Sustainability Frameworks

Developed by John Elkington in 1994

Bootom Line: Bottom Line of a firm’s accounting statement (shows profit or loss)

The framework extends the bottom line of a firm’s accounting statements to include societal and environmental value-addes or destroyed by the company

Helped raise the importance of the society and environment in the business world

NGOs accounting, and investment firms explicitly use this framework to criticize the performance of companies

Limitations

• Frameowrk failed to transform the monocapitalistic, single bottom line paradigme

• The framework treats economy, society, and environment as seperate but interwined systems and therefore, fails to recognize the interconnectivity and complexity of sustainability

Scientific framework based on earth system science and developed by a research group lead by Johan Rockstrom

The framework idetifies 9 environmental processes that determine the stability of the earth system

The quantitavely defined boundaries comprise the safe operating spaace for humanity

The framework has influenced politics, science, and business decisions

Used for discussions during the establishement of the Sustainable Development Goals

Main advantage: simplicity of the framework enables to communicate complex problem to a broader audience (isually appealing)

Main limitation: Captures only the environmental concerns

Builds upon the planetary boundaries, proposed by Kate Raworth and published in 2012 by Oxfam

Incorporates social elements of sustainability and challenges existing economic models

Economic activities should fall between the ecological ceiling and meet fundamental societal needs

Main advantage: visual framework that includes ecological and social elements

Limitations: high level and it does not provide specific recommendations on how to act as a decision-maker

Used for discussions during the establishment of the Sustainable Development Goals

Set of 17 interconnected economic, social and environemntal goals (with sub-targets) for all stakeholders to achieve by 2030

Goals are for all stakeholders including business and they are relevant for all countries

Established a common language for business, policymakers, and NGOs to discuss sustainability

Critique:

• Too high level, lacks an action plan

• Unlikely to be achieved since they are voluntary

• Environmental aspects are not represented enough in the framework

• Too numerous and difficult to translate into business action

• Currently, we are not on track to achieve the goals by 2030

Embedded nested systems perspective of sustainability

17 SDGs are arranged by economic, social and environmental goals

Stresses the interconnectivity and wholeness of the SDGs

Interwined view (Triple Bottom Line)

• Simultaneous management of social, environmental, and economic considerations and successful integration

• Stresses the importance of social and environmental value creation next to the economic value creation

Embedded view (Wedding Cake Model)

• Emphasizes the fundamental role of the natural environment since the pillars are inseparable and interdependent

• Economic growth and societal well-being are constrained by ecological boundaries