In 1987, the Commission ’s report (known as the Brundtland Report

or Our Common Future ) alerted the world to the urgency of making

progress toward economic development that could be sustained
without depleting natural resources or harming the environment.
The report provides the world with the most widely quoted definition
of sustainable development:
‘development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs. It contains within it two key
concepts:
the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs
of the world ’s poor, to which overriding priority
should be given;
and the idea of limitations imposed by the state of
technology and social organization on the environment
’s ability to meet present and future needs.’
As the International Institute for Sustainable Development puts
it, ‘Sustainable development focuses on improving the quality of
life for all of the Earth ’s citizens without increasing the use of natural
resources beyond the capacity of the environment to supply
them indefinitely. It requires an understanding that inaction has
consequences and that we must find innovative ways to change
institutional structures and influence individual behavior.
They provided a variation of the
Brundtland defi nition aimed at business:
‘For the business enterprise, sustainable development
means adopting business strategies and activities
that meet the needs of the enterprise and its
stakeholders today while protecting, sustaining and
enhancing the human and natural resources that
will be needed in the future.’

At its core, sustainable development is about creating the

appropriate balance and interaction between:
• Social equity, which refers to issues such as human rights,
peace, security, justice, gender equality, and cultural diversity,
among others (also referred to as People).
• Environmental protection, which refers to the natural environment
including water, energy, agriculture, biodiversity, fi sh,
forests, and air (also referred to as Planet).
• Economic development, which refers to an understanding of
the limits and potential of economic growth and includes issues
such as poverty reduction, responsible consumption, corporate
responsibility, energy effi ciency and conservation, waste management,
employment, and education (also referred to as Profi t).

The Five Capital Model looks at different kinds of capital from

which we derive the goods and services we need to improve the
quality of our lives:
• Natural capital is any stock or fl ow of energy and material that
produces goods and services.
• Human capital consists of people ’s health, knowledge, skills,
and motivation.
• Social capital concerns the institutions that help us maintain and
develop human capital in partnership with others; e.g., families,
communities, businesses, trade unions, schools, and voluntary
organizations.
• Manufactured capital comprises material goods or fi xed assets
which contribute to the production process rather than being
the output itself; e.g., tools, machines, and buildings.
• Financial capital plays an important role in our economy, enabling
the other types of capital to be owned and traded. However,
unlike the other types, it has no real value itself but is representative
of natural, human, social, or manufactured capital; e.g.,
shares, bonds, or banknotes.

The Ecological Footprint is a resource management tool that measures

how much land and water area a human population requires
to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its wastes using
prevailing technology.
Underlying many of these models for defi ning sustainability are
several principles that guide accountability and responsibility:
• The precautionary principle states that ‘In order to protect the
environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied
by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats
of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientifi c certainty
shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost effective measures
to prevent environmental damage’ (www.pprinciple.net).
• The proximity principle says that the treatment and disposal
of waste should take place as near as possible to the point of
production as is technically and environmentally possible.
• The polluter-pays principle says that the cost of pollution
should be covered by those who cause it. It is generally recognized
as a principle of International Environmental Law and a
fundamental part of the environmental policy of both the OECD
and the EC (www.eoearth.org/article/Polluter_pays_principle).

( sustainabledevelopment.un.org).

In 2000, the United Nations Millennium Summit brought

together world leaders who committed their nations to a new global
partnership to reduce extreme poverty and set out a series of timebound
targets, with a deadline of 2015, which have become known
as the Millennium Development Goals. The eight goals (www.un.org/
millennium goals) are:
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development.
The Millennium Project was commissioned by the United Nations
Secretary-General in 2002 to develop a concrete action plan for
the world to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (www
.unmillenniumproject.org).

Equality:

Sen-1979_Equality-of-What.pdf (ophi.org.uk)

CSR:

Matten and Moon – in education Corporate Social Responsibility Education in Europe

(jstor.org) - suggests poorly defined (older paper)
Moir, 2201 What_do.pdf (ku.ac.th)
Modern review / tracing: A literature review of the history and evolution of corporate
social responsibility | International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility | Full
Text (springeropen.com)

Definitiions: Understanding and developing strategic corporate social responsibility -

ScienceDirect Heslin and Ochoa, 2008:
Table 2. STRATEGIC CSR PRINCIPLES AND EXEMPLARY PRACTICES
STRATEGIC CSR PRINCIPLES CORPORATION EXEMPLARY STRATEGIC CSR PRACTICES
1. Cultivate needed talent Marriott Provide extraordinary career opportunities
Microsoft Nurture required IT talent

GlaxoSmithKline Expand access to medications

2. Develop new markets Philips Electronics Produce resource-efficient products
Globe Telecom Create first-time consumers

Whole Foods Specialize in organic products

3. Protect labor welfare Levi Strauss Replace exploitation with education
Odegard &
Certify ethical production
Rugmark
Starbucks Enhance farmers’ productivity and welfare
4. Reduce your environmental
DuPont Create more value and less “stuff”
footprint
Ethel M Produce abundant life from wastewater

Norsk Hydro Renew raw materials

5. Profit from by-products Fuji Xerox Redesign products for learning and profits
Shaw Industries Adopt cradle-to-cradle manufacturing
Convert grain and starch waste to fuels and
Manildra
food
6. Involve customers Target Enable customers to improve education
Hewlett-Packard Reduce the environmental cost of IT use
STRATEGIC CSR PRINCIPLES CORPORATION EXEMPLARY STRATEGIC CSR PRACTICES
Patagonia Educate and engage customers
7. Green your supply chain Nestle Optimize transportation
Wal-Mart Reduce packaging across the supply chain
Identify, publicize and reward greener
S.C. Johnson
alternatives

Ethics:
What is Ethics? - Markkula Center for Applied Ethics (scu.edu):

First, ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what
humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society,
fairness, or specific virtues. Ethics, for example, refers to those standards that impose
the reasonable obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander,
and fraud. Ethical standards also include those that enjoin virtues of honesty,
compassion, and loyalty. And, ethical standards include standards relating to rights,
such as the right to life, the right to freedom from injury, and the right to privacy.
Such standards are adequate standards of ethics because they are supported by
consistent and well-founded reasons.

