THE LEGAL REGIME FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN NIGERIA: WHAT NEXUS.

Abstract

The relationship or interdependence between man and the environment cannot be questioned. This relationship is symbiotic in nature whereby one cannot do without the other. There is therefore a duty imposed on man by nature to protect the environment so that it does not fall into extinction. However, the quest for economic development, technological and scientific advancements have adversely affected the environment. In this context, if nothing is done, the environment cannot be sustained. The degradation of the environment particularly in Nigeria is primarily tied to the activities of the corporations who fail or neglect to strike a balance between their actions and the consequences of such actions on the environment. It is on this note that this article advocates for a corporate social responsibility adopting ethical values for sustainable development of the environment that will bring about the sustainable development and economic development of the corporations. To highlight this, the article looked at Nigerian National Policy on Environmental Protection, sustainable development, some theories on environmental protection, some environmental issues, corporate social responsibility and what corporations should do as corporate social responsibility. In conclusion, this research found that corporations cannot exist in isolation of other factors that play vital role in its sustainability. The work recommended adoption of precautionary principle which entails that action should not be implemented until the actors are certain about their major consequences. This work also recommended the application and practice of law of balance by companies which promotes the principle of giving and taking. It has been observed that in the complex web of relationship among living things, this principle remain at work.