffs and trade
tensions. With a 51 percent drop in passengers from January to May 2020 compared to the same
timeframe in 2019, flight sanctions have resulted in the aviation industry's steepest downturn in
history. In 2018, according to the UN repot, while funding is required for the survival of small-
scale enterprises by viruses, only 35% have access to credit in developing countries. Goal ten is
to reduce inequalities. It aims to reduce inequality within and among countries. In certain
nations, wage inequality had decreased before Covid, and the GINI index decreased in 38 of 84
countries in 2010-2017. A total of 420 billion development aid was sent to developed countries
to assistance the global crisis, which has now reduced dramatically to about 271 billion between
2017 and 2018 over the course of one year. Older people, people with disabilities, children,
women, and migrants/refugees are the most affected populations being struck by the pandemic.
Goal eleven is sustainable cities and communities. It aims to make cities safe and human
settlements inclusive, safe resilient and sustainable. A share of the urban population living in
slums rose 24% in 2018 and only half have convenient access to public transportation of about
500-1000 meters distance, according to the UN report in 2019. Air pollution in urban cities
caused 4.2 million premature deaths in 2016 and over 90% of covid cases are in urban cities.
Less than half of the population live within 400-meters walking distance to open public spaces.
Goal twelve is responsible consumption and production. It aims to ensure sustainable
consumption and production patterns Natural resources continue to be unsustainably processed
by the vast majority of the world, with a global material footprint of 73 billion tons in 2010 and a
global footprint of 85.9 billion tons in 2017. At $318 billion in 2015 and $427 billion in 2018,
rising fossil fuel subsidies are adding to the climate crisis. We continue to generate more and
more waste, namely electronic waste, but less than 20 percent is recycled. From harvest to
transport to storage to production, more than 13.8% of food is lost in the supply chain process.
One good thing about covid is that it offers an opportunity to develop recovery plans that build a
more sustainable future. Goal thirteen is climate action. It aims to take urgent action to combat
climate change and its impacts. Climate change threatens to intensify the extent and intensity of
crises, such as major wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, and flooding. Global societies, nevertheless,
shy away from the commitments needed to overcome the climate crisis. As a result, 2019 was the
second warmest year on earth, and by the year 2100, global temperatures are expected to
increase by up to 38 degrees Fahrenheit. Covid lockdown may result in a 6% drop in greenhouse
gas emission for 2020, but we are still short of the 7.6% annual reduction required to limit global
warming to 35 degrees Fahrenheit according to the UN report. Goal fourteen is life below water.
It aims to conserve and sustainable use the oceans, sea and marine resources for sustainable
development. Acidic rain emitted from factory CO2 continues to endanger aquatic ecosystems
and fisheries, contributing to an estimated increase in ocean acidity of 100-150 percent by 2100,
affecting half of all marine life. To combat this, secure global marine biodiversity areas have
grown from 30.5 percent in 2000 to 46 percent in 2019, according to UN reports. The dramatic
decrease in human activity caused by Covid could allow the oceans to recover. Goal number
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fifteen is life on land. It aims to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial
ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land
degradations and halt biodiversity loss. According to the UN report, with over 31,000
endangered species and 27 percent of over 116,000 evaluated species on the IUCN red list, the
world is falling short of the 2020 biodiversity depletion goals. Trafficking of animals disrupts
ecosystems and leads to the transmission of infectious diseases. An interesting fact found in the
UN study is that because of the 370,000 pangolins confiscated globally, the Pangolins are
possibly the intermediate animal that transmitted the coronavirus.
Goal sixteen is peace, justice, and strong institution. It aims to promote peaceful and inclusive
societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective,
accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. Everyday people are killed due to various
military conflicts, despite the security under international law. The global homicide rate has
slowly declined, according to the UN study, from 5.9 per 100,000 people in 2015 to 5.8 per
100,000 population in 2018, which translates to roughly 440,000 homicide victims worldwide.
Lastly, goal number seventeen is partnership for the goals. It aims to strengthen the means of
implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development. According to
the UN report, international support for data and analytics was about 690 million in 2017, barely
half of what it needs to be. In 2020, global foreign investment is estimated to decrease by up to
40 percent.
After researching what the UN has and hopes to accomplish, it may seem to hard to try and live
sustainably. There are many ways that we as individuals can help keep our planet safe and
happy. We could choose to buy from companies that produce ethically sourced products
presented in biodegradable or compostable packaging. Recycling is always a good idea. If you
are into gardening, there are many ways to use your waste. Your cardboard boxes from Amazon
can be used in composting for your veggie plants which in turn cuts down on the amount of
packaging from produce you buy at the grocery store. With just a little bit of effort and a splash
of research, we are all on our way to a more sustainable lifestyle.
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Works Cited
THE 17 GOALS | Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (n.d.). Retrieved September 05,
2015, from https://sdgs.un.org/goals
Patra, R. (2013). Ethical engineering for sustainable development. ACADEMICIA: An
International Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 3(6), 104. doi:10.5958/j.2249-7137.3.6.011
Sustainability -Definition, Three Pillars, and Five Domains. (2020, May 31). Retrieved from
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/sustainability/
UCSF Sustainability | Recycling & Waste Reduction. (2020, September). UCSF Office of
Sustainability. https://sustainability.ucsf.edu/learntosort