Secondly, ethics refers to the study and development of one's ethical standards. As
mentioned above, feelings, laws, and social norms can deviate from what is ethical.
So it is necessary to constantly examine one's standards to ensure that they are
reasonable and well-founded. Ethics also means, then, the continuous effort of
studying our own moral beliefs and our moral conduct, and striving to ensure that
we, and the institutions we help to shape, live up to standards that are reasonable
and solidly-based.

What is ethics? - Canada.ca :

Derived from the Greek word “ethos”, which means “way of living”,
ethics is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with human
conduct, more specifically the behaviour of individuals in society.
Ethics examines the rational justification for our moral judgments; it
studies what is morally right or wrong, just or unjust.

Carbon-Zero:

What is net zero and zero carbon? | ESO (nationalgrideso.com)

Zero carbon means that no carbon emissions are being produced from a product or
service (for example, a wind farm generating electricity, or a battery deploying
electricity).
CARBON-ZERO | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
If a company or an organization is carbon-zero, it does
not release any carbon dioxide into the environment or it removes the
same amount of carbon dioxide from the environment as it puts into
it.

Lots of literature on ‘building’ what it means in specific industries, but not a catch all in
academic literature

Best Brands For Social Impact 2023 (forbes.com)

International Institute for Sustainable Development (iisd.org)

History of the Development of Corporate Social ResponsibilityLinks to an external site.

 Madrakhimova, F. (2013). History of Development of Corporate Social

Responsibility. Journal of Business and Economics, June 2013, Volume 4, No. 6,
pp. 509-520.

Week 2:

Force Field Analysis - Analyzing the Pressures For and Against Change (mindtools.com) Kurt Lewin

ForceFieldAnalysisWorksheet.pdf (nova-live-content.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com)

Ramalingam, B. (2006). 'Tools for Knowledge and Learning: A Guide for

Development and Humanitarian Organizations ,' London: Overseas Development
Institute. p.32.
IMS:

An integrated management system (IMS) combines various management systems

(e.g. quality, environmental, occupational health and safety, information security,
energy and asset management) into a single, overall comprehensive, and
harmonised management system.
ISO 14001 is an internationally agreed standard that sets out the requirements for an
environmental management system. It helps organizations improve their
environmental performance through more efficient use of resources and reduction of
waste, gaining a competitive advantage and the trust of stakeholders.
What are the three goals for implementing ISO 14001 2015?
Fulfilment of compliance obligations; Achievement of environmental objectives;
Protecting the environment by preventing or mitigating environmental impacts;
Mitigation of any potential effects of environmental conditions on the organisation

• Systems and processes to embed sustainability thinking → Creating a culture of sustainability •

Sending consistent messages about sustainability across the company → Communication • Attracting
and hiring the right people to carry out that strategy → Recruiting • Retaining those employees in
the organization → Employee engagement • Providing incentives and rewards that are in line with
sustainability → Motivation and rewards • Providing employees with the right tools → Talent
development and training • Advice for ensuring successful change programs → Box: Managing
change

ISO Action Plan Developing Countries 2016-2020 | Openaid

John Foster, M. Philosophy of Management (2018) 17: 203 (PDF) Socially Responsible Management
as a Basis for Sound Business in the Family Firm (researchgate.net)

Foster argues that socially responsible management is a management approach which accepts the need
to treat employees equitably, to have concern for the communities within which firms operate in terms
of continuing commitment, to offer employment, to be commitment to a clean environment, and to
behave considerately and ethically towards suppliers or customers'. He maintains that socially
responsible management is faith-based

In the descriptions of all seven of the

firms above, there are two clear, basic,
common themes.
They are, or were, all firms in which
families held the managerial reins and
all had a core,
ethical thread to their management,
which led them to behave towards their
workers and the
wider communities in which they were
located in a socially responsible
manner. Not only was
this thread present in all the firms we
have described but one can also say
that it was
built into their very fabric or to put it
another way it was part of the
foundation on
which these micro-economic entities
were built. Whilst one sees the
socially respon-
sible built into the foundations of
the businesses, on the other hand all
were
businesses which operated, or
continue to operate, in a profitable
fashion. That is,
one can say that they operate in
accordance with standard neo-
classical economic
precepts subject to certain, key
socially responsible constraints.
The socially responsible
underpinnings of these firms can
further be thought to
illustrate a model behaviour of what,
in modern terms, would typically be
described
as CSR activities being built in to the
core fabric of businesses rather than
being an
add on feature, as is all too often seen
to be the case – the attitude being that
such
add-ons are desirable, especially in
terms of regulatory conformance and
P.R., but
they are not deeply embedded into the
core of the business
In the descriptions of all seven of the
firms above, there are two clear, basic,
common themes.
They are, or were, all firms in which
families held the managerial reins and
all had a core,
ethical thread to their management,
which led them to behave towards their
workers and the
wider communities in which they were
located in a socially responsible
manner. Not only was
this thread present in all the firms we
have described but one can also say
that it was
built into their very fabric or to put it
another way it was part of the
foundation on
which these micro-economic entities
were built. Whilst one sees the
socially respon-
sible built into the foundations of
the businesses, on the other hand all
were
businesses which operated, or
continue to operate, in a profitable
fashion. That is,
one can say that they operate in
accordance with standard neo-
classical economic
precepts subject to certain, key
socially responsible constraints.
The socially responsible
underpinnings of these firms can
further be thought to
illustrate a model behaviour of what,
in modern terms, would typically be
described
as CSR activities being built in to the
core fabric of businesses rather than
being an
add on feature, as is all too often seen
to be the case – the attitude being that
such
add-ons are desirable, especially in
terms of regulatory conformance and
P.R., but
they are not deeply embedded into the
core of the business

