While we tinker with the idea that governments and politics are important sources of forces for the good when it comes to climate, corporations are already doing loads in the real world with the advent of Corporate Social Responsibility.
To be frank, CSR can sometimes be make-up for the company’s public face but there are still substantial number of firms who are doing real big good stuff and tackling different aspects of social costs the company might have inflicted on the society. Knowledge @ Wharton introduces the CSR moves of Campbell, which covers not only environmental actions but also social programmes (mostly to do with employees).
The Economist thinks little of CSR but highlights the ordinary good that firms and companies does by just doing their own stuff (manufacturing, marketting, improving, innovating). The newspaper argues that business people should probably trumpet these achievements of fostering innovation, cooperation between groups and individuals across the globe besides being so engrossed with CSR.
Sometimes I guess if you look on the bright side, everyone is probably doing good through being selfish – the central idea of economics.
‘Everyone is probably doing good through being selfish’ – I almost agreed with this statement, until I suddenly remembered Big Oil. (Their CSR is also… well, questionable)
I wont launch into a huge debate about this, but I sure hope that someday doing good will really become part and parcel of doing business. It’s promising but we need more Muhammad Yunus-es (the founder of Grameen Bank which pioneered microfinance).