What is business sustainability?

So, what is business sustainability? In business, sustainability refers to doing business without negatively impacting the environment, community, or society. While this might sound like a lot to take on, business sustainability is possible.
However, the ability to meet ‘the needs of the present generations without compromising the needs of future generations (UN 1987) requires a non-traditional approach to business, the sharing of information on best practices, and an overall commitment to protecting future generations.
To truly achieve sustainability, businesses must incorporate the three pillars of sustainable business practice: economic viability, environmental protection, and social equity.
However, to properly incorporate these three pillars, business owners must ensure that they understand them fully. As such, these are outlined in detail, as follows:
What is Business Sustainability? 3 Core Pillars
Economic viability
While the economic viability is informed by financial analyses such as Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA), it usually also aims to consider a larger geographic scale, assessing the local and/or regional implications that may be associated with the project.
Overall, though, a project is usually assessed as ‘viable’ if its benefits exceed the project cost.
The economic viability of your business can be ensured by conducting economic viability assessments and using the information gathered to support decision-making.
Similar assessments can also be conducted to confirm the rationale for investments, to show stakeholders the potential economic benefit, or to prove that a project will fulfil regulatory requirements.
Environmental protection
The term ‘environmental protection’ aligns with the idea that we need to protect our environment for future generations and can be defined as the practice of ensuring that natural ecosystems are not harmed or destroyed by individuals, organisations, companies, and governments. However, it can also include the act of taking action to repair any damage that might have been caused previously and to reverse any negative trends that might exist.
This is especially important considering that global warming is increasing at an alarming rate, triggering the occurrence of extreme natural disasters and the increased prevalence of social issues such as displacement.
For companies, environmental protection can be achieved by investing in eco-friendly technologies and packaging options, avoiding plastic and paper where possible, recycling, engaging in ethical procurement and optimising logistics about shipping and delivery.
Social equity
In the triad of sustainability also exists social equity. As the term implies, this refers to the fair, just, and impartial treatment of all members of society regardless of socioeconomic differences such as ethnicity, gender, education, occupation, and income.
This concept acknowledges and considers the systematic inequalities that exist and aims to provide everyone with equitable opportunities and outcomes. This can be achieved by having bullying, harassment and discrimination policies, disability inclusion policies, LGBTQ+ inclusion policies, and policies to ensure that all genders receive equal pay.
Once business owners or persons in managerial positions truly understand and begin to implement these concepts into their practices, the business will start to notice a positive change.
While some companies may think that their total impact may be minimal, it is important to remember that global sustainability cannot be achieved without teamwork. If working in tandem, it is expected that companies can play a significant role in elevating global sustainability levels.
Moreover, there are a lot of scopes for businesses to find opportunities for mutually beneficial partnerships while on this journey.
For example, certain items of ‘waste’ can be collected from food shops and groceries and sent to farmers who can compost the items and use them as fertiliser for their crops. This will not only reduce the amount of food waste that is sent to landfills but may also help the farmers to save money that would have otherwise been used to purchase chemical fertilisers that would have likely been more harmful to the environment in the long term.
Therefore, if you are a business owner that is asking “what is busines ssustainability?”, you just need to remember the three core pillars of economic viability, environmental protection, and social equity, and ensure that you implement policies and practices that align with these concepts.
It is also important to remember that even if you feel like your individual impact may be small, there are many options to collaborate to create bigger impacts and that the collaborative efforts of all the businesses who choose to embark on this journey can help to change the world for the better.
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