Environmental Business and Human Values - Ideas, Technologies, and International Trends in the 1990s, July 1995

Environmental Business and Human Values - Ideas, Technologies, and International Trends in the 1990s, July 1995

In the mid-1990s, Japan was in the midst of a recession following the collapse of the bubble economy. As the manufacturing and real estate industries stalled, "environmental business" attracted attention as a new industrial field. At the same time, however, a strong awareness of the problem was expressed: "The environment should not be merely a means to pursue profits. The article in this issue explains that for environmental business to be viable, ecological values must be at the root of human nature. In other words, it emphasizes that environmental business is an activity based not only on market principles, but also on "ideology" and "ethics.

This ideological background was supported by the environmental problems that were becoming increasingly serious at the time. Shortages of final disposal sites surfaced in urban areas, and illegal dumping of waste was viewed as an environmental crime. In addition, the problems of deforestation caused by acid rain and dioxin were widely reported, and public awareness of the environment rose rapidly. In this environment, companies developed energy-saving equipment, waste recycling, and environmentally friendly materials as new growth areas, but the emphasis was not simply on "selling eco-friendly products," but on accompanying "the idea of internalizing sustainability.

In terms of technology, advanced technologies such as the PCR method and remote sensing were applied to forest conservation and environmental monitoring, and biotechnology and information technology began to be integrated into the environmental field. Japanese companies also exported anti-pollution technologies such as flue gas desulfurization equipment and energy-efficient boilers to China and other Asian countries, and promoted international cooperation in conjunction with official development assistance (ODA). This was also a practice that supported the idea of "Japan as an environmental powerhouse.

Overseas, the Rio Earth Summit (1992) triggered the entry into force of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the environment was positioned as a major issue in international politics. In this context, Japan's environmental business was developed not only as a pillar of economic reconstruction, but also as "an ideological challenge to reexamine the way of life and values of human beings.

Thus, it can be said that environmental business theory around 1995 was not merely an industrial policy, but had an ideological expansion that linked economics, ethics, and international cooperation.