Oskarsson, K. and von Malmborg, F. (2005), Integrated management systems as a corporate response
to sustainable development. Corp. Soc. Responsib. Environ. Mgmt, 12: 121-128 (PDF) Integrated
Management Systems as a Corporate Response to Sustainable Development (researchgate.net)

 Oskarsson and von Malmborg maintain that the concept of sustainable

development is universally accepted amongst government agencies, politicians,
corporations and other organisations but that Swedish corporations are particular
concerned with sustainability. The paper describes how three world leading
Swedish engineering corporations strive towards sustainable development, and
analyses why and how they are integrating their different management systems.
Dahlsrud, A. (2006), How Corporate Social Responsibility is Defined: an Analysis of 37 Definitions.
PP. 1 – 11. Wiley InterScience.
DOI: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/csr.132Links to an external site.

Mollenkamp, DT. (2023), What is Sustainability? How Sustainabilities Work, Benefits, and Example.
Investopedia.
DOI: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sustainability.asp Links to an external site.

Nancy Hyne (2021), CSR vs Sustainability. Available from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=2_h5sg88KqULinks to an external site.

Chandler, D. & Werther, W. B. (2017) Strategic corporate social responsibility sustainable

value creation. Edition 4. Los Angeles: SAGE.
Montiel, I. (2008) Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Sustainability: Separate
Pasts, Common Futures. Organization & environment. [Online] 21 (3), 245–269.
Statistica (2023), Number of people employed by small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) in the European Union (EU27) from 2008 to 2022, by enterprise size. Available
at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/936845/employment-by-smes-in-european-union/ Links
to an external site. [accessed 27/06/2023]
Wood, D. J. (1991) Corporate Social Performance Revisited. The Academy of Management
Review. [Online] 16 (4), 691–718.

Durden, Chris (2008) Towards a socially responsible management control system. Accounting,
Auditing & Accountability Journal, 21 (5). Towards a socially responsible management control -
ProQuest
From a conceptual viewpoint, social accounting research appears to follow two main themes. The first
theme adopts a societal or ethical perspective and is concerned with the accountabilities and obligations of
organisations in relation to the provision and disclosure of social accounting related information (Gray et
al., 1991). This reflects a normative stakeholder viewpoint. The second theme adopts a managerial
perspective and explores issues concerned with the information organisations choose to produce and
disclosure to stakeholders and how this may be used to legitimise the existence of the organisation
(Deegan et al., 2002; O'Donovan, 2002). Accordingly, this reflects a managerial stakeholder viewpoint or a
legitimacy theory position.

performance measurement framework proposed by Rouse and Putterill (2003) reinforces the need for a
greater internal accounting focus on stakeholder interests. They argue that stakeholder expectations should
be taken into account when designing performance measurement approaches. In this context, managers
should consider both a macro and micro perspective in relation to performance measurement information
made available to stakeholders (Rouse and Putterill, 2003). From a micro perspective appropriate
management controls would need to be in place to help managers ensure that a business was operating in
accordance with stakeholder expectations. The overall point is that “performance measurement must
emphasise goals and stakeholder expectations in the development of lower level control systems” (Rouse
and Putterill, 2003, p. 798). Similarly, in the context of adopting new manufacturing technologies it has
been argued that impacts on stakeholder groups should be monitored (Steadman et al., 1996). This implies
that the role of the MCS should be considered in relation to providing information to managers that can be
used to help assess impacts on stakeholders.

A key finding is that the case organisation was having difficulty measuring social responsibility. Any focus
on social responsibility in a MCS context was virtually non‐existent or, at best, only anecdotal. More
specifically, there was uncertainty concerning how social responsibility should be measured, reported and
monitored within the MCS. It appeared that social responsibility was intended primarily to influence the
external image of the company rather than being an integrated part of the MCS. One reason for this was
the apparent lack of development of social responsibility goals and how these aligned with stakeholder
groups.

Latapí Agudelo, M.A., Jóhannsdóttir, L. & Davídsdóttir, B. A literature review of the history
and evolution of corporate social responsibility. Int J Corporate Soc Responsibility 4, 1
(2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40991-018-0039-yLinks to an external site.
"Corporate Social Responsibility" Kotler & Lee (2011)

Motel, L.Links to an external site. (2016), "Increasing diversity through goal-setting in

corporate social responsibility reporting", Equality, Diversity and InclusionLinks to an
external site., Vol. 35 No. 5/6, pp. 328-349. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-01-2016-0005Links
to an external site.
Sidgwick, H., 2019. The methods of ethics. Good Press.
Tai, Fang-Mei & Chuang, Shu-Hao. (2014). Corporate Social Responsibility. iBusiness. 06.
117-130. 10.4236/ib.2014.63013.

