Economic sustainability activities focus on business efficiency, productivity and profit.

Economic Bottom Line

Economic bottom line is only partly about the financial profitability of the business. Your economic capital must be measured in terms of how much of an impact your business has on its economic environment. The business that strengthens the economy it is part of is one that will help sustain the economy into the future.

Some would argue that sustainability is not economically based or economically feasible. They would argue that business cannot profit through sustainability, but it depends on what your business does. It is true that certain businesses can never be sustainable because of the nature of their business. However the huge majority of businesses can be sustainable, and profitable.

The key messages of sustainability actually tie in with what are considered to be ‘sound’ business practices namely, being efficient, minimising waste and maximising resources.

Measuring economic bottom-line

The Global Reporting Institute has guidelines for measuring and reporting economic bottom-line, including:

  • Economic Performance
  • Market Presence
  • Indirect Economic Impacts
  • Procurement Practices
  • Anti-corruption
  • Anti-competitive behaviour

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