Task 1: Important Sustainability Issue for Global Significance
Task 1: Important Sustainability Issue for Global Significance
In the modern corporate world, the scarcity of the resources is one of the most critical sustainability issues of the global significance (Ding, 2008, pp. 451-464).
Task 2: Main Environmental Elements
Currently, the resource scarcity is one of the significant global sustainability issues which has received both the overestimation and the underestimation by the ethnic groups experiencing the challenges. Some global ethnic groups observe that the scarcity of resources mainly results from the effects of the continuous growth of the population. In some states such as the United States of America, Japan, and Britain the skeptics of the climate and environmental changes have continuously made up the most significant part of the population in the affected countries (Lotze-Campen et al., 2008, pp.325-338).
Since the environmental factors such as rain and drought affect the population in particular sections of the world, the demand of the resources for instance food, water, energy and other materials increases thus the supply is affected, and the possessions become scarce. The environmental factors that affect the scarcity of the resources include elements such:
- Drought and climate changes.
- The replacement of the fresh waters and the sea water resulting to the ground salty waters in the coastal regions.
- Reduced amount of the rainfalls.
- Global warming resulting to the seasonal climate changes
The drought and climate are the environmental factors which influence the scarcity of the resources such as food, water, and energy (Barnett and Morse, 2013, pp.37-44). Rain and water is the essential requirement for the agricultural practices, therefore, the when the sustainability of the resource is affected; it results in the low supply of food as the resource. The Hydroelectric power also depends on the amount of the water that can be applied for the power generation. The scarcity of water is caused by the continuous growth of the population where the individuals clear the water catchment areas thus reducing the amount of the harvested rain (Harvey, 2017, pp 25-46).
Additionally, the environmental elements in the coastal regions are caused by the scarcity of the fresh waters due to the replacement of the clean water with the salty water from the sea. The increasing population in the coastal regions promotes the destructions of the water catchment areas only leaving the sea as the source of the water in the region. The salty water replaces the underground waters thus the scarcity of the of water resources is a crucial sustainability issue of the global significance.
Task 3: A Critical Social elements that affect the scarcity of resources
The scarcity of resources as a vital sustainability issue in the global significance is also affected by the social elements such as.
- Religion and knowledge
- Sentiments
- End goals
- Norms and ideals
- Sanction
The faith and expertise affect the scarcity of the resources in a specific region of the ethnic groups due to the high standards of uniformity in the behaviors among the individuals (Lerner, 2013, pp.29-41). The religious beliefs act as the controlling interventions of various categories of the human societies. The scarcity of the resources such as the food might be affected by the religious practices might allow for the consumption of the selected menu. Therefore, the supply of the specific food reduces thus described as the sustainability issue of the global significance.
Task 2: Main Environmental Elements
Sentiments as a social element affect the scarcity of the resources since it is the practice where an individual believes of the living with a reason (Mildner, Lauster, and Wodni, 2011, p.156). Therefore, sentiments such as social, filial, and nationality have played a significant role in making a consistent continuity of the society by the cultural practices. The consistent cultural practices ensure the maximum utilization of the resources in a particular region thus increasing the demands for the specific resources.
End goals as a social element of the scarcity of the resources are experienced when the individuals believe of the over-dependence on appropriate support with the aim of total satisfaction.
The social system of a specific ethnic group is kept constant by the norms of the society. The rules such as the customs, folkways, morality, and fashion ensure the maximum utilization of the available resources to attain a specific norm in the society. For instance, the resources are used for the completion of the structures used for the fashion and when the demand increases the amount of the raw materials also reduce thus the scarcity of the resources (Martin-Carrasco et al., 2013, pp.1693-1705).
Task 4: Economic Elements that affect the scarcity of the resources
Several economic elements are considered when analyzing the scarcity of the resources as one of the outstanding issues affecting the global significance. Some of the most common aspects considered include;
- Labor costs
- government policies
- Management
- Taxes.
The costs of labor may result to the scarcity of the resources since the high labor costs lead to the fewer employment chances thus the production and supply of the products and services might reduce significantly (Fischer et al., 2012, pp.129-134). The scarcity of the human resource may result in a significant loss to the engaged industries accountable for the creation of the goods that are on high demands.
Government policies assist in the monitoring of various natural resources. Due to the increasing population in multiple nations worldwide, the government has developed numerous programs to help in the regulation of the utilization of the public funds. When the government policies have regulated the usage of a specific resource, the supply of the item reduces thus high demand of the things. Therefore, it can be regarded as the sustainability issue of the global significance (Schawe et al., 2014, pp.3245-3250).
The management and taxation also affect the availability of the resources since the government uses the sources as some of the causes for its revenues. Various industries might not attain the required amount charged for taxes. Thus they might consider not to participate I the business activity. Therefore, the demands for the products increases since few industries produce while other companies cannot access the resources. Thus, taxation also contributes to the influence of resource scarcity as an issue of the global significance.
