Environmental Business and Human Values - July 1995 with Historical Background

Environmental Business and Human Values - July 1995 with Historical Background

In the mid-1990s, Japan was in the midst of an economic slump following the collapse of the bubble economy, and the traditional model of mass production and mass consumption had reached a social and economic deadlock. On the other hand, the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 had triggered widespread international recognition of the principles of "sustainable development" and "global environmental conservation," and momentum was building in Japan to finally address environmental issues head-on as a social issue. Against this backdrop, attention began to focus on "environmental business" as a new industrial field rather than mere regulation or pollution prevention.

What is emphasized in the article is the viewpoint that "environmental business cannot be established only with technology-based solutions. At the time, waste disposal technology, energy-saving equipment, and renewable energy technology were often regarded as the core of "environmental business. However, the point that without "ecological thinking at the root of human nature" there would be no intrinsic sustainability was not just an extension of economic activities, but a step into values and ideology.

In other words, a sustainable society cannot be built simply by using the environment as a "market for the pursuit of profit. Rather, the ethical and philosophical question of "how to reposition the relationship between humans and nature" was the foundation of environmental business. This idea was in line with the "ecological thought" and "deep ecology" that spread globally in the 1990s, and resonated with the trend toward a breakaway from anthropocentrism.

Under the social conditions of the time, environmental measures were often viewed as cost-increasing, and companies were cautious about full-scale participation. However, by presenting this ideological foundation, the significance of environmental business as not just a market strategy but also an activity that reexamines human values and the state of society was made clear. This perspective later evolved into the concepts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability management, providing a pioneering ideological foundation for the modern era.