Newman, C., Rand, J., Tarp, F. & Trifkovic, N., 2020. Corporate Social Responsibilit in a Competitive Business
Environment. The Journal of Development Studies, Volume 8, pp. 1455-1472.

Reckman, N. (2023), What is Corporate Social Responsibility, Business News Daily. URL: Corporate
Social Responsibility - businessnewsdaily.comLinks to an external site.

Laplume, A. O., Sonpar, K., & Litz, R. A. (2008). Stakeholder Theory: Reviewing a Theory That
Moves Us. Journal of Management, 34(6), 1152–1189:
At its simplest level, stakeholder theory has been proposed as analternative to stockholder-based
theories of organizations (Freeman, 1994). A fundamentalthesis of stakeholder-based arguments is
that organizations should be managed in the inter-est of all their constituents, not only in the interest
of shareholders

Background, Significant Developments, and Definitional PeriodsInterest in stakeholder theory took

root in the field of strategic management (e.g., Clarkson,1995; Freeman, 1984; Frooman, 1999), then
grew into organization theory (e.g., Donaldson &Preston, 1995; Jones, 1995; Rowley, 1997) and
business ethics (e.g., Phillips & Reichart, 2000;Starik, 1995). Stakeholder theory’s social responsibility
element allowed it to blend into socialissues in management (e.g., Wood, 1991a, 1991b), and, more
recently, it has begun to enter theconversation about sustainable development (e.g., S. Sharma &
Henriques, 2005; Steurer,Langer, Konrad, & Martinuzzi, 2005). As shown in Figure 1, the theory
came into prominenceonly in the mid-1990s, apparently owing to the attention it received in a
special issue ofAcademy of Management Reviewin 1995, and gathered momentum in the late 90s

Still true?:

At the broadest level, one surprising finding concerned a disproportionate amount ofresearch
focusing on large publicly traded corporations. For instance, in our sample we found49 empirical
studies on large for-profit firms and only 3 on nonprofit firms. This appears tofollow a larger pattern
in strategic management research noted by Chen and Smith, who findthat “82% of strategic
management research is focused on 0.5% of the population of firms”(1987: 10). We see this as
problematic and propose that future studies look at other typesof organizations including
nonprofits and small businesses (Berman et al., 1999; Buysse &Verbeke, 2003; Coombs &
Gilley, 2005; Henriques & Sadorsky, 1999). For example, theNonprofit Almanacestimates that
there are currently 1.4 million nonprofit organizations in theUnited States, accounting for 5.2% of
gross domestic product and 8.3% of wages and salariespaid in that country (Urban Institute, 2007),
whereas the U.S. Small Business Administrationestimates that small businesses currently make up
more than 99% of all U.S. businesses andemploy more than one half of the U.S. workforce. It is
therefore rather surprising that stake-holder challenges faced by such organizations are being
overlooked.Because large publicly traded corporations are not representative of the population
oforganizations, results from studies of these firms should not be generalized to other organi-zational
contexts that are characterized by differing resource endowments and environmentalconstraints.
For instance, small firms have fewer resources to devote to noncore activitiesrelated to
stakeholder demands (Welsh & White, 1981). Work by Chen and Hambrick (1995)on the differences
in competitive tactics of large and small firms provides a helpful guide forfurther research on the
special challenges of the small firm and can be extended to the stake-holder domain. Also, some
research has found that differences in the organizational status offirms may lead to differences in
level of compliance to external stakeholder expectations(Phillips & Zuckerman, 2001). All these
factors point to differences in the way organiza-tional forms other than large publicly traded
companies interact with stakeholders.

Finally, we see a need for studies that evaluate the effectiveness of various forms
ofimplementation. For instance, is it more effective to have stakeholders on the board of direc-tors
instead of formally involved in the managerial decision-making process? Given thebreadth of
implementation options available, more systematic study of the effectiveness ofthe various options
would go a long way toward improving the theory’s practicability.Research goals should include
providing convincing justifications that can be promoted bykey executives and workable formulas for
creating new norms to judge performance, as theseare both associated with the success of
implementation initiatives (Nutt, 1986).

How to Create a Stakeholder Map [Templates & Examples] | Mural

There are four main types of stakeholders: primary, secondary, tertiary, and
quaternary:

 Primary stakeholders are those who have a direct impact on the

product or project (e.g. employees, customers).
 Secondary stakeholders are those who have an indirect impact on
the product or project (e.g. shareholders).
 Tertiary stakeholders are those who have a potential impact on the
product or project (e.g. industry experts).
 Quaternary stakeholders are those who have no direct impact on
the product or project but may be interested in its success or failure
(e.g. media).

A Brief History of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) (thomasnet.com)

Carroll’s pyramid of CSR: taking another look (springeropen.com)

Carroll, A. B. (2016) Carroll’s pyramid of CSR: taking another look. International journal of corporate
social responsibility. [Online] 1 (1), .:
Carroll, A. B. (1999). Corporate Social Responsibility: Evolution of a Definitional Construct. Business &
Society, 38(3), 268–295. https://doi.org/10.1177/000765039903800303

Corporate Social Responsibility: Evolution of a Definitional Construct - Archie B. Carroll, 1999

(sagepub.com)

WRAP - The Climate Crisis: Act Now

ISO - ISO 14001 and related standards — Environmental management

Waste hierarchy guidance (publishing.service.gov.uk)

The Ten Principles | UN Global Compact

Human Rights
Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally
proclaimed human rights; and

Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

Labour
Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective
recognition of the right to collective bargaining;

Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;

Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and

Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Environment
Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and

Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly

technologies.

