It is not at all difficult to understand that ever since the first Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, corporations have been dancing their way through the most difficult of times and expanding their operations and methods of production. Not only have these "business giants" managed to grow at unimaginable rates and pace, but have also proved themselves as the most efficient, in some ways more formidable and challenging even for sovereign nations. The East India Company is an apt example.

Even though the progress of large corporations over the past two-hundred years has resulted in immeasurable wealth and prosperity, it has also caused unintended ecological degradation. Today, the Earth is facing a series of environmental problems such as deforestation, ozone depletion, global warming, declining biodiversity and never-ending industrial accidents. It is very important that we try to assess and understand why the bond between the natural environment and corporations is significant and why co-existence of these two systems is necessary.

Factors like the nature of the enterprise, I believe, are necessary to look into. Corporations today are mostly of a different nature from one another. Not all companies are involved in the production of the same commodities. Some industries are producing cars, some making furniture, while others are manufacturing cloth, or designing cell phones and so on. They can only be characterised as being different from each other in terms of what they are manufacturing -- in the end they are all involved in the production process. Hence, if, for example, an industry operates in logging activities, it will be cutting down trees to carry out its operations and for the business to survive, quality and quantity will also have to play their roles. So, this will result in deforestation, unless the company is replanting 10 times the number of trees it is cutting down (which will, of course, take their time to grow!). On the other hand, corporations which deal in the production of durable goods such as cars and refrigerators etc. are, to-date, known to survive for longer periods of time, with ever increasing technological advancements.

Most, if not all, corporations have problems surviving without the natural environment/eco-system. By eating up and over-exhausting all the resources available, these corporations are contributing to their own slaughter.

However, it should also be noted that now each day, companies are starting to realise that in order for them to survive, the survival and welfare of the natural environment is necessary. Therefore, under mild as well as strict actions of the government, corporations in most countries have started contributing to the sustenance and nourishment of the eco-system by providing financial assistance, equipment, or personnel to assist environmental interest groups. Moreover, corporations along with Non-profit Organisations (NPOs) are day-by-day collaborating and working together to solve environmental constraints relating to business activities, due to risk of losing profits (obviously) and partial fear of the government agencies.

Of the top 100 economies in the world, 51 are corporations (the other 49 are countries)! Let us face the facts here. Nothing lasts forever, everything perishes. Of course, the probability of this happening in our life time is very low because people have come and gone but giants like Exxon Mobil, Wal-Mart, Ford and General Electric never seem to give up! Pigs will fly the day countries replace these giant corporations as the largest economies of the world!