Environmental management in a developing global business context: Sustainable challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Economic activities and industrial growth of the last decades have highlighted the need for reconciling economic development at the international level without affecting the global environment. Many environmental problems are transnational, or even global, and, consequently, beyond the control of any single nation, also because of the increasingly impressive commercial activities, particularly in big companies. Even the recent COVID-19 pandemic has clearly shown the strong link between human productive activities and the well-being of the planet. To understand why and where business activities enter into the debate on sustainable development, it is important to see what are the root causes of environmental degradation, linked to human and industrial performances. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to understand implications that the increasing trading development has on the global environment and what are the signs that must be followed, so that the actions of companies may be more sustainable in a global perspective in the next future.