BUS7B26 Emphasising the Environment Assignment Sample 2023
Introduction (BUS7B26 Emphasising the Environment Assignment Sample 2023 )
Sustainability is about meeting own needs without compromising the capability of future generations (Kumar and Verma, 2018). The three main pillars of sustainability are economy, environment and society. This assignment focuses on identifying two environmental issues faced by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. These are the carbon emission created by the oil production and pollution of water that affects the balance of the aquatic ecosystem.
It focuses on formulating a sustainable plan that includes various strategies that the company can adopt to deal with these issues. Also, the assignment involves the benefits of implementing these strategies for the organization.
Environmental issues and concerns within the organization
ONGC, or oil and natural gas corporation, is a crude oil and natural gas corporation owned by the Indian government. The registered office of ONGC is in New Delhi, and it produces about 70% of India’s crude oil and 84% of natural gas. Founded in 1956, the company is indulged in the exploitation and exploration of hydrocarbons in 26 sedimentary basins of India. It owns and operates more than 11,000 km of pipelines in India.
It has been identified that the company deals at a large scale within the country, and thus, it leads to identifying major environmental concerns to deal with them effectively. The two significant ecological issues pertaining to ONGC have been identified as oil production that contributes to the increasing carbon emission. Other issues have arisen from water pollution, which destroys the balance of the aquatic system.
The environmental issues have resulted in a loss of balance between the environment and society. The increased carbon emission is creating a threat to the success of the business organization and increasing the ecological crisis (Jha, 2016).
On the other hand, it is creating a massive risk to the life of local inhabitants. The increasing health risks of the people can hamper the organization’s overall reputation. The gas and other harmful substances released from the plant affect water and create water pollution.
A crucial sustainability model or approach can be discussed to understand the company’s responsibility and its impact on the business (Jain, 2017). As per Carroll’s model, there are mainly four levels of corporate social responsibility which the company has to adopt. These are:
Economic responsibility: the company is responsible for contributing to economic development by generating profit, providing employment opportunities, and accelerating growth (Chavda, 2016).
Legal responsibility: another responsibility of the company is towards laws and procedures. Every business organization operating in the present context has to obey the rules. For example, ONGC must adhere to employment laws, health and safety laws, tax regulations, and equalities.
Ethical responsibility: This layer of the model focuses on being right and doing things in the proper manner in the business (Chaliha and Singha, 2018). Thus, this demonstrates the company’s role in being fair to the stakeholders and adopting ethical principles.
Philanthropic responsibility: nowadays, businesses are getting criticized for their increasing carbon footprint. Thus, the company has to fulfil its responsibility towards the environment and society. In this context, it can be said that the increased carbon emission has been identified as the most significant environmental concern for the company. This can damage the corporate reputation, and neglecting sustainable practices can negatively impact the stakeholders (Ratner, 2018).
The carbon footprint causes global warming and which results in climate change. Also, the company has to deal with the issue to attain the trust and loyalty of the clients, fulfilling responsibility towards the environment, and emerging out as a responsible corporate citizen.
Non-adherence to sustainable practices by ONGC can lead to several crises and disasters. These can be sea-level rise, destroyed infrastructure, and increasing economic volatility (Singh and Hajra, 2018).
Considering another issue of water pollution, it has been assessed that gas is a high pollutant fossil fuel. Thus, these issues affect the company’s image, relationship with the major stakeholders, and overall profitability.
Organization’s sustainability strategy
A sustainability strategy can be defined as a prioritized set of actions that involves integrating environmental, economic, and social aims into the organization’s goals. The objective is to create a long term value for the organization, wide society, and its key stakeholders (Huang et. al. 2018). Sustainability is crucial for organizations to maintain the biocapacity and health of the environment. It supports the wellbeing and prevention of nature and people.