Anti-Corruption
Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion
and bribery.

NASA (2018), Climate Change Evidence: How Do We Know? Climate Change: Vital Signs
of the Planet. [online] Available at: https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/Links to an external
site. (Accessed: 15 July 2023).

IPCC (2021), Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science
Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. [online] Available
at: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/chapter/summary-for-policymakers/Links to an
external site. (Accessed: 15 July 2023).

Systemiq (2023), The Breakthrough Effect: How to trigger a cascade of Tipping points to
accelerate The net zero transition. [online] Available at: https://www.systemiq.earth/wp-
content/uploads/2023/01/The-Breakthrough-Effect.pdfLinks to an external site. (Accessed:
15 July 2023).

United Nations (2022), The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022. [online] United
Nations, pp.1–68. Available at: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2022/The-Sustainable-
Development-Goals-Report-2022.pdf

United Nations (2023). The Sustainable Development Agenda. [online] United Nations
Sustainable Development. Available
at: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/Links to an external
site..

United Nations Global Compact (2023). The Ten Principles | UN Global Compact. [online]
unglobalcompact.org. Available at:
https://unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/mission/principles.
Sustainability and Resilience—Latest Thinking | Cognizant

Accountability Framework .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform

Weybrecht Ch 6: More guidance on indicators can be found in ISO ’s Environmental Performance

Valuation (ISO 14031) (www.iso.org) and the WBCSD (www.wbcsd.org) report on measuring eco-effi
ciency. The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) produced a guide for users and
preparers of eco-effi ciency indicators (www.unctad.org). Also, see Deloitte CFO ’s insights on
developing key performance indicators (www.deloitte.com).

The Global Social Venture Competition has resources that help in measuring social value
(www.gsvc.org). Other social entrepreneurship organizations – such as Skoll Social Edge
(www .socialedge.org), the SROI Primer (sroi.london.edu), REDF (www.redf.org), and the SROI
Network (www.thesroinetwork .org) – provide many resources. The London Benchmarking Group is a
group of over 100 companies working together to measure corporate community investment
(www.lbg-online .net). The WBCSD also developed a tool for its members to aid in measuring impact
(www.wbcsd.org).

Other resources include the IFAC Sustainability Framework (www.ifac.org), KPMG Reporting Surveys
(www.kpmg.com), and IAS Plus (www.iasplus.com). IASB has different resources on management
commentary (www.iasb.org). PwC did a survey of the Fortune Global 500 companies ’ narrative
reporting (www .pwc.com), as well as among the FTSE 350 companies (corporatereporting.com).
Also see the trends section.
Although no such regulatory requirements exist for sustainability reports, readers are increasingly
looking for voluntary assurance that covers two areas: • Assurance on management and reporting
systems and associated performance, which assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the company
’s sustainability programs and initiatives. • Report content assurance that looks at the accuracy,
completeness, reliability, balance, and fairness of the report, similar to the verifi cation of fi nancial
statements on stand-alone sustainability reports and on integrated reports.

See the GRI ’s sustainability reporting guidelines (www . globalreporting.org). There are several other
initiatives aimed at providing guidance in this area, including Accounting for Sustainability
(www.accountingforsustainability.org) as well as government-issued national guidelines such as, for
example, by the Government of Canada (www.ec.gc.ca). The System of Environmental-Economic
Accounting contains the internationally agreed standard concepts, defi nitions, classifi cations,
accounting rules and tables for producing internationally comparable statistics on the environment
and its relationship with the economy (unstats.un.org). See the winners of different sustainability
report awards for a look at different approaches – for example, Ceres/ACCA (www.ceres.org), PWC
Reporting Award (www.pwc.co.uk), ACCA ’s Sustainability Reporting Awards (www.accaglobal.org),
GRI ’s Readers ’ Choice Award (www.globalreporting.org), and Corporate Register
(www .corporateregister.com). SustainAbility, UNEP, and Standard & Poor’s and KPMG both produce
an international benchmark of corporate sustainability reporting regularly. For regular news on
sustainability reporting, see www.enviroreporting.com/.

Chapter 7:

Sources of information on conservation fi nance include WWF (www.worldwildlife.org/conservationfi

nance) and the Conservation Finance Alliance (www.conservationfi nance.org). The WBCSD and IUCN
have developed a free role-playing game called ‘Buy, Trade, Sell’ which shows how ecosystem
markets work (www.wbcsd.org). www.ecosystemmarketplace.com and
www.ecosystemservicesproject.org have information on markets and payment schemes for
ecosystem services. The Australian government also has a useful resource describing MBIs
(www .marketbasedinstruments.gov.au).

