Business Ethics and the Natural Environment examines the present status of relations between corporate enterprise and the natural environment in the world today. What obligations does the corporation bear to protect the natural environment, to respect entities that are not human and not protected by law, to be concerned with humans that will not exist for decades into the future, and to seek more environmentally friendly ways to do business? The author argues that the search for "green" innovations in business practice yields dividends beyond expectation, and that the competitive firm in this century will be the firm whose practices protect and enhance the natural environment. An excellent resource for students, this book provides a full background in ethics, an overview of business ethics, environmental legal issues and environmental philosophy, and an account of the problems associated with globalization and the response of nongovernmental organizations.

Lisa H. Newton is Professor of Philosophy, Director of the Program in Applied Ethics, and Director of the Program in Environmental Studies at Fairfield University; she is also an Associate in Medicine at Yale Medical School.