ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that the diversity of environmental values and topics is too broad to be accurately captured by a single framework of sustainability. It offers a more pragmatic approach, suggesting that business's responsibilities regarding environmental issues are best explained and addressed by a range of differing philosophical, environmental, and policy strategies. The chapter explores the role of economic markets in achieving environmental goals. Environmental sustainability for Brundtland refers to sustaining the productive capacity of nature so that the earth's environment can sustain human life. As environmental policy and regulation developed in the 1970s and 1980s, a corresponding scholarly literature established the ethical framework for debates concerning businesses' environmental responsibilities. The general concept of environmental sustainability is ethically vacuous unless and until the aspects of that environment that are to be sustained are specified. Risk management assumes the survival of a business as a given and seeks strategies for minimizing the risks posed by environmental degradation to that survival.