Plan for a sustainability strategy
A sustainability plan is a document that explains how the project needs to be sustained in the long term. Based on the identified issues in the previous section, the sustainability strategies can be discussed. The steps involved in the sustainable strategy of ONGC are:
| Talk and engage | The first critical step in planning a sustainability strategy is building a case for sustainability. In this, the engagement of senior leaders on the topic of sustainability is crucial (Masnadiet. al. 2018). |
| Enlisting strategies | This stage of the plan lists some significant actions and practices that ONGC can embrace to deal with the two environmental concerns:
· The reduction of emissions creates a wide range of societal benefits for the company. Therefore, the selected organization should first emphasize reducing their emission from processing, production and Logistics. This can be decreased by eliminating methane leaks, venting and flaring. ONGC can switch fuel, improve the energy efficiency of operations, utilize lower carbon feedstocks, and collaborate across the supply chain (EDF, 2022). Further initiatives can be taken to minimize the industry’s footprint. · ONGC has various resources and tools to address the operational challenges. These can be asset integrity, remote operations or equipment maintenance (Comyns, 2016). It can be said that ineffective uses of these tools can create trouble for organizations functioning. Thus, in this regard, the company can efficiently utilize digital and emerging technologies to reduce emissions and optimize operations such as machine learning, automation, and artificial intelligence. This can be illustrated that a Methane emission platform can optimize drones, the internet of things, sensors and other wearables to capture the emission across its value chain. This can be within the processing, transmission, production, storage, or distribution. These technologies and tools are rapidly scalable and valuable (Cheremisinoff, 2016). · The creation of an innovation ecosystem can be another sustainable strategy for ONGC. It isn’t very easy for every company to solve the energy challenge and significant for all the parties, including start-ups, oilfield services, operators and system integrators, to develop a creative solution. Machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence can be used to protect against equipment failure (Olahet. al.2018). The providers of service, equipment and Technology have comprehensive access to data, and they can have an active role in developing this new ecosystem. Setting the trend to reduce emissions is possible by electrifying offshore operations rather than using gas and diesel to fuel gas compressors, generators and pumps. · Furthermore, to deal with the issue of emissions generated during production and refining plants, operations can be done using appropriate equipment—for example, bag filters, electrostatic precipitators and scrubbers. The dust emission can be controlled with water sprays. The oil and gas organization can conduct preventive maintenance of storage areas and equipment to prevent the occasional leaks (Pichtel, 2016). · At last, an emergency response plan is also necessary to deal with the accidents which can affect the environment badly, including leaks, fires, large oil spills, and explosions. Hence, there is no single way to reduce the emission and resolve this environmental issue, but ONGC must adhere to several practices. For instance, investment in renewables, reducing flaring, clean hydrogen, and reducing emission in operations. · Methane and carbon are significant contributors to emission, and in the operations, these come from turbines, exhaust gas from engines, and gas flaring. Thus, it can be dealt with in the operational area by ensuring that all operates to the same high standards and transparent and accurate data to foster better performance (Cordes et. al. 2016). · The poorly managed gas and oil wastewater create a high risk of contamination. Furthermore, a sustainable strategy for controlling and reducing water pollution is possible by reducing spills. The wastewater generated from gas and oil well is infested with contaminating soil, harming vegetation and numerous chemicals. Thus ONGC can improve spill reporting policies to understand better where and how spills are happening. Also, spills can be eliminated by better management of the fluids well. · Further, freshwater management can also be used as a technique. It is crucial to reduce the amount of freshwater used for gas and oil development to avoid the scarcity of this essential resource. Hence, proper management is vital. Further, the wastewater should be kept in the oil fields. This water is of extremely poor quality and thus cannot be used for other purposes (Chaudhry and Malik, 2017). |
| Measure and report | This step is equipped with selecting the right metrics to keep the sustainability targets on track, which can be a continuous audit. |
| Communicate | Communication with the relevant stakeholders of ONGC is essential. |
The plan of sustainability and the strategies will efficiently contribute to the company meeting the UN sustainable developmental goals. The goals related to the ONGC’s sustainability approach are climate action, clean water and sanitation, and affordable and clean energy. The Goal 13 of the UN focuses on taking action to deal with climate change.
Implementation of the strategy and its benefits for the organization
Implementation of the strategies mentioned earlier within the ONGC will help improve the environmental issues. For example, the implementation of technologies and using appropriate equipment will contribute to reducing carbon emissions. The use of electrostatic precipitators and bag filters will help deal with the issue of emission. Also, the formulation of an emergency response plan helps cope with uncertain emergencies and explosions if it happens.
The company will also be able to deal with this strategy regarding the issue of water management. Wastewater is a risk for the environment, and efficient management and less freshwater use can aid in this. The sustainable strategies discussed above effectively resolve the environmental threats faced by ONGC. In addition to this, it can be said that these are the tactics for dealing with carbon emission and water pollution.
Concerning the organizational benefits, implementing sustainable strategies improves the brand image and gains a competitive advantage. The clients and consumers of the selected organization focus on evaluating the organization’s impact on the environment.
The client prefers to associate with organizations with less environmental impact and emphasize reducing their carbon footprint. Carbon emission is a global concern, and people are getting focused on adopting the products and services created with sustainable initiatives and eco-friendly practices. Thus, with the adoption of these strategies, the company can improve its brand image and awareness.