In October 2008 UNEP and leading economists launched the Green Economy Initiative, which ‘will
encourage and enable economic, planning, fi nance, labour, environment, and other policymakers to
support increased investments in environmental assets and green production while ensuring a fair
and just transition towards a green economy.’ The ambitious plan calls on world leaders to promote a
massive redirection of investment away from the speculation that has caused the bursting ‘fi nancial
and housing bubbles ’ and into job-creating programs to restore the natural systems that underpin
the world economy. Its mission is to communicate a global plan for a green industrial revolution to be
supported by strong and convincing evidence of income generated, decent jobs created, and poverty
reduced through investing in a new generation of assets including: ecosystems (or environmental
infrastructure), clean and effi cient technology, renewable energy, biodiversity-based products and
services (such as organic foods), chemical and waste management and mitigation technologies, and
green cities with ecologically friendly buildings, construction, and transport systems. All this could
create millions of green jobs.

For more on the Green Economy Initiative visit (www.unep.org/ greeneconomy). Also take a look at
some of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics who have been exploring sustainability
(www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates). Several organizations are also looking at
new economic models, including the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability
(www.feasta.org), Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (www.steadystate.org),
and the New Economics Foundation (www.neweconomics.org). Also take a look at the work by the
Ellen Macarthur Foundation around circular economy (www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org).

Ecolex is a database of information on environmental law at the international and national levels
(www.ecolex.org). The Centre for Environmental Law (www.ciel.org), International Court of Justice
(www.icj-cij.org), and the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (www.cisdl.org) also
work in this area. Guidance for compliance with multinational environmental agreements can be
found at www.unep.org and www.inece .org

Valuing natural resources may seem straightforward; one only has to consider market transaction
prices. However, market prices do not cover the true value of these resources, or the broader
ecosystems of which they are part. For example, an ecosystem service plays a signifi cant role in
many transactions, as breeding grounds for fi sh and barriers for storms, or the role of biodiversity in
water and air purifi cation. Ecosystems provide a range of services, including: • Provisioning – in
providing goods such as food, water, raw materials, and medicinal resources. • Regulating – in
regulating biophysical processes and controlling natural processes such as climate and air quality and
erosion prevention. • Cultural – by providing recreational, aesthetic, or spiritual value. • Habitat or
supporting – in providing habitats for species and maintaining genetic diversity. Markets are likely to
undervalue ecosystem services if these are not in some way quantifi ed and recorded

The Sustainable Economy (hbr.org)

The importance of quantifying ecosystem services was first acknowledged

in the early 1990s, but serious efforts began in 2000. At least two not-for-
profit organizations—Conservation International and The Nature
Conservancy—and the accounting giant PriceWaterhouseCoopers are
currently developing methodologies to value ecosystems
In 2011 Dow Chemical pledged $10 million over five years for a team of
scientists from The Nature Conservancy to help Dow develop ecosystem
service valuation methods. Dow’s CEO, Andrew Liveris, is determined to
operationalize sustainability: “Companies that value and integrate
biodiversity and ecosystem services into their strategic plans are best
positioned for the future.” The Nature Conservancy will advise Dow on how
to integrate ecosystem services valuation into its business practices, and the
two organizations will promote this approach with the global business
community.
Babel of Ecolabels
A dizzying array of labels has cropped up in response to companies’
desire to communicate to consumers their environmental efforts.
But the success of ratings like Energy Star show how resoundingly
people respond when, in considering products in a category, they
are presented with a single rating.

International Institute for Sustainable Development (iisd.org)

Smith, J.K. and Smith, R.L. (2016), Socially Responsible Investing by Universities and
Colleges. Financial Management, 45: 877-922. https://doi.org/10.1111/fima.12125

Socially-Responsible-Investing.pdf (trustcobank.com)

Hammer, J. & Pivo, G. (2017) The Triple Bottom Line and Sustainable Economic Development
Theory and Practice. Economic development quarterly. [Online] 31 (1), 25–36.

Distinctions between economic growth and economic development also emerged with
increased awareness about threats to the natural resource base necessary to sustain
economies. Referred to as ecosystem services, natural resources provide a number of
functions that have significant economic value. These include provisioning (resources such as
water or food are provided), regulation (resources provide safety or balance such as flood
control or oxygen), supporting (resources provide assistance such as pollination), and cultural
(resources provide aesthetic, historic, and other cultural benefits) (Alcamo et al., 2003). The
full value of ecosystem services has not been, and likely cannot be, calculated; however,
scientific inquiry is contributing to our understanding. For example, a pioneering study
estimates total global value at $125 to $145 trillion (U.S. dollars) per year (Costanza et al.,
2014).

Addressing that gap, we define TBL or sustainable economic development as programs,

policies, or activities designed to create or retain jobs and wealth in ways that contribute to
environmental, social, and economic well-being over time.2

Our research indicates that economic development professionals generally favor the
consideration of economic, environmental, and social dimensions when making economic
development investments, yet few do so. A number of interrelated factors may contribute to
this gap. First, economic development is situated in a broader context in which understanding
of and support for TBL concepts may be limited. Research in related areas of planning,
administration, and sustainability suggests that organizational and community characteristics
impeding uptake and implementation of TBL concepts may include insufficient capacity, a
weak understanding of and support by key organizational and political leaders, and low
socioeconomic status (Conroy, 2006; Grodach, 2011; Hammer, 2010; Hammer, Allen, &
Meier, 2010; Johnson & White, 2010; Saha, 2009; Saha & Paterson, 2008; Svara, Watt, &
Jang, 2013; Wang, Hawkins, Lebredo, & Berman, 2012). Second, economic development
occurs in a highly competitive environment where much of what affects outcomes is outside
the jurisdiction’s control and success is narrowly defined. Furthermore, TBL economic
development may be impeded by a lack of integration and coordination among various
policies and programs, with existing programs often at odds with TBL principles, and trade-
offs between economic, environmental, and social goals assumed to be required. Finally,
TBL or sustainability principles are not core to academic and professional accreditation for
economic developers, which likely translates into a lack of knowledge and skills to infuse
TBL concepts into practice. For example, accreditation as a Certified Economic Developer or
Accredited Economic Development Organization does not require any coverage or
proficiency with respect to TBL or sustainability theory or practice. Furthermore, at the
university level, there is no national accreditation for economic development programs and
thus no requirements regarding competence in TBL theory or practice.

