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In today's business environment, ethics plays a crucial role as it guides the behavior and decisions of businesses. According to Gomez Lopez and Barron Arreola (2024), “in the long term, the variables of tourism are related to the environmental variables considered” (p. 598). Additionally, Eng et al. (2024) illustrates that “almost any company can have a substantial carbon footprint through energy use and the manufacture and transportation of raw materials and finished goods” (p. 74). Since businesses can exert a significant influence on the environment, they are obliged to take ethical factors into account and refrain from expanding without limit. This padlet cites a journal article titled "Tourist behaviour change for sustainable consumption (SDG Goal 12): Tourism Agenda 2030 perspective", which was written by Dolnicar (2023). It focuses on the tourism industry, specifically addressing the business ethics issue of resource waste behaviors. In the analysis, the UN SDG 8 will be involved, which emphasizes inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work. By examining these elements, the article aims to understand the implications of such ethical issues on the tourism industry and its alignment with UN SDG 8.

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The journal article identifies several environmentally unfriendly behaviors of hotels. These behaviors go against the orientation of sustainable economic growth goals, raising concerns about ethical issues and environmental problems in the tourism industry. One of these misbehaviors is unsustainable use of natural resources, such as unnecessary hotel cleaning and replacement of towels in hotels. According to a survey carried out by Dolnicar (2023), “Every room clean in a four-star hotel uses some 35 L of water, 1.5 kWh of electricity and 100 mL of chemicals for cleaning” (p. 328). Such a large-scale consumption will lead to the exhaustion of resources in the long term, which means hotels cannot eventually rely on natural resources for operation and making profits. The second misbehavior is increased food waste. Usually, in order to deliver the best service and satisfy customers, hotels provide big size plates, unlimited self-serving food and large and untransparent food waste bins. However, such facilities will lead to mindless wasteful behaviors. The third misbehavior is large waste generation. Unfortunately, “waste reduction has received surprisingly little attention in tourism” (Dolnicar, 2023, p. 329). Such neglection can cause passive influence in controlling environmental cost. Overall, considering ethical issues is significant for business activities, as it highlights the role of the industry in optimizing environment and benefiting human. By solving this issue, the industry can meet the expectations of stakeholders who are increasingly concerned about sustainability and make natural resources sustainable. In this way, tourism can have continuous economic growth and ensure full employment, which is the purpose of UN SDG 8.

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Utilitarianism, as an ethical theory, holds that “we should always act to produce the greatest possible balance of good over bad for everyone affected by our actions” (Shaw & Barry, 2016, p. 67). In the tourism industry, although some wasteful practices may bring short-term benefits to hotels, they destroy the greatest happiness for all in the long run. If these behaviors cause depletion of resources and damage of environments, no tourist will come. This can lead to termination of economic development and loss of workability in local tourism. On the other hand, according to Kant’s categorical imperative theory, “we should always act in such a way that we can will the maxim of our action to be a universal law” (Shaw & Barry, 2016, p. 60). However, the misbehaviors of hotels clearly violate universal law. For instance, excessive cleaning and frequent replacement of towels are not universal laws, because they are abusing resources and not considering the interests of other possible users. It will result in the exhaustion of resources and damage future sustainable development. In addition, Kant holds that people should “[a]ct in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end” (Shaw & Barry, 2016, p. 320). This theory emphasizes that the motivation of moral behavior should be based on respect for duty, not on personal interests or desires. However, by providing large-sized plates, unlimited self-service food and large and opaque trash cans, hotels think this can better cater to customers’ needs. In this way, hotels regard customers as a means to meet their own interests without respecting customers’ rationality and considering the impact of wasting on the environment.

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UN SDG 8 focuses on inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work. It has multiple targets to address economic challenges, such as sustain GDP growth, improve productivity, promote development-oriented policies, improve resource efficiency, achieve full employment and decent work, improve youth employment, protect labor rights, make sustainable tourism etc. (United Nations, n.d.). The moral issues of hotel waste in the tourism industry have significant negative impacts on the actual implementation of UN SDG 8 in terms of sustainable economic growth, employment, and decent work. In terms of economic growth, the inefficient use of resources such as excessive cleaning and food waste will contribute to increased costs for hotels, which will then be passed to consumers in the form of higher prices, reducing the competitiveness of the tourism industry. In terms of employment and decent work, the wasteful behavior of hotels will cause irreversible damage to the environment. Once resources are exhausted, tourism will not be prosperous, leading to unemployment or worse working conditions. In summary, the moral issues of hotel waste in the tourism industry are immediate and important factors affecting SDG 8.

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Progress towards achieving SDG8 has been challenging and the world is far from reaching most of the targets. The lingering effects of COVID-19, cost-of-living crises, trade tensions, uncertain monetary policy paths, rising debts in developing countries, and the war in Ukraine can each significantly set back global economic growth. Combined, these crises are placing the global economy under a serious threat. Global real GDP per capita is forecast to slow down in 2023, putting at risk not just employment and income but also advances in equitable pay for women and decent work for young people. Achieving SDG8 will require a wholesale reform of our morally bankrupt financial system in order to tackle rising debts, economic uncertainties and trade tensions, while promoting equitable pay and decent work for young people.

