ABSTRACT

In the past, companies which have polluted have not paid the cost of that pollution. They have been allowed to discharge pollutants into the air and water while others bear the consequences. ‘When companies are allowed to pollute, or to use natural resources without paying their full price, they are in effect appropriating natural capital – land, air, and water – without compensation to society at large’ (Templet 2001: 2). The resulting pollution or resource depletion is called an ‘externality’ by economists because it is a cost that is external to the company's accounts and external to the market transactions the company is involved in.