Review of global environmental assessment methods (bsria.com) 2011

Chapter 15:

. Screening. To decide whether or not a proposal needs an EIA and if it does at what level of
detail. 2. Scoping. To identify the key issues and impacts that are likely to require further
investigation. c15.indd 365 10-10-2013 15:41:25 366 The Sustainable MBA 3. Impact
analysis. To identify and predict the likely environmental and social effects of the proposal
and evaluate their signifi cance. 4. Mitigation and impact management. To develop measures
to avoid, reduce, or compensate for impacts, making good any environmental damage. 5.
Reporting. To describe the results to decision-makers and other interested parties. 6.
Implementation and monitoring. To put in place the plans agreed upon and continue to
monitor them through audits.

There are many resources on environmental impact assessments, including UNEP EIA
(www.unep.fr), the EU website on EIA (ec .europa.eu/environment/eia), and the International
Association of Impact Assessment (www.iaia.org). The Environmental Impact Assessment
Open Educational Resource has learning modules and resources on the topic (eia.unu.edu).
The WBCSD also has some guidelines on environmental and social impact assessment
c15.indd 367 10-10-2013 15:41:25 368 The Sustainable MBA (www.wbcsd.com). The
Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context
(www.unece.org/env/ eia) sets out obligations for parties to assess the environmental impact
at the early stages of planning and notify and consult each other on major projects under
consideration that are likely to have a signifi cant adverse environmental impact across
borders.
An EMS is important as a tool to ensure a company is compliant with regulatory and
company requirements and knows the impacts it has on society. It helps focus an organization
on priorities for actions and serves as a framework for putting ideas into practice. All EMS
standards follow the same cycle: • Plan. Understand where the company currently stands
(typically through an audit or assessment) in terms of legislative and regulatory requirements,
existing environmental management practices, etc. This involves getting top management and
employee support, setting objectives and targets, prioritizing actions, and creating an action
plan. • Do. Ensure that there are established roles and responsibilities that are clearly
communicated; and that members of staff are aware and trained to carry our responsibilities.
Make sure they have the support they need to carry out their roles. • Check. Formulate a
measurement system, establish and defi ne benchmarks, perform regular audits. Check to
ensure that what you planned to do actually happened. • Act. An EMS is most effective when
used to review progress toward the targets and objectives set by a company to protect the
environment. The procedures set in place to meet these objectivees should be constantly
examined to see if they can be improved or if more effective systems can be introduced.

Policy+

Identifying and evaluating your environmental impacts. Evaluate the impacts of your
activities, products, and services. This allows the EMS to be focused on those environmental
issues that are most signifi cant so that resources and time are concentrated on these. Signifi
cance is often determined by considering the size, nature, frequency, likelihood, and duration
of the environmental impact, the importance to stakeholders, and the sensitivity of the
receiving environment. • Operational control, targets, and objectives. This information can
then be used to identify control measures and to set objectives and targets for environmental
improvements. An environmental program is put in place to turn objectives and targets into
practical actions. People are assigned the responsibility for completing the tasks. •
Monitoring, evaluation, and review. The EMS process is documented and procedures are
established to ensure that everyone knows how the system operates and what is required.
Progress is tracked through regular monitoring and audits. Effective communication
internally is vital to keep people up to date. An EMS is a cyclical process of identifying,
improving, and checking. Reviews are done periodically by management to ensure that the
EMS is achieving the desired outcomes and that polices are being implemented.

There is plenty of guidance on how to put in place EMS. EMAS Toolkit for Small
Organizations provides step-by-step guidance and tools for implementing an environmental
management system (according to ISO 14001) (www.epa.gov). Several self-assessment
checklists are available, for example from the Global Environmental Management Initiative
(GEMI) (www.gemi.org). Another interesting resource is the Environmental Management
Tools for SMEs, a handbook produced by the European Environment Agency and
Environmental Management Systems Toolkit for Small Organizations produced by the EU
and INEM (www.eea.europa.eu).

Industry- and issue-specifi c standards can be found within the different chapters and in the
resources by industry section at the end of this book. ISEAL Code of Good Practice for
Setting Social and Environmental Standards (www.isealalliance.org), ISO standardization
documentation (www.iso.org). See WBCSD Accountability Codes (www.wbcsd.org).

Assignment 2:
ISO - ISO 26000 — Social responsibility

Social responsibility - Schematic overview of ISO 26000

The Benefits of an Effective Environmental Management System (cardinus.com)

Benefits in applying ISO 26000 – Selected case studies as a result of the SR MENA Project KEY

A Cost-Benefit Analysis of ISO26000: The Standard on Social Responsibility by Mark Anthony

Camilleri :: SSRN PAPER

Environmental impact assessment screening checklist - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) KEY?

