Workplace Green Behavior for Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Background

This chapter reviews the process of achieving sustainable competitive advantage through workplace green behavior in line with the dictates of the United Nations sustainable development goals. This evaluation has become expedient due to the increasing negative societal consciousness of the interactions between economic growth and the environment, which has put pressure on organizations towards environmental sustainability (Ramanathan, 2018). Increasing population rate and escalating construction of new towns and cities have exacted three-fold pressures on the environment (Iqbal, Hassan, Akhtar, & Khan, 2018). Aside from that, the human race is confronted with severe challenges due to human over-exploitation of resources, environmental degradation, and unsustainable standard of living (Fields & Atiku, 2017).

Furthermore, the calamitous situation of the environment in recent times is as a result of the unwarranted cutting of trees, burning of fossil fuel, and the discharge of carbon monoxide due to organizational and human activities (Fawehinmi, Yusliza, Mohamad, Faezah, & Muhammad, 2019). For example, in the United States of America, commercial and industrial activities are estimated to account for three times the quantity of emissions than the domestic sector (Lulfs & Hahn, 2013). Consequently, the rising mass of human and industrial waste has severe consequences for the human race and businesses (Iqbal, Hassan, Akhtar, & Khan, 2018).