CEA Environmental Ethics & Sustainability 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which concept defines sustainable development as meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs?
- Intergenerational equity (Correct answer)
- Corporate social responsibility
- Stakeholder theory
- Environmental justice
Correct answer: Intergenerational equity
Intergenerational equity, popularized by the Brundtland Commission's 1987 report, defines sustainable development as balancing current needs while preserving resources for future generations.
Question 2: What is 'greenwashing' in the context of corporate environmental ethics?
- Adopting renewable energy sources across all operations
- Misrepresenting environmental practices or benefits to appear more sustainable than reality (Correct answer)
- Publishing a verified third-party sustainability report
- Implementing a company-wide carbon offset program
Correct answer: Misrepresenting environmental practices or benefits to appear more sustainable than reality
Greenwashing occurs when an organization makes misleading or unsubstantiated claims about its environmental practices, violating honesty and transparency ethics.
Question 3: The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework requires organizations to measure performance across which three dimensions?
- Profit, productivity, and personnel
- People, planet, and profit (Correct answer)
- Policy, process, and performance
- Prevention, planning, and profit
Correct answer: People, planet, and profit
The Triple Bottom Line framework, coined by John Elkington, expands success metrics beyond profit to include social (people) and environmental (planet) performance.
Question 4: Which international agreement set legally binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions among signatory nations?
- The Basel Convention
- The Paris Agreement
- The Kyoto Protocol (Correct answer)
- The Stockholm Declaration
Correct answer: The Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol (1997) established the first legally binding greenhouse gas reduction commitments for developed nations, unlike the Paris Agreement which relies on voluntary nationally determined contributions.
Question 5: An organization's ethical duty to proactively identify and mitigate potential environmental harms before they occur best describes which principle?
- The polluter-pays principle
- The precautionary principle (Correct answer)
- The subsidiarity principle
- The proportionality principle
Correct answer: The precautionary principle
The precautionary principle holds that when an action raises threats of harm to the environment or human health, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established.
Question 6: What does ISO 14001 certification indicate about an organization?
- It has achieved carbon neutrality
- It has an effective environmental management system in place (Correct answer)
- It complies with all local environmental regulations
- It has reduced emissions by at least 20%
Correct answer: It has an effective environmental management system in place
ISO 14001 certifies that an organization has implemented a structured environmental management system (EMS) to systematically identify and control its environmental impacts.
Question 7: Which economic model emphasizes keeping resources in use for as long as possible and recovering materials at the end of each service life, reducing waste?
- Linear economy
- Mixed economy
- Circular economy (Correct answer)
- Green economy
Correct answer: Circular economy
The circular economy model contrasts with the traditional linear 'take-make-dispose' model by designing out waste and keeping materials and products in use through reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling.
CEA Environmental Ethics & Sustainability 1
Which concept defines sustainable development as meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs?