Ethics and morality are foundations of human society. Individuals, government, and organizations make decisions in line with the interests and values of the society. Ethics and morality set up path for excellence and they limit wrong doing in society in a world which is in true sense interdependent. Societies, nations and people must necessarily follow ethical behaviour. Ethics refer to rules provided by an external source, e.g., codes of conduct made by government, organizations, school and college etc. whereas morals refer to an individual’s own principles regarding right and wrong.

For example, nuclear ethics is a cross-disciplinary field of academic and policy-relevant study in which the problems associated with nuclear warfare, nuclear deterrence, nuclear arms control, nuclear disarmament, or nuclear energy are examined through one or more ethical or moral theories or frameworks. It is moral duty of every nation to safeguard their nuclear arsenal and fissile material from the reach of terrorists for the security and safety of others as well as their own, because they are responsible for climate change, destruction of mankind and ecology of planet.

Another example for moral behaviours: If we want to save our planet from the worst effect of climate change, we need to get our greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2070: a target that requires immediate and drastic action, but, our indestructible addiction to fossil fuels makes this goal seem more and more unreachable. Can we make some stringent laws to drastically reduce the usage of fissile fuels? This is a moral issue. Moral reasoning is a thinking process with the objective of determining whether an idea is right or wrong. To know whether something is “right” or “wrong” one must first know what that something is intended to accomplish.

David Hume (April 1711 –  August 1776)  was a  Scottish Philosopher, historian, economist and author, who is best known even today for his highly significant system of philosophical empiricism, scepticism and naturalism. David Hume worked very hard to create a total naturalistic science of man that examined the psychological basis of human nature against philosophical rationalism. Hume believed that passion rather than reason governs human behaviour. He said that genuine knowledge must either be directly traceable to objects perceived in experience, or result from abstract reasoning.  There is a relationship between ideas which are derived from experience, he called the rest “nothing but literalism and illusion”, a dichotomy (a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different) which later was given the name of Hume’s Fork.

Hume’s fork shows us that we can have only two forms of lawful knowledge; relations of ideas and matters of facts. Matters of fact are source of substantive knowledge, facts that can tell us something new about the world. Knowledge in matters of fact is also a subsequent knowledge that is gained after experience and synthetic knowledge is something new about the world.

Our feelings or sentiments produce our actions, so much so that present actions resemble the past actions. We therefore can conclude that human actions depend on their beliefs which are in customary associations with human feelings. Clearly, rationality has no place in the account of morality. Being rational means acting wisely and efficiently to choose the appropriate means to advance one’s goals. Even though reasoning depends upon ideas and matters of fact, its most dramatic outcomes may come of out of feelings. All human actions flow naturally from human feelings, without any interference from human reason.

In major parts of the world, caste hierarchy is one of the oldest forms of social stratification. Deep down, the biggest features of casts is its ability to render a rigid and invasive hierarchical system of inclusion and exclusion. Whether it is India or America, people have not been able to get rid of the caste system. The caste system is based on deep feelings of people with an outcome of prejudice, stereotyping and pigeonhole mentality. Our emotional and intellectual mechanisms work together and sustain each other. Sometimes they cannot be separated at all. Rationality and empiricism (knowledge is based on experience) do not go hand in hand. Only ideas cannot be used to prove matters of fact; like it is pointless to prove existence of God.

We are experiencing progress in society because of some good institutions that have contributed to the quality of human life, scientific research, development in arts art, and education. Progressive businesses have given a lot to society because they have broken down myriad centuries-old barriers of racial, sexual, religious, and ethnic prejudice. And they have been the vehicle for countless numbers of individuals to develop their fullest potentials in achieving their dreams.  In short, some business organizations have been prime movers in making it possible for millions to pursue their lives in a wealthy, healthy, rational and exciting world. Good organization is built upon ethical business practices.

Corporate Governance which is offshoot of Business Ethics is based on the foundation that companies should engage in fair dealing with all of their stakeholders who are customers, employees, suppliers, and communities, as well as shareholders. Companies must engage in accordance with the expectations of the larger society in which they operate. An organization exists on its purpose in society. And an organization which exists on a shareholder-centric model also recognizes that it owes a lot to society, therefore, must minimize its negative externalities such as pollution and destruction of ecology.

And finally, for all individuals and organizations integrity is a choice, which depends to a large extent on culture, upbringing, peer influences, etc. it can’t be forced.  One who has strong and well-defined standards of integrity behaves with wholeness, integration, honesty, and does right by him and by others.

We see countless professionals giving up their integrity and morals for the sake of money and money is a big addiction. Wealthy people get imprisoned into their lifestyle and their need to impress the world.  It’s sad that people forget to create their legacy.

What is your legacy? It’s what you will be able to say about yourself when you’re old and look back at life. It’s about what you have stood for, given to the society, taught, imparted, and left behind. It’s not what you dreamed of being, but what you have been.  It’s not a dress rehearsal, but the reality of what you have left behind. Many professionals forget that they have this one chance to build a life that’s meaningful for them.  It’s sad that people compromise their legacy for a futile greed to grasp success, money, accolades and power.

Green economy is defined as an economy which sustains development by reducing environmental risks and ecological paucities. It grows without degrading environment. The 2011 UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) says that to be Green Economy, an economy must not only be efficient, but also fair. Fairness implies recognizing global and country level fairness dimensions, particularly in assuring a just transition to an economy that is low on carbon emission, resource efficient, and socially inclusive. In green economy, overall economic growth and employment is driven by public and private investments that aim at reducing carbon emissions and pollution, enhance energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. These investments need to be catalyzed and supported by targeted public expenditure, policy reforms and regulation changes. This development path should maintain, enhance and, wherever necessary, rebuild natural capital as a critical economic asset and source of public benefits. This is especially for poor people whose livelihoods and security depend strongly on nature. Germany, Brazil, Singapore, South Africa, France and Ukraine are among those countries that follow the Green Economy norms strictly.

“Rio+20” is the short name for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 2012, twenty years after the landmark 1992 Earth Summit in Rio. On the way to Rio+20, the Pacific Small Island Developing States (Pacific SIDS) started promoting “Blue Economy” which focuses on the marine environment. For the Pacific SIDS, “green economy” is a “blue economy” that prominently features oceans, which account for almost 71 percent of the earth’s surface. Some concerns of the Pacific SIDS are increasing their share of benefits from the use of their marine living resources and building the flexibility of marine ecosystems to the impact of climate change and ocean acidification.

The Pacific is a diverse region made up of countries and territories with varying land sizes, populations, natural resources, economies and cultures. The main economic sectors in the region are tourism, fisheries, forestry and agriculture. Income from ocean plays an increasingly important role in the economies of Pacific SIDS, contributing towards economic growth and sustaining livelihoods, including meeting education and basic needs.

Geographic isolation and the small land area and population sizes of SIDS result in unique challenges for sustainable development. Pacific SIDS suffers from diseconomies of scale in production and exchange of goods and services: mainly because of remoteness from export markets and high vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change. Despite these challenges, the environment, culture and uniqueness produced by isolation has created a strong tourism industry with prospects for continued growth for SIDS. Isolation has also produced flexible communities with strong traditions, cultures and coping capacity.

The sustainable development agenda is a broad one, aiming to ensure inclusive economic growth for current and future generations. Economic, social and environmental dimensions comprise the pillars of a holistic and integrated approach. The single most important area where international and regional cooperation has become most urgent is climate change. Reducing the risks associated with the impacts of climate change including extreme weather and climate variability and accelerated sea level rise is a fundamental developmental challenge faced by Pacific SIDS. This must be urgently addressed in order to contribute to improving livelihoods, economic wellbeing and health, as well as maintaining biodiversity, culture and security.

Like “green economy,” which is not limited to the green ecosystem, the “blue economy” is not limited to the marine ecosystem. It is the economy that responds to the basic needs of all with what we have. As such, it stands for a new way of designing business: using the resources available in flowing systems, where the waste of one product becomes the input to create a new cash flow. Dr. Catia Bastioli, Chief Executive Officer at Novamont S.p.A which produces bioplastics in Italy, and European Inventor of the Year 2007, sums up Blue Economy: “The blue economy fosters our transition from a product-based economy to a system-based economy.”

Gunter Pauli is a Belgian entrepreneur who started a project to find the best nature-inspired technologies that could affect the economies of the world. The result is his Report which states “Blue Economy: 100 Innovations – 10 years – 100 million jobs.” His project started the transformation of the “green economy” to “blue economy,” which is now attracting the interest of creative entrepreneurs in various countries.

Some of the basic principles of “blue economy” are: substitute something with nothing; challenge a resource regarding its necessity for production; natural systems pour nutrients, matter and energy; waste does not exist; any by-product is the source for a new product; and sustainable business evolves with reverence, not only for local resources, but also for culture and tradition.

For flourishing the Blue Economy a beginning needs to be made from educating and motivating our youth to go into the study of the marine environment. Most of them have a limited view of opportunities in marine business which is far beyond only fishing. Youngsters think that with traditional fishing most fishermen remain poor; therefore this field does not interest them. Hence most high school students prefer courses in criminology, medicine, nursing, and engineering computer technology. Today, developing marine technology is need of the hour for protecting our oceans. Many young people need to take up careers in marine sciences and technology to begin with.

Developing a blue economy in our coastal and aquatic areas, as well as in our entire country, requires public and private sector partnership. The World Wide Fund for nature (WWF) has started project ‘The coral triangle’ for the global centre for marine biodiversity. It’s a 6 million square kilometers area spanning Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and the Solomon Islands. Within this area of the sea, world’s 76% coral species which include 6 of the world’s 7 marine turtle species and 2,228 reef fish species live. WWF is doing its best to protect this marine wealth. It is engaging entrepreneurs and innovators to help display the blue economy approach through the “adoption of new technology and finance schemes and facilitating Public-Private Partnerships” in the Coral Triangle.

One example of a blue economy initiative focused on the blue ecosystem is aquaponics which is the combination of fish farming and vegetable farming. Gunter Pauli’s case study reports that aquaponics represents the highest growth in the aqua culture business, which is now the world’s fastest growing farming sector with an average worldwide growth rate of 6 to 8 percent and a worldwide value of $86 billion in 2009. Aquaponics produces cultured fish in a controlled environment. Hence, it does not deplete natural aquatic resources but only taps them for the initial stock. As per Pauli’s project report, the leading producers of cultured fish are produced 70 percent by China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Australia leads in providing technologies for backyard aqua or hydroponics. Another blue economy initiative in Pauli’s project is the design of ecological sound fishing boat that does not use fossil fuel. Actually, every step of the whole value chain of fishing which starts from the fishing vessel to the processing and delivering of products offers opportunities for blue economy initiatives.

In his recent trip to Bangladesh on 6^th June 2015, India’s Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi expressed his happiness that India and Bagladesh are working together in the area of cosmography at academic levels. In his speech Mr. Modi spoke about Blue Economy and its relevance for developing nations such as India and Bangladesh.  He said that according to the UN, the ocean is the heart of our planet. Like our heart pumps blood to every part of our body, the ocean connects people across the Earth, no matter where we live. The ocean regulates the climate, feeds millions of people every year, produces oxygen and is the home to an incredible assortment of wildlife, provides us with important medicines, and so much more. In order to ensure the health and safety of our communities and future generations, it’s imperative that we take the responsibility to care for the ocean as it cares for us. Indeed the world is moving from Green Economy to Blue Economy.