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CS Professional · Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) - Principles and Practice · Environment

Greenfield Textiles Ltd discharges untreated dye effluent into a village river. Downstream farmers find that their crop yield has fallen and the well water has turned unfit for drinking. In environmental terms, which description best fits the company's act?

The company's act is pollution. Releasing untreated dye effluent introduces harmful substances into the river and groundwater, degrading water quality and harming farmers and drinking supplies. Conservation, recycling and offsetting all involve protecting or reusing resources, which did not happen here.

  1. APollution, because a harmful substance was introduced into a natural resource and degraded its qualityCorrect
  2. BConservation, because the river continues to supply water to the village
  3. CBiodiversity offsetting, because the farmers are compensated through lower crop yield
  4. DRecycling, because the effluent returns to the natural water cycle

Explanation

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the environment that harm its quality and users. Untreated effluent degrading river and well water fits this. Conservation and recycling involve protecting or reusing resources, not degrading them, so the other options are wrong.

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