Published: 30 November 2023
Contributors: Tom Krantz, Alexandra Jonker
Sustainability is the long-term ambition for people to coexist on Earth without depleting its natural resources. The goal is to create a more sustainable future for both people and the planet.
While sustainable living and sustainable practices can be traced back to the earliest civilizations, the concept and terminology itself is still relatively young. Therefore, many aspects—from the definition of sustainability to its measurement and validity—are debated.
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The magnitude of climate change and its impact on both global ecosystems and local communities has become a growing concern in recent years.
Mounting environmental issues, the depletion of natural resources and ever-increasing demands on our energy and food supply are creating an existential crisis for people as well as for businesses, which are experiencing growing disruption across their operations and supply chains.
The threat of climate change and the notions of environmental protection and addressing environmental issues date back centuries. But it wasn’t until the late 19th century—when anxieties about the industrial revolution were rising—that they started to spark public activism.
By the middle of the 20th century, in 1969, the Environmental Protection Agency had passed the National Environmental Protection Act, which committed the United States to sustainable practices.1 The act declared it a national policy “to create and maintain conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations.”
Later in the century, the concept of sustainability was widely popularized by the Brundtland Commission, a United Nations sub-division that sought to unify countries through the pursuit of sustainability. In 1987, the Brundtland Commission published “Our Common Future,” a report that defined “sustainable development” as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”2
Since then, the terms “sustainability” and “sustainable development” have been used interchangeably despite slight differences. Consider the “journey and destination” trope: sustainability is the long-term goal, or destination, whereas sustainable development is the pathway, or journey, towards achieving it.
In 2000, the United Nations hosted world leaders in New York at the Millennium Summit to discuss their evolving role in the new millennia. Following the summit, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were created, outlining eight international development goals to be achieved by 2015. The MDGs ranged from the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger to ensuring environmental sustainability.
In 2016, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) replaced the Millennium Development Goals, outlining seventeen sustainability targets. The SDGs set a global agenda for sustainable development with the hopes of improving people’s quality of life and achieving a more sustainable future by 2030. What distinguishes the SDGs from the MDGs is that the SDGs are broader in scope and more aligned with the three dimensions of sustainability.
Experts generally agree that there are three dimensions or pillars of sustainability: environmental, social and economic.
Typically, conversations about sustainability allude to the environmental dimension and focus on countering environmental issues such as climate change, greenhouse gas emissions and the decline in biodiversity, among others. One way to combat these issues is by collectively moving away from finite resources like fossil fuels and embracing renewable, zero-emissions energy sources. This is a tactic many organizations deploy on their journey to achieve net-zero emissions.
Social sustainability is not yet as clearly defined. Some scholars say it encompasses all human activity and that all domains of sustainability ladder back to a social component. A society is sustainable when its people don’t face structural obstacles such as gender, wealth and racial inequality, and social equity is prioritized instead. That means citizens have access to healthcare, housing and other means of social development. In short, social sustainability recognizes that the well-being of all people dictates the longevity, efficacy and sustainability of a society.
Economic sustainability focuses on businesses being sustainable (i.e., profitable). At times, economic sustainability can seem at odds with environmental sustainability, which is where the concept of weak and strong sustainability comes from. Weak sustainability alludes to the idea that technology made by humans can replace natural systems. For instance, the idea that carbon capture technology could be more effective than a tree’s ability to turn CO2 into oxygen. On the other hand, strong sustainability suggests that natural systems are better equipped to safeguard the environment. Therefore, technology should yield to these systems since economic development cannot replace nature. In either case, the formula for economic sustainability lies in the balance between profit and the planet.
Today, the SDGs act as a guiding framework for nations when it comes to sustainable development, though they’ve been criticized for being too broad, ambitious and difficult to track. Critics have stated that some goals are only a short-term solution and require trade-offs (e.g., ending hunger comes at the cost of environmental sustainability). Others have noted synergies between the goals, lending support to the idea that creating a sustainable future requires a more comprehensive approach that considers all dimensions of sustainability.
In 2019, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a non-profit launched by the UN, published a paper titled, “Six Transformations to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” The goal was to provide a systemic policy approach to achieve each SDG by outlining the six transformations that must take place.
Beyond the SDGs, there are several sustainable practices people can implement in their daily lives, such as reducing food waste, adopting renewable energy sources and reducing their carbon footprint. The expression “reduce, reuse, recycle” comes up often when talking about sustainability in an everyday context.
For companies, various governing bodies have been established to set standards and provide guidance so that businesses can balance economic growth with environmental protection and social good. One example is the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), a non-profit organization that establishes and maintains industry-specific standards to help guide the disclosure of sustainability information by companies to investors and other financial stakeholders.
Similarly, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has developed industry-specific reporting standards for sustainability so that companies have a comprehensive global baseline for sustainability disclosure. Both the SASB and ISSB play a crucial role in today’s business landscape as stakeholders demand more transparency around companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.
Sustainability in business refers to a company's strategy to reduce or avoid negative environmental and social impact resulting from its operations. An organization’s sustainability practices are typically analyzed against ESG metrics, which are shared with the public through ESG reporting. How a company chooses to structure its ESG reporting depends on factors such as the geographic location and industry sector, which is why multiple ESG reporting frameworks exist.
Sustainable businesses recognize both the challenges and opportunities that come from adopting sustainable business practices. And while there is no one-size-fits-all approach to reducing carbon emissions or reimagining a supply chain, there are clear examples of what companies can do to build a more sustainable future.
For instance, organizations can improve their energy efficiency by deploying energy management practices and using alternative power sources. Organizations can also look to intelligent asset management practices, for example, if they choose to deploy infrastructure and equipment that produces less GHG emissions. In doing so, they can often save money and reduce their climate impact. Additionally, companies that create efficient and intelligent supply chains can be better equipped to empower a circular economy, encourage reuse, design out waste, promote sustainable consumption and protect natural resources.
Many organizations are realizing they don’t need to sacrifice their bottom line to become a sustainable business. In fact, some are seeing greater margins through sustainable development. Through the lens of environmental protection and social good, these companies are assessing risks and improving resiliency while also considering external regulations and development goals in their decision-making.
More specifically, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is a European Union legislation that requires companies to report on the environmental and sustainable impact of their business activities, as well as their ESG initiatives. The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation aims to do the same by standardizing the reporting of ESG metrics.
Sustainability in business refers to a company's strategy and actions to eliminate the adverse environmental and social impacts caused by business operations.
The Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB) is a standards-setting organization for disclosing sustainability risks and opportunities.
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive requires businesses to report on the environmental and social impact of their business activities, and on the business impact of their ESG efforts and initiatives.
Net zero is the point at which greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere are balanced by an equivalent amount removed from the atmosphere.
ESG frameworks are used by organizations to publicly report detailed environmental, social and governance metrics of the business.
Energy management helps businesses monitor and optimize energy consumption to reduce energy costs.
Footnotes
1 Learn About Sustainability (link resides outside ibm.com), Environmental Protection Agency, 16 October 2023
2 Our Common Future (link resides outside ibm.com), World Commission on Environment and Development, October 1987