Sustainable Zoo coplan (newzoo.org)

https://www.zsl.org/about-zsl/policies/sustainability-zsl

https://grasshopper.net.au/case-studies/waste-management-technology/

https://www.zoo.org.au/fighting-extinction/sustainability/

. There are many benefi ts to offi ce greening programs: • Engaging employees. Many initiatives to
green the offi ce show results fast, giving employees successes to build on and motivation for their
work. • Raising awareness. Putting in place offi ce greening programs is an opportunity to educate
employees about the impact sustainability can have on an operation and to show them how
effortless sustainability actions can be. • Reduced costs. By increasing effi ciency and minimizing
waste, organizations are fi nding many opportunities to reduce costs in energy, water, maintenance,
and materials. • Increased employee retention and productivity. Studies have shown that green
building features can increase worker productivity and overall health and reduce absenteeism.
Research has found it increased productivity by 3% to 16%. 51 • Enhanced corporate reputation.
Sustainability building and procurement shows a commitment by a company to the environment,
society, and its workers. • Tax and regulatory incentives. There are an increasing number of
incentives for building green or for redeveloping brownfi eld properties, for example.

The UN Global Compact CEO water mandate is an initiative designed to assist companies in the
development, implementation, and disclosure of water sustainability policies and practices
(www.unglobalcompact.org). GEMI Water Sustainability Tool ( gemi.org/water ), the Water Footprint
Network (www.water footprint.org), and Water Use it Wisely ’s list of 100 ways to conserve water in
a business (www.wateruseitwisely.com) are also helpful resources.

Reduce the amount of materials bought and used ❑ Buy durable products, rather than disposable
ones. Examine inhouse repair schedules, maintenance agreements, and extended warranties as ways
to extend product life. ❑ Stop multiple subscriptions of magazines, for example, when one copy can
be shared. ❑ Coordinate product purchases and plan ahead to buy products in bulk to save time,
money, and transportation and packaging costs. ❑ Purchase products with less packaging. ❑ SC
Johnson removed waste baskets from offi ces and placed them down the hall to reinforce the act of
throwing items in the garbage

Century Gothic is the least ink-intensive font. The WWF has produced a Guide to Buying Eco Friendly
Paper, a global database of eco-rated paper products as well as a Paper Company Environmental
Index (www.panda.org). The Paper Calculator measures the environmental impacts of your paper
usage ( c.environmentalpaper.org ).

The Global e-Sustainability Initiative works to further sustainability in the ICT sector (www.gesi.org).
Also look at the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct (www.eicc.info). The Greenpeace Guide to
Greener Electronics is a scorecard that highlights electronic products and companies
(www.greenpeace.org). EPEAT is an online tool that helps select and compare environmentally safe
electronic products (www.epeat.net). The European Union ’s WEEE Directive allows customers to
return their used equipment to manufacturers free of charge and also requires the substitution of
various heavy metals and chemicals in new electronic equipment ( Europa.eu ). For the latest news,
visit Greener Computing (www.greenercomputing.com) and the Massachusetts Green High
Performance Computing Center (www.mghpcc.org).

Sustainable procurement of supplies and services is the primary way to introduce green concepts in
offi ces and facilities. According to UNEP, the best procurement processes address the following: •
Maximum value for money (price, quality, availability, functionality). • Environmental aspects of
goods over their entire lifecycle. • Social aspects (issues such as poverty eradication, labor
conditions, human rights). Below are some tips that can help ❑ Use cleaning products that are
biodegradable and environmentally friendly. Hire cleaning service companies that use
environmentally friendly products. ❑ Buy recycled, reusable, recyclable, biodegradable, energy- effi
cient, water-conserving, non-toxic, locally available products (paper, glass, etc.). ❑ Buy reusable
cafeteria dishware. Reusable dishes are often costeffective over the long term compared with
disposables. ❑ Buy organic, fair trade, free range, local products for the kitchen such as coffee, tea,
sugar, etc. ❑ Don ’t use bottled water; where possible drink tap water instead.

Green teams
Glucker, et al. (2013) Public participation in environmental impact assessment: why, who
and how? Environmental Impact Assessment Review Volume 43, November 2013, Pages
104-111
Abstract: Even a cursory glance at the literature on environmental impact assessment (EIA)
reveals that public participation is being considered as an integral part of the assessment
procedure. Public participation in EIA is commonly deemed to foster democratic policy-
making and to render EIA more effective. Yet a closer look at the literature unveils that,
beyond this general assertion, opinions of the precise meaning, objectives and adequate level
of inclusiveness. In so doing, we hope to stimulate a more focused debate on the subject,
which is key to advancing the research agenda. Furthermore, this paper may serve as a
starting point for practitioners involved in defining the role of public participation in EIA
practice.
Monika Suškevičs, Triin Ehrlich, Kaja Peterson, Olavi Hiiemäe, Kalev Sepp,

Public participation in environmental assessments in the EU: A systematic search and qualitative
synthesis of empirical scientific literature,

Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Volume 98, 2023,

Public participation in environmental assessments in the EU: A systematic search and qualitative
synthesis of empirical scientific literature - ScienceDirect

Chapter 9

For more on this topic visit the Ethics Resource Centre (www .ethics.org), Business Roundtable
Institute for Corporate Ethics (www.corporate-ethics.org), Caux Round Table Principles for Business:
Ethical and responsible behaviour (www.cauxrountable.org)

Society for Business Ethics (sbeonline.org)

Sustainability, responsibility and ethics: different concepts for a single path | Emerald Insight paper

15 Sustainable Business Trends that will Shape the Future | Informi

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