Environmental responsibility as a prerequisite for sustainable development of agricultural enterprises

Анотація

This paper deals with the pressing challenge of raising the level of environmental responsibility of agricultural enterprises in order to ensure their sustainable development. It has long been established that agricultural activity is accompanied by a significant negative anthropogenic impact on the environment. Therefore, globally, the trend is towards the development and implementation of the principles of environmental responsibility of businesses, which contributes to increasing the competitiveness of businesses, and improving product quality and living conditions of the people. The paper suggests that the environmental responsibility of an agricultural enterprise has to be assessed based on key criteria including the intensity of the use of natural and biological resources, the environmental management system, and business's participation in solving environmental problems of communities. The paper presents the results of the assessment of the level of environmental responsibility of large, medium and small agricultural enterprises of Ukraine. The results suggest that medium and small agricultural enterprises are predominantly at the initial stage of applying the principles of environmental responsibility in their operations. Moreover, the paper presents the findings of a survey aimed to identify major hindering factors to the observance of the principles of environmental responsibility. These factors include the risk of a decreased business profitability, limited financing, lack of knowledge and shortage of professional staff, insufficient guidelines on the incorporation of principles of environmental responsibility. The paper suggests a mechanism for introducing environmental responsibility at agricultural enterprises that encompasses the governmental, local, and organizational levels. To introduce environmental responsibility at the organizational level, the authors recommend developing and implementing corporate green development strategy, incorporating sustainable procurement, training personnel, and engaging in voluntary public reporting on compliance with the principles of corporate social and environmental responsibility.

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