Corporate Social Responsibility towards the Environment in Lublin Region, Poland: A Comparative Study of 2009 and 2019

Anna Żelazna,Ewa Bojar,Matylda Bojar

doi:10.3390/su12114463

Abstract

Today’s businesses have a huge impact on the environment. Enterprises overuse available natural resources, and emit hazardous pollutants; thus, they contribute to the advancing degradation of existing ecosystems, causing serious threats to the biological diversity of our planet. Hence, there is an urgent need to undertake diverse actions to reduce the adverse impact of businesses, households, and whole societies on the environment, and stop its degradation. The goal of this paper is to present research findings from the study carried out in 2019 and compare these findings with the study carried out in 2009, in order to identify and analyze the most frequent environmental activities undertaken by enterprises operating in the Lublin region. The ranking method was used in the study. The research findings show that over the last 10 years respondents’ opinions on the most effective economic instruments used in pursuing ecological policies remained unchanged. Moreover, respondents point to numerous tangible benefits resulting from ecological activity. In 2019, like in 2009, most pro-ecological investments were financed with enterprises’ own funds. Over the 10-year period between 2009 and 2019, the most frequent pro-environmental activities, as well as the returns on ecological investment periods, have changed. The study showed that enterprises responsibly consider environmental impacts of their activities and undertake actions aimed at preserving the environment and its resources.

Highlights

Today, enterprises are increasingly contributing to the progressive degradation of existing ecosystems by emitting huge amounts of hazardous pollutants and excessive use of available natural resources, causing a serious threat to our planet’s biodiversity
The goal of this paper is to present the research findings of the study carried out in 2019 and to compare them with the study carried out 10 years earlier, in 2009, in order to establish the differences in approach to pro-environmental activities and evaluate the most frequent environmental initiatives undertaken by enterprises in the Lublin region
Our research has shown that in the Lublin Voivodeship, social responsibility is identified with running a business that cares for the environment and its resources

Summary

Introduction

Enterprises are increasingly contributing to the progressive degradation of existing ecosystems by emitting huge amounts of hazardous pollutants and excessive use of available natural resources, causing a serious threat to our planet’s biodiversity. The document postulates that social responsibility has become an integral part of management in European enterprises and an everyday practice followed by owners and managers. Such approach, takes a profound change in the way enterprises are run, as well as new managerial skills, competences, and mental change among both managerial staff and employees. The analysis of the evolution of the theory of corporate social responsibility in the theory of management [2] points to the changing characteristics of the relation between business and society over time. These differences determine the way entities interact and collaborate. Understood as respecting voluntarily social and ecological aspects of business operations and in relations with stakeholders, has become a commonplace concept in Poland

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