An Appraisal of the Legal Bottom-Line of Corporate Environmental Responsibility in Ethiopia

Abstract

While working towards attracting huge investment and promoting business
whether or not developing countries have the necessary environmental
legal regime to hold corporations legally liable is often an issue
. In
an
effort
to partly
respond on the issue
, this article is meant to assess the
minimum environmental law requirements applied for holding business
entities
(both foreign and domestic) liable
to their
environm
ental
misdemeanors in Ethiopia
-‘the legal bottom lines of corporate
environmental
responsibi
lity
.’ The
legal
bottom lines
of corporate
environmental responsibility are requirements that corporations or
business organizations are legally mandated to comply with. The purpose
of this article is therefore to ascertain whether Ethiopia has the necessary
environmental and related
legal foundational frameworks to holding
corporations accountable
- determining the minimum legal
framework
. For
this purpose doctrinal analyses were preferred as a method and assessment
was made on relevant laws. Accordingly
, the
assessment finds that Ethiopia
has foundational environmental legal regime
and
if applied may hold
corporations liable. It further unearths that still the laws
lack
clarity;
comprehensiveness and adequacy to flatteringly control businesses conduct
to the contemporary
requirements.
Hence for a proper
corporate
environmental regulation, fu
rther amendment need to
be made.