Task 5: Ethical Problems Related to Resource Scarcity
The most common ethical problems related to the resource scarcity as the sustainability issue of the global significance include:
- Unequal resource allocations.
- Reduced maintenance and the governance of the available resources.
Task 6: Discuss the Identified Ethical Problems
Most of the scarce resources for the global significance include the naturally occurring resources. Various parts of the world have different resources available for the use by the local or the international communities. Unequal distributions of the available resources might be considered as some of the problems leading to the resource scarcity as some of the sustainability issues. The products found from the identified sources might be of use to several individuals, but the locations where they are found might be a challenge to the users in the areas far away from the sources (Smith and Lewis, 2011, pp.381-403). Therefore, the increased demand resulting from the unequal distribution of the resource can be experienced.
Task 3: A Critical Social Elements that Affect the Scarcity of Resources
Reduced maintenance and governance of the resources might also be regarded as the main problem affecting the resource scarcity as the sustainability issue of the global significance. Without proper and well-established management programs for the available resources, the individuals interacting with the sources might misuse and waste the resources, not putting them into a constructive use thus making a limited available list which cannot satisfy the demands of the consumers. For instance, the wastage of water as a natural resource might cause the high demand to the consumers if the significant part is wasted and not used for meaningful purposes.
Task 7: Business Threats and Opportunities
Resources such as water and energy have a high demand for the business activities. For instance, several companies realize that water is a finite resource since the scarcity of water may have a significant effect on the business activities of the affected companies. In most cases, the shortage of resources such as water and energy might result in the closure, poor status or threaten the operation of the organization (Brown and Matlock, 2011, p.19).
The scarcity of the resources might also be an excellent opportunity for the establishment of various business organizations. The shortage of support shows that the supply is not enough to satisfy the demands of the consumers. Therefore, it creates a business opportunity for various organizations to establish the business that might assist in the meeting the requirements of the required item. For instance, whenever power is scarce due to the low water levels, an organization might come up with the business opportunity of establishing a solar power plant which is used to supplement the scarce power resource (Homer-Dixon, 2010).
Task 8: Ethical and Sustainability Solution.
The scarcity of resources as the sustainability issue of the global significance is caused by various barriers ranging from factors such as financial, technological and behavioral barriers. Different ethical and sustainable solutions have been generated to help in solving the challenges of the unsustainability of the resources (Brown and Matlock, 2011, p.19). For instance, about behavior, the responsible community can come up with a relevant policy which can be used to maintain the resource thus protecting it from misuse and wastage of the resource. The technology also has a solution to the scarce resources where the inventions help in providing alternative solutions to meet the demands of the supply. For instance, the solar technology can be used to substitute the scares sources of the other energy resource. Financial abilities also help in acquiring the resource however costly or distant it might be; the financial stability can assist in attaining the supply without many struggles.
References
Barnett, H.J., and Morse, C., 2013. Scarcity and growth: The economics of natural resource availability (Vol. 3). London: Routledge. pp. 37-44.
Brown, A., and Matlock, M.D., 2011. A review of water scarcity indices and methodologies. The white paper, 106, p.19.
Ding, G.K., 2008. Sustainable construction—The role of environmental assessment tools. Journal of environmental management, 86(3), pp.451-464.
Fischer, G., Hizsnyik, E., Prieler, S., van Velthuizen, H. and Wiberg, D., 2012. Scarcity and abundance of land resources: competing uses and the shrinking land resource base. pp. 129-134.
Harvey, D., 2017. Population, resources, and the ideology of science. In Environment (pp. 25-46). London: Routledge.
Homer-Dixon, T.F., 2010. Environment, scarcity, and violence. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Lerner, M.J., and Lerner, S.C. eds., 2013. The justice motive in social behavior: Adapting to times of scarcity and change. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 29-41
Lotze?Campen, H., Müller, C., Bondeau, A., Rost, S., Popp, A. and Lucht, W., 2008. Global food demand, productivity growth, and the scarcity of land and water resources: a spatially explicit mathematical programming approach. Agricultural Economics, 39(3), pp.325-338.
Martin-Carrasco, F., Garrote, L., Iglesias, A., and Medeiros, L., 2013. Diagnosing causes of water scarcity in complex water resources systems and identifying risk management actions. Water resources management, 27(6), pp.1693-1705.
Mildner, S.A., Lauster, G. and Wodni, W., 2011. Lack and abundance revisited: A literature review on natural resources and conflict. International Journal of Conflict and Violence, 5(1), p.156.
Schawe, J., Heinke, J., Gerten, D., Haddeland, I., Arnell, N.W., Clark, D.B., Dankers, R., Eisner, S., Fekete, B.M., Colón-González, F.J. and Gosling, S.N., 2014. Multimodel assessment of water scarcity under climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(9), pp.3245-3250.
Smith, W.K., and Lewis, M.W., 2011. Toward a theory of paradox: A dynamic equilibrium model of organizing. Academy of Management Review, 36(2), pp.381-403.