Sustainability Flashcards
(17 cards)
What is sustainability?
the long term maintenance of systems according to environmental, economic and social considerations (in which businesses are embedded in and a part of) (Crane et al, 2019)
What’s involved in environmental systems?
ecosystems, climate systems, soil systems.
e.g. 2010 deep water horizon oil spill (BP), 2017 Deiseal gate (Volkswagen)
What’s involved in economic systems?
production, financial systems, supply chains.
e.g. 2020 economic disruptions due to COVID. Arcadia group went into administration and filed bankruptcy, high street shops shut down, many went into administration.
What’s involved in social systems?
systems of education, labour right, healthcare.
e.g. 1994 IKEA discovers child labour in rug manufacturing in Pakistan.
2013 Rana plaza collapse in Bangladesh sheds lights on working conditions.
What are researchers and intellectuals concerned with?
the state of the earth, specifically with the unsustainable use of limited resources. One prominent theory developed around this by Garret Hardin (1968). ‘Tragedy of the commons’, ideas led to idea of sustainable development.
What’s involved in the Tragedgy of the Commons theory?
- pasture initially abundant and open to all. Each herd man tries to keep as many cattle as possible.
- utility of adding sheep, positive - additional sheep means more return from sales. Negative - additional sheep means overgrazing. Everyone adds more sheep following short term self interest without considering long term consequences.
- Herds are increased but resources are finite. Leads to overgrazing and depletion of the pasture. Hence, overexploitation of shared resources as long term consequences were not considered.
What does tragedy of the commons refer to?
refers to a situation in which individuals with access to limited publicly available resources (common pool resource) act in their short term self interest and deplete resources.
Why is overfishing bad?
35.6% is unsustainably overfished, 57% maximally sustainability fished, 7.2% under finished.
Concerns over unsustainable resources use led to calls for sustainable development.
What’s involved in sustainable development 1?
this is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
World Commission on Environment & Development Sustainable development aims to maintain intragenerational justice (between people of the same generations) and inter-generational (between different generations) justice.
What’s involved in sustainable development 2?
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - ‘agenda 30’, 17 interconnected goals each with various targets, applications by countries, companies, other organisations and individuals - they are aiming to be achieved by 2030.
What’s involved in sustainable development 3?
country level use of SDGs e.g. SDG 1 number of poverty 2024, 13 Climate action, 2024.
What’s involved in sustainable development 4?
SDG 14 - overfishing, more than a third of global fish stocks are overfished. 1 in 5 fish from IUU fishing, originates from illegal, unreported and regulated fishing.
What’s involved in business and sustainability in the 1990s/2000s?
increased focus on -> sustainability indicators, benchmarking, certifications. Making sustainability auditable and on efficiency e.g. eco efficiency.
Rise of sustainability professionals such as sustainability consultants, sustainability managers and chief sustainability officers, examples of sustainability include:
- Dow Jones (sustainability invoices)
- CDP
- GRI
- Carbon footprint
- United Nations Global compact
What is the triple bottom line framework (Elkington, 1999)?
its a framework for assessing sustainability, introduced to make the notion of sustainable development more manageable.
What are the 3 pillars of business success?
- People (social, economic)
- Planet (environmental)
- Profit
there are interlinkages between the 3 pillars e.g. climate change and justice
What is corporate sustainability?
this focuses on managing and balancing an enterprise’s embeddedness in interrelated ecological, social and economic systems, so that positive impact is created in the form of long term ecological balance, societal welfare and stakeholder value.
Economic, social and environmental issues are part of larger systems and these systems interact with each other.
What are corporations impacted by?
they are impacted by various natural systems like the earth’s climate system.
Corporate sustainability aims at balancing social, environmental and economic interests while doing business.
Considers the long term. It therefore aims to avoid situations in which taking action in support of one sphere comes at the expense of another sphere.
