August 7, 2022

Reimagine Sustainability Logo

Triple Bottom Line: The Foundation Of Sustainable Action And Performance

The Triple Bottom Line is a famous framework that incorporates three dimensions for sustainable decision-making: social, environmental and economic. It’s mostly used to measure sustainable business performance, but it can be applied anytime a decision has to be made. For too long has the economic dimension been at the centre of attention leading to exploitation of the social and environmental dimensions. The Triple Bottom Line encourages us to look beyond the traditional bottom line of business profit and make decisions that are socially and environmentally responsible. Sustainable development can only happen if we find the right balance between the three dimensions which benefit all of us.
Written by Veronika Tietz

You’ve probably stumbled across media articles which predict that the world’s doomsday is getting closer and closer if we don’t reduce our emissions. Cutting emissions is portrayed as the only way to save us. Yes, we want to cut down on those bad emissions (they are bad, like really bad), but do you see yourself working in the space of decarbonisation? Sustainability equals decarbonisation. That’s the endlessly recurring story the general media is preaching. But there is a cure: The Triple Bottom Line.

What if I told you that there is a lot more to sustainability than simply cutting your emissions and developing decarbonisation technology (do not get me wrong, it is a job which needs to be done rather quickly). We have deeper systemic problems than simply the climate crisis. What about the food waste crisis? Housing crisis? Financial crisis? Mental health crisis? Poverty crisis? Biodiversity crisis? Cultural crisis? Cost of living crisis? All those crises derive from a simple problem: system failure.

Related:

From A Carbon Tunnel Vision To A Holistic Collaboration Approach

Increase your sustainable performance with the Triple Bottom Line

Let me make the following remark: You do not have to solve all of the crises by yourself. We are almost eight billion people on our planet. Everyone has the capability to contribute to more sustainable systems.

Where to start? There are a lot of smart and brilliant people who asked themselves this simple but important question. One of those people goes by the name of John Elkington. If you have not heard about him yet, he is the brilliant mind behind the popular strategy of the Triple Bottom Line. As with many sustainability concepts, the Triple Bottom Line has been turned – in the business world – into an accounting term. This was not the intention of Elkington.

Unfortunately, good intentions are prone to be misused

He developed the Triple Bottom Line to rethink capitalism with the goal of system change. Because yes, our systems are covered in flaws which lead to all the different insecurities we have to go through at the moment. Things will become more complicated, as the overarching goal of sustainability is the transformation of capitalism. This sustainable capitalism transition is going to be one of the most complex challenges we will ever have to achieve. In Elkington’s words, we have to embark on a global cultural revolution to save our existential livelihood. If you’re interested in his work, I recommend you to read his first chapter Enter the Triple Bottom Line.

 

Triple Bottom Line

A visualisation of the Triple Bottom Line

 

Now we’re coming to the easier and less dramatic part of this article: explaining the concept of the Triple Bottom Line. The Triple Bottom Line is a solid basis for sustainability action and performance. Why? Because, in its most simple guise, the Triple Bottom Line is a sustainability framework that looks at the positive, negative and mutual interdependencies of social, environmental and economic impacts.

In other words: the relationships between people, planet and profit. Each of the three dimensions has to be carefully considered in relation to the others to achieve goals like environmental protection, social development and economic development.

Economic development has for too long been the focus of action. In consequence, the other two dimensions have been neglected, thus resulting in all the problems we have now. But if you think about it, without a planet there is no room for people. Without people there is no workforce for profit. Profit cannot exist without people and the planet, but the planet and the people can exist without the profit. This shows the order of importance pretty clearly, but in reality we bet everything we have on profit. This needs to change. We need to take environmental and social outcomes into account and develop the economic dimension beyond profit.

The next paragraphs will go into more detail about the three dimensions to give you a clearer understanding of their capabilities and goals.

Environment – The Planet Dimension

Environment can be defined as the total sum of living and non-living elements on our planet. What distinguishes our planet from all the other ones in the universe is simple: life. Starting with the non-living elements, you can count water, land, sunlight, rocks, and air in the environment list. The living elements include animals, plants, forests, fish, birds, reptiles, and so on. In the business world we speak of resources, which can be finite (non-renewable, it cannot be easily replaced or produced) or infinite (renewable, we will not run out of it) resources. In a healthy system, like an ecosystem, the complex network of different elements help organisms to stay alive. This is why environmental protection is important: to maintain life on earth.

The objective of the Triple Bottom Line for the environmental dimension is to manage ecological impacts through their entire life cycle, from birth or growth to death. In a sustainable system dead matter does not become waste but is fully integrated into the cycle of life. Waste does not exist in the natural world and she is the basis of life, so she knows what she is doing. Waste is a human concept, thus making it our responsibility to create systems without waste to support our environment.

Social – The People Dimension

This dimension is often overlooked when it comes to sustainable practices. I find this interesting as people like to make themselves the centre of attention throughout histories. However,  when it comes to the well-being and prosperity of societies, the opposite is the case. For a sustainable world you not only need a healthy planet, you also need healthy people. They have right to pursue whatever they want in a safe manner while not harming others.

