Deck 9: Sustainable Development and Global Business

Question 1

Life-cycle analysis involves collecting information on the lifelong environmental impact of a product,all the way from extraction of raw material,to manufacturing,to its distribution,use and ultimate disposal.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Black carbon is the second largest contributor to climate change,responsible for as much as 18 percent of global warming.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Offshore wind turbines,genetic engineering and energy-efficient homes are examples of smart consumption.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

About 20 percent of the world's people have incomes below the international poverty line.

Question 5

Both large and small businesses have adopted sustainable practices to what advantage:

A) Cost savings from operational efficiency.
B) Opportunity to serve emerging economies.
C) Reduction of regulatory risk.
D) All of the above.

Question 6

Plants and animals living as a natural unified system are called an ecosystem.

Question 7

A commons is a shared resource,such as land,air or water that a group of people uses collectively.

Question 8

Which of these factors has accelerated the current ecological crisis?

A) Population reduction.
B) World income equality.
C) Rapid industrialization.
D) All of the above.

Question 9

Sustainable development:

A) Meets the needs of the present while compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
B) Gives precedence to environmental over economic considerations.
C) Balances economic and environmental considerations.
D) Gives precedence to present needs over future needs.

Question 10

The world's income is distributed equally among nations.

Question 11

Rain forest destruction is controversial because these environments are more valuable cut down than standing.

Question 12

The leading contributor to global warming is the burning of fossil fuels,which releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Question 13

The world's natural resource base-the air,water,soil,minerals,and so forth-is essentially finite,or bounded.

Question 14

The paradox of the commons is that if all individuals attempt to maximize their own private advantage in the short term,the commons will still remain productive in the long run.

Question 15

Deforestation-cutting down and not replacing trees-contributes to global warming.

Question 16

The core idea(s)of sustainable development is(are):

A) Economic development must be accomplished sustainably.
B) Poverty is an underlying cause of environmental degradation.
C)
C) Affluence is an underlying cause of environmental degradation.
D) Both A and B, but not

Question 17

Sustainable development will require technology cooperation through long-term partnerships between companies in developed and developing countries to transfer environmental technologies.

Question 18

Natural capital refers to the world's:

A) Supply of geology, soil, air, water and all living things.
B) Combined stock ownership.
C) Combined capital investments.
D) Supply of sustainable developers.

Question 19

Land,even when properly cared for,is not a renewable resource.

Question 20

Biodiversity refers to the number and variety of species that have become extinct.

Question 21

The Sustainability Consortium organized to advance life-cycle analysis for thousands of products includes all of the following companies except:

A) Walmart.
B) SAP.
C) Alcoa.
D) Google.

Question 22

Which of these activities is not considered to be a marine ecosystem threat?

A) Overfishing.
B) Ocean pollution.
C) Coastal development.
D) Ocean alkalinity.

Question 23

Which of the following is not true about rain forests?

A) They are the planet's richest areas in terms of biological diversity.
B) They will be severely depleted within the next eight years.
C) They account for about seven percent of the earth's surface.
D) They account for somewhere between 40 to 75 percent of the earth's species.

Question 24

A thin layer of gas that protects the earth from excessive ultraviolet radiation from the sun is:

A) Ozone.
B) Carbon dioxide.
C) Methane.
D) Oxygen.

Question 25

The beverage industry's partnership Refrigerants Naturally! is attempting to:

A) Reduce water usage.
B) Increase the amount of arable land in use.
C) Reduce the use of ozone-depleting chemicals.
D) Increase the consumption of natural beverages.

Question 26

Which of the following statements is(are)true about global warming?

A) The earth has already warmed by between 0.7 and 1.1 degrees Celsius over the past century.
B) Burning fossil fuels is the leading contributor of global warming.
C) The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has increased by as much as 40 percent since the Industrial Revolution.
D) All of the above.

Question 27

With respect to fresh water,according to one estimate,if it were possible to eliminate pollution,capture all available fresh water,and distribute fresh water equitably:

A) Demand would exceed supply within a hundred years.
B) There would be a balance between demand and supply within a hundred years.
C) Supply would exceed demand within a hundred years.
D) None of the above.

Question 28

Which of the following statements is not true about arable land?

A) It is a nonrenewable resource.
B) Over 20 percent of the irrigated lands in developing countries have been salinized.
C) Poor farming practices have caused arable lands to turn into deserts.
D) Soil erosion has threatened many of the arable lands.

Question 29

The amount of land and water a human population needs to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its wastes given prevailing technology is called:

A) Ecological footprint.
B) Technological innovation.
C) Sustainable development.
D) Consumption footprint.

Question 30

Which of the following is an example of industrial ecology in practice?

