Is Sustainable Enterprise An Oxymoron?

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Is Sustainable Enterprise an Oxymoron? Introduction Environmental concerns are high on the agenda in the world today. As the magnitude of environmental problem become apparent, environmentalists, politicians and business alike are looking to create a more sustainable planet. It is clear something must be done as modern business continues to damage the natural environment. Even as growing numbers of businesses are turning to sustainable enterprise to help resolve the issues such as dwindling resources, wasteful consumption and expanding population, questions aries as to the effectiveness of what is being done, incremental changes are not enough and greenwashing strategies are plentiful. Is enterprise capable of the drastic sifts necessary to avoid disaster. This essay argues that in a world with finite resources, and where enterprise must grow in order to survive the concept of a sustainable enterprise is an contradiction in terms. There are examples of modern enterprise being motivated to meet the lofty goal of being truly sustainable but even in the rare cases where the goals of business and sustainability do seem to align many elements fall short of true sustainability. In contrast there are many concerning examples of increases in production being very damaging for the environment. Additionally modern Enterprise fails to meet the social welfare needs of today, let alone provide something for future generations. The fact that enterprise is required to expand in order to survive is very evident and this is in complete contrast to the need of sustainability to limit growth. A truly sustainable enterprise would contribute not hinder the need to scale down both production and consumption. It is hard to imagine a world where no goods and services are provided to the world by privately owned enterprise but it is the belief of this essay that that is precisely that
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