SIGNIFICANCE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE CONTEXT OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Abstract

Every person on this planet has an equal right to enjoy the natural resources gifted by Mother Nature to all of us. Initially these resources were made use of in a manner which ensured social justice. But as the world progressed, businesses entered the fray which laid the foundation for social and economical injustice. The greed of more profit led to the extreme exploitation of resources. With the passage of time the inequalities in the society have widened up leading to degradation of social and moral values. These business giants exploited the resources and little did they think about adverse effects of their operations. Returning something back to the society never struck their mind. Due to which, a Legal duty was imposed on all such companies by the state which if failed to fulfil, these companies will be imposed by a Sanction. This principle in Corporate world is called as “Coroprate Social Responsibility” (hereinafter referred to as CSR). This paper examines the need of CSR particularly in the context of Environmental Justice in the light of theories propounded by various Jurists such as Savigny, Salmond, Aristotle, HLA Hart, John Raw ln, J. Locke etc. Along with India, few other countries which have witnessed a rapid rise of corporate sector and implied exploitation of resources have been listed and discussed in this paper.