The Ethical Research On The Bottom Line Of China’s Corporate Environmental Responsibility

Since the launch of the reform and opening up,together with the unstoppable expansion of China’s economic scale,especially for the rapid development in Industrial sector,the problems caused by resource and environmental pollution have become more and more grievous,which have now escalated into one of the main contradictions that are seriously damaging the sustainable development of our society,and has caught the attention of whole society.The enterprise is a basic economic unit of our modern society,and also the biggest profit gainer under the process of industrialization.In the mean while,the enterprise is also one of the main producers for environmental pollution,which lays the corresponding environmental responsibility on the enterprise’s shoulder.But the reality show a different path it takes,that is a huge amount of enterprises lack the awareness of environmental responsibility,and usually show a negative attitude towards the problem of environmental pollution,and even try to evade corporate environmental responsibility.As a rational "economic man",the pursuit of its maximum benefit is a basic principle and goal of an enterprise,which is essentially contradict to that of the traditional one,which stands beyond utility.If we applies Kant’s moral standard,which is a high-level one with no desire,to enterprises and ask them to fulfill their environmental responsibilities,enterprises and the capital behind them would never take it,which could cause losses to the operation and development of themselves and even the overall social and economic development.Therefore,on account of the overall insufficiency of corporate environmental responsibility,a balance between utilitarianism and obligation is urgently needed to construct a moral standard and ethical system that can not only give consideration to the interests of the enterprise itself,but also an effective guidance for the enterprise to practice its basic environmental responsibility.Therefore,the moral standards brought out for enterprises must base on the reality,which is not required to follow the moral requirements of over high standards.The core value of bottom line ethics is "self-interest with no harms to others",which is also a basic value of giving consideration to "utility" and "morality" for enterprises.Here,it is not only necessary and legitimate on theoretical level,but also highly scientific,reasonable and feasible to use "bottom line ethics" to guide and regulate the practical performance of corporate environmental responsibility.In the thesis,research methods such as literature study,comparison study,and comprehensive study are applied for systematic discussion in four chapters.Chapter one interprets the enterprise environmental liability and ethical baseline,covering the definition,content,value orientation,and theoretical basis of enterprise environmental liability,and the definition,primary content,theoretical characteristics,and practical significance of ethical baseline.Chapter two analyzes the necessity and feasibility for the enterprise environmental liability complying with ethical baseline.At first,the enterprise environmental behaviors of "no ethical baseline" is revealed.Then,the theoretical basis of the enterprise environmental liability complying with ethical baseline is analyzed.In the end,the possible real motivations of the enterprise environmental liability complying with ethical baseline are described.Chapter three discusses the construction of ethical baseline in the enterprise environmental liability.At first,the relationship between enterprise environmental liability and ethical baseline is described.Then,the method of constructing ethical baseline in the enterprise environmental liability is proposed.Subsequently,the specific content of ethical baseline in the enterprise environmental liability is discussed.In the end,the tendency that should be avoided in constructing ethical baseline in the enterprise environmental liability is discussed.Chapter four discusses the motivations and strategies in breaking "ethical baseline" in two parts: the motivations of breaking "ethical baseline" and strategies for preventing enterprise environmental behaviors from breaking "ethical baseline".For the enterprise,morality without profit and profit without morality are both unacceptable.The research of the ethical bottom line for corporate environmental responsibility,through the organic combination of the above two factors,provides a more reasonable,open and moderate theoretical framework and value orientation for enterprises to fulfill their environmental responsibilities,and gives guidance to enterprises to reposition and reconsider their environmental responsibilities in practice,in the meanwhile,the government and society are also benefited to formulate moral principles and behavior norms that can effectively promote the current enterprises to fulfill their environmental responsibilities.