Further, with the use of the right sustainable exercises and emerging technologies, productivity can be increased and reduce the overall cost. It is believed that sustainable business practices contribute to the overall corporate profit. Sustainable business practices lead to efficient operations that streamline the efforts and conserve the scarce resources that enhance employee productivity and reduce operational costs.
The reducing cost also involves energy conservation strategies, resulting in more sophisticated efforts. Also, another advantage can be stated in terms of increasing business ability to comply with the procedures and regulations. With the deteriorating global environmental condition, the governments and various regulatory bodies formulate numerous regulations and policies for organizations to stick to them. Hence, ONGC will also comply with these regulations with the above-mentioned sustainable strategies. Also concerning the stakeholders, the major stakeholders for the company are the employees and community. By being environmentally friendly and adopting such practices, the company will attract these stakeholders.
Conclusion
Hence, it can be summarized that the two environmental issues that ONGC is facing are increasing carbon emission and water pollution. Thus, the sustainable strategy plan has been demonstrated in the assignment that reveals numerous strategies, including using efficient technologies, managing operations, developing an innovative ecosystem, using the right equipment’s, developing an emergency response plan, and freshwater management. Further, dealing with these environmental issues will positively impact the organization’s corporate reputation and attain stakeholder satisfaction.
References
Chaliha, P. and Singha, S.S., (2018). Corporate Environmental Citizenship: An Ethical Approach towards Environmental Sustainability. ADHYATMA: A Journal of Management, Spirituality and Human Values [ISSN: 2581-7809 (online)], 2(2).
Chaudhry, F.N. and Malik, M.F., (2017). Factors affecting water pollution: a review. J EcosystEcography, 7(225), pp.1-3.
Chavda, K.D., (2016). Re-Thinking About An Importance Of Environmental Accounting As A Management Practice Ensuring Industrial Growth with Environmental Sustainability.
Cheremisinoff, N.P., (2016). Pollution control handbook for oil and gas engineering. John Wiley & Sons.
Comyns, B., (2016). Determinants of GHG reporting: an analysis of global oil and gas companies. Journal of business ethics, 136(2), pp.349-369.
Cordes, E.E., Jones, D.O., Schlacher, T.A., Amon, D.J., Bernardino, A.F., Brooke, S., Carney, R., DeLeo, D.M., Dunlop, K.M., Escobar-Briones, E.G. and Gates, A.R., (2016). Environmental impacts of the deep-water oil and gas industry: a review to guide management strategies. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 4, p.58.
EDF, (2022). Oil and gas: How we’re reducing harmful impacts. [Online]. Accessed through: <https://www.edf.org/climate/oil-and-gas>. Accessed on: 12th January, 2022.
Huang, L., Krigsvoll, G., Johansen, F., Liu, Y. and Zhang, X., (2018). Carbon emission of global construction sector. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 81, pp.1906-1916.
Jain, P.K., (2017, July). Underground Coal Gasification–Experience of ONGC. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 76, No. 1, p. 012004). IOP Publishing.
Jha, C.K., (2016). Supply chain optimization approaches and market demand analysis of petroleum industry: A case study of ONGC. International Journal of scientific research and management (IJSRM), 4(7), pp.4461-4475.
Kumar, C. and Verma, V., (2018). Environmental accounting and reporting practices of ONGC LTD. ZENITH International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 8(12), pp.36-45.
Masnadi, M.S., El-Houjeiri, H.M., Schunack, D., Li, Y., Englander, J.G., Badahdah, A., Monfort, J.C., Anderson, J.E., Wallington, T.J., Bergerson, J.A. and Gordon, D., (2018). Global carbon intensity of crude oil production. Science, 361(6405), pp.851-853.
Olah, G.A., Goeppert, A. and Prakash, G.S., (2018). Beyond oil and gas: the methanol economy. John Wiley & Sons.
Pichtel, J., (2016). Oil and gas production wastewater: Soil contamination and pollution prevention. Applied and Environmental Soil Science, 2016.
Ratner, M., (2018). India’s Natural Gas: A Small Part of the Energy Mix. Current Politics and Economics of South, Southeastern, and Central Asia, 27(1/2), pp.179-202.
Singh, A.K. and Hajra, P.N., (2018). Coalbed Methane in India: Its Relevance and Current Status. In Coalbed Methane in India (pp. 1-19). Springer, Cham.
BUS7B26 Emphasising the Environment Assignment Sample 2023
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