* Target 8.1: Following a sharp decline of 4.1% in 2020, global real GDP per capita increased by 5.0% in 2021. However, growth in global real GDP per capita is forecast to slow down to 2.1% in 2022 and further to 1.0% in 2023, before recovering somewhat to a growth rate of 1.8% in 2024. The growth in real GDP of LDCs slowed down from 5% in 2019 to just 0.2% in 2020 before recovering to 2.6% in 2021. It is expected that the growth in real GDP of LDCs would strengthen to 4.3% in 2022 and to 4.4% and 5.4% in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
* Target 8.2: After a sharp decline in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, labour productivity rebounded in 2021 by 2.4%. Productivity growth slowed in 2022, increasing by only 0.5%. However, even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, productivity growth had been slowing around the world. The latest estimates extend the downward growth trend, from an average annual rate of 1.8% between 2000-14 to 1.4% between 2015-22.
* Target 8.3: Globally, 58.0% of those employed were in informal employment in 2022, amounting to around 2 billion workers in precarious jobs, most lacking any form of social protection. Prior to the onset of the pandemic, the incidence of informal employment had been slowly declining and stood at 57.8% in 2019. The pandemic resulted in a disproportionate job loss for informal workers, particularly for women, in 2020. The subsequent recovery from COVID-19 has been driven by informal employment, which has caused a slight increase in the incidence of informality.
* Target 8.5: Equal treatment in employment, including fair and equitable earnings, is fundamental for achieving decent work for all. The median gender pay gap across 102 countries is approximately 14%. However, this calculation is only based on average hourly earnings, thus not controlling for characteristics such as the sector or occupation, educational level or amount of work experience.
* Target 8.5: The global unemployment rate declined significantly in 2022, falling to 5.8% from a peak of 6.9% in 2020 as economies began recovering from the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite an uncertain global economic outlook, unemployment is projected to increase only moderately, as a large part of the shock is being absorbed by falling real wages in an environment of accelerating inflation. Global unemployment is projected to edge up slightly in 2023, by around 3 million, to reach 208 million, corresponding to an unemployment rate of 5.8%.
* Target 8.6: Globally, nearly one in four (23.5%) young people were not in education, employment, or training (NEET) in 2022. Although this is a slight decrease since 2020, when the NEET rate was at an all-time high, it remains above the 2015 baseline of 22.2% and a long way from the 2030 target.
* Target 8.7: The latest estimates indicate that the number of children in child labour rose to 160 million worldwide at the beginning of 2020 - an increase of 8.4 million children in the last four years. This translates to almost 1 in 10 of all children in child labour worldwide.
* Target 8.9: The share of tourism in global GDP nearly halved in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 data shows a very modest 6% upturn, indicating that tourism's economic contribution is on the path to recovery.
* Target 8.10: Accelerated adoption of digital solutions is transforming access to finance. Globally, in 2021, 76% of adults had an account at a bank or regulated institution such as a credit union, microfinance institution, or a mobile money service provider, an increase from 62% in 2014.

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Goal 8 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs

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Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

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Next, the padlet will introduce some supplementary information from other articles. According to Francis and Nair, the tourism industry in the Abaco Cays of the Bahamas has made significant contributions to economic growth, accounting for “60% of GDP and 50% of employment” (Francis & Nair, 2020, p. 324). Nevertheless, the local tourism industry also faces critical issues. Firstly, there is unreasonable land use in the local tourism industry. For example, “[v]acation renters’ are buying vacation rental properties in communities not zoned for tourism development”, which may damage ecology of unexploited regions. Secondly, while the development of the tourism industry has brought employment opportunities, it also faces issues related to migrant labor. For instance, there are fierce competition for jobs due to “high migrant workforce from Haiti in the Abaco Cays” (Francis & Nair, 2020, p. 330), which may lower employment rate of local residents. Moreover, there is a housing shortage issue. There are “[n]o current planning and subdivision acts for the Abaco Cays” (Francis & Nair, 2020, p. 330), so it will compromise the quality of working condition and employment stability. All these issues may hinder the sustainable economic growth of the tourism industry, reduce employment opportunities, and be unfavorable for the realization of UN SDG 8.

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In conclusion, the padlet explores resource waste in tourism, a significant business ethics issue. It identified hotel unsustainable behaviors that conflict with UN SDG 8, which aims to build continuable economic growth and a decent work environment. Ethical theories such as utilitarianism and Kant’s categorical imperative theory are applied to deal with these ethical issues. Additional issues in the Abaco Cays further describe serious challenges in reaching SDG 8. As is known to all, addressing these ethics issues and promoting sustainability is vital for achieving SDG 8, ensuring economic growth, employment, and social stability.