A) Developing a paper recycling program in business offices.
B) Using wastes from one process as raw materials for another process.
C) Manufacturing recyclable containers for products.
D) All of the above.

Question 31

A shared resource,such as land,air,or water,that a group of people uses collectively is a(n):

A) Economic village.
B) Collective resource.
C) Global unification.
D) Commons.

Question 32

Which pattern of consumption is recommended to reduce humanity's global footprint?

A) Buying goods from firms that always seek to maximize their profits.
B) Choosing less harmful products.
C) Building more transit stops on the outskirts of town.
D) Eating more beef.

Question 33

Reasons for the destruction of rain forests include:

A) Commercial logging.
B) Cattle ranching.
C) Conversion of forests to plantations.
D) All of the above.

Question 34

By promoting the use of clean cookstoves in developing nations,a global alliance hopes to reduce:

A) Deforestation.
B) The burning of fossil fuels.
C) Black carbon.
D) Methane.

Question 35

The commitments of the Convention on Biological Diversity include:

A) Developing national conservation strategies.
B) Eliminating CFC production.
C) Population control education.
D) Massive irrigation projects in developing countries.

Question 36

Rapid economic development is often accompanied by:

A) Increasing population growth.
B) Greatly decreased crop yields.
C) Rising incomes, bringing higher rates of both consumption and waste.
D) Decreasing incomes, bringing rates of both consumption and waste.

Question 37

Why is income inequality an environmental problem?

A) People in the richest countries consume many natural resources.
B) People in the poorest countries often misuse natural resources.
C)
C) People in the richest countries have strong environmental values.
D) Both A and B, but not

Question 38

Life-cycle analysis involves:

A) Accurately recording the production costs at each stage of a product's life cycle.
B) Collecting information regarding the lifelong environmental impact of a product, from extraction to disposal.
C) Reducing recycling costs for disposable products.
D) Increasing productivity while improving the environment.

Question 39

Which of the following statements is not true about the population?

A) Over the next century, population growth is expected to be greatest in developed nations.
B) For many thousands of years, population growth was gradual.
C) Industrial production would have to quintuple over the next 40 years in order to maintain the same living standard that people have now, given expected population growth.
D) Just 10,000 years ago, the earth was home to no more than 10 million humans, scattered in small settlements.

Question 40

Scientists believe that if the Montreal Protocol is honored the ozone layer will recover by:

A) 2015.
B) 2035.
C) 2050.
D) Never.

Question 41

An example of codes of environmental conduct that have been developed by and for specific industries include:

A) The Equator Principles.
B) The Forest Stewardship Principles.
C)
C) The Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
D) A and B but not

Question 42

The most successful global businesses in coming years will be those companies that:

A) Develop short-term partnerships between companies in developing countries to transfer environmental technologies.
B) Recognize the imperative for sustainable development as an opportunity both for competitive advantage and ethical action.
C) Avoid fully accounting for environmental costs in calculating measures of production such as the gross domestic product (GDP).
D) Produce products with a limited useful life.

Question 43

Three critical factors have combined to accelerate the ecological crisis facing the world community and to make sustainable development more difficult.Explain and discuss these three factors.

Question 44

Do you believe the rapid economic development of poorer countries helps or hurts the environment? Why?

Question 45

Discuss some of the voluntary initiatives undertaken by businesses around the world in order to incorporate sustainable development into their everyday business practices.

Question 46

What defines an environmental problem that is inherently global in scope? Discuss in detail two of the five global problems outlined in the textbook that will have major consequences for business and society.

Question 47

An organization that produces net zero emissions of greenhouse gases is achieving:

A) Carbon offsets.
B) Carbon credits.
C) Carbon neutrality.
D) Black carbon.

Question 48

The idea that companies have a continuing responsibility for the environmental impact of their products or services,even after they are sold is called:

A) Life-cycle analysis.
B) Product life responsibility.
C) Extended product responsibility.
D) Extended product commitment.

Question 49

Explain how Masdar is an example of a completely sustainable community.

Question 50

Which of the following illustrates the idea of sustainable development through technology cooperation?

A) Worldwide conferences to encourage developing countries to invest in technological joint ventures with other developing countries.
B) The development of long-term partnerships between companies in developed and developing countries to transfer environmental technologies.
C) Advanced countries developing and selling at a profit environment technologies to developing countries.
D) All countries developing their own environmental technology in order to solve their own problems.

Question 51

Identify a business with which you are familiar.What management steps could this business take to operate more sustainably?

Question 52

What is meant by the Earth's carrying capacity? How can it be measured? Discuss the changes that need to be made in order to bring the Earth's carrying capacity back into balance with the demands placed on it by human society.