Environmental Management and Stewardship among Leading Industries in Nigerian Development

Abstract

Environmental management and stewardship has in recent times been an overriding concern of governments around the world. The need for hazard free and environmentally friendly practices is crystalized by recent trends in ozone depletion, global warming and its resultant threat on human life. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which is seen as a company's sense of right and wrong and also termed commercial residency, generates social sanctions that enable organizations to observe acts of commercial humanity intended to help them deal with social and economic developmental issues. Responding to the call for environmental best practice, global structures such as the International Standard Organization (ISO) have developed system standardization structures aimed at helping organizations systematize their environmental management processes. The study revealed that the ISO environmental standard and corporate stewardship is yet to be embedded in the operations of the firms studied for companies operating within Nigeria. Also, existing stewardship as represented by their CSR activities, are not given adequate structures as would be expected of corporate entities. It is believed that this study will generate information on environmental management activities of firms operating within the shores of Nigeria) and give some insight to the reflection of the triple bottom line (individual, community, environment) in their CSR activities.