Letters | Why ignoring climate change will only hurt big business’ bottom line

Readers discuss big business’ indifference to climate change, governance during the pandemic and the upcoming DSE exam

Reading Time:2 minutes

A firefighter stands near a wildfire that spread to cover more than 500,000 hectares amid persistent dry weather in Corrientes, Argentina, on February 15. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:30pm, 22 Apr 2022

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I refer to “Asia’s investment in natural gas to wean off fossil fuels is a false solution” (April 18). With the unprecedented level of man-made climate change-related events – in particular bone-dry areas going up in flames – one wonders how many CEOs of fossil fuel companies and their family members risk being caught in harm’s way.

Assuming the CEOs are not foolish enough to believe their descendants will somehow always evade the repercussions related to their industry’s environmentally reckless decisions, I wonder whether seeking unlimited profits is somehow irresistible to them, including the willingness to allow an already-squeezed consumer base to continue to be so or be squeezed even further. It brings to mind the allegorical frog being stung by the instinct-abiding scorpion while ferrying it across the river, leaving both to drown.

As far as economics and the ethics around big business are concerned, I can see CEOs shrugging their shoulders and defensively saying their job is to protect their shareholders’ interests. The shareholders, meanwhile, shrug their shoulders while defensively saying that they just collect the dividends and that the CEOs are the ones to make the moral or ethical decisions.

There must be a point at which the status quo will end up hurting big business’ own bottom-line interests.

Frank Sterle Jnr, British Columbia, Canada

02:07

New UN report on climate change shows a ‘litany of broken promises’, says UN chief Guterres