MNGT1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: United Nations Global Compact, United Nations Conference On Sustainable Development, Millennium Development Goals
2 Jul 2018
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MNGT D3- Sustainability
LO1: What is business sustainability?
Sustainability is the use of resources to enable society to satisfy their current needs, without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet the same needs too. This was coined in 1987
by the UN in “Our Common Future”.
Sustainable development meets the needs of the present, without harming the future generations.
It is conceptualised in terms of three pillars, in terms of environmental, social and economic
processes. Each sustainability issue contains all three pillars.
Sustainability results from activities that:
Extend the productive life of organisations and maintain high levels of corporate
performance.
Maintain decent levels of welfare for present and future generations.
Enhance society’s ability to maintain itself to solve its major problems.
Enhance the planets ability to maintain and renew the biosphere and protect all living
species.
Many organisations, such as Interface, are pursuing a goal of zero emissions; that is, eliminating all
waste or recycling it. Zero emissions occur when carbon or polluting emissions are reduced and/or
offset so that there is no net addition of emissions that are harmful to the environment or climate,
usually by the emitting source.
Business growth and urban growth have gone hand in hand and industries, buildings and
transportation systems depend on fossil fuels. The future lies with renewable energy. A renewable
energy target is a percentage of total energy production that is generated by renewable sources. The
Australian government has made an RET, aiming for at least 20% of Australia’s electricity to come
from renewable sources by 2020. Sustainability makes good business sense, and is the secret to
creating the high-performance organisations of the future.
The Quadruple bottom line is a measure of company performance, covering results in terms of
economic, social, environmental and cultural factors. Broader notions of sustainability, such as the
quadruple bottom line approach, are gaining mainstream acceptance among international
companies. It differs from the triple bottom line as it adds cultural systems.
Social justice is concerned with creating a more just and equitable world, with emphasis on labour
rights, workforce sustainability and human rights.
LO2: What are some of the international guidelines for business sustainability, and
how could these be effectively implemented?
In order to remain accountable and focused on a pathway to business sustainability, a number of
organisations are following internationally developed sustainability guidelines.
The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) was established in 1947, and is the
largest developer of voluntary international standards. These standards provide guidance,
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