A responsible citizen is aware that their decisions can have an impact on a global scale. Globalisation provided us with a luxurious lifestyle, but this luxury is starting to backfire now. This means that we have the responsibility to make informed choices for the benefit of the greater good. It might feel like we are disconnected from the events in this world, but the opposite is the case. Every decision we make can cause prosperity, harm or indifference. The aim of the social dimension of the Triple Bottom Line is to create prosperity and support human (as well as natural) well-being and the opportunity to develop culturally.

The social dimension is an important element because we need people to solve society’s challenges. However, if we do not have the opportunity to support a sustainable transition, then we are in big trouble. Natural resources are important to sustain life on our planet, but there is another important resource: Human capital. Human capital includes knowledge, skills and the experience a person has accumulated. It is a very important resource. We humans have to understand our potential and responsibility as a vital part of our natural and social world.

Economic – The Profit Dimension

The economic dimension in the Triple Bottom Line goes beyond the simple goal of creating profit for a business. Economic sustainability relies on the social and ecological consequences of economic activity. Focusing on only financial profit neglects the role of businesses in a system where they are dependent on the environment and people. Again, without the planet and people, profit cannot exist. Imagine the environment and societies working as tiny gears of a watch, doing all the work to keep the watch going.  Then, the economy is the watch case, important, but not needed to keep the environment and society going. What I want to clarify with the watch example is the strong interdependency of the planet and people. The profit dimension needs to change to be equally important to the world.

Globally, a sustainable economy has the capability to produce sustainable products and services while maintaining long-term relations with different stakeholders. In this element of TBL, networks and transparency are increasingly more important in achieving customer satisfaction and value. Economic sustainability takes into account social and environmental profit and gives us the opportunity to meet our basic needs and work towards a fulfilled life. However employment is not the only way to find fulfilment, it may simply be the vehicle to finding fulfilment elsewhere. 

How you can make use of the Triple Bottom Line

To develop solutions to solve today’s greatest challenges, it is beneficial to include the Triple Bottom Line framework as a decision-making basis to measure your performance. Achieving sustainability requires an understanding of the environmental, social and economic benefits of your chosen challenge, and building a self-maintaining system around it. Every solution needs to take into account the local and/or global reality. Sometimes, it might be difficult to measure if the outcomes are sustainable enough. It is a trial and error process.

We live in an ever changing world and we will never achieve perfection. Here lies the beauty in the possibility: we will never run out of work. We will always be able to find something that gives us purpose and contribute to the well being of people and the planet. Another challenge to keep in mind is that it is not easy to find the right balance between the three dimensions. What might work at one place in the world will not necessarily work somewhere else. But that is okay, as it reflects the immense diversity of our experience and our planet. 

I advise you to think about how you can create a positive impact in your family, community, city, at work, at play etc. Starting small is better than not starting at all. We need those little steps from every single one of you. You can start anywhere, from practising self love, to rescuing animals, to developing an innovation. For example, I started this blog because I felt that sustainability was not well understood and I disliked the popular definitions of Sustainability, as they were too limited for my taste. 

I would very much like to hear about the little changes that helped you make more sustainable decisions. We all need a little bit of inspiration sometimes.

Sharing is Caring

How An Improved Definition Of Sustainability Will Actually Save The World

Sustainability is minimised to dealing responsibly with our resources for our and our future generations (plants, animals and resources included). It is more than simply ticking the boxes. It’s about finding the right balance between social, environmental and economic Sustainability. The latter is not even crucial for our existence, but we give most of our attention to economic development. More importantly, we need to switch the focus on ecological and human health and vitality. Profit can only exist with people and the planet. So let’s change our understanding of Sustainability to create a world that suits us all and not an economic model.

The Power of Words: Why We Should Change The Way We Talk About Sustainability

Words are a wonderful way of bringing forward our ideas. Usually, we underestimate the power of words. Nonetheless, words influence our behaviour, feelings, desire and fears. The simple ability to communicate with words gives us the unique and powerful choice to change our life. We have the choice to either destroy or build our future; the choice to change the narrative for our benefit or disadvantage. Are we bringing our forces together to create the sustainable world we need? Are we going to give the decision-making power to those who don’t care about us or are we taking matters into our hands?

Why Systems Thinking Is So Useful To Achieve Sustainability

Systems thinking should become one of the number one approaches to solving societal challenges. It’s a problem-solving approach that looks at a system as a whole. Making sense of the complexity in our world is not an easy task, but mastering the principles of systems thinking can bring us one step closer to achieving sustainable goals. Rather than isolating parts of a system (like linear thinking does), systems thinking is the ability to understand systems as a whole and the dependent relationships. With systems thinking, we have a much better chance to find the solutions which fit.

What Does It Take To Become A Sustainable Leader

A lot of pressure weighs on the shoulders of sustainable leaders. In a complex and confusing world where policies, public pressure and business prosperity are demanding sustainable transformation – it can become an unbearable task for leaders. It does not help that sustainability is already an inconsistently discussed topic – plus staying on top of trends in an ever-changing world is energy-draining. How to cope with all those challenges as a sustainable leader? Principles of sustainable leadership guide the way for leaders who want to do more good and bring their businesses on track in their sustainability journey. Let the change begin!

10 Simple Reasons Why It’s Not Too Late For Sustainability

It’s not easy being a human in a world which seems to crumble around us. Finding encouraging and helpful support to tackle our world’s crisis is not easy. Many already say that we can’t achieve Sustainability anymore. What nonsense! In this article, I want to show you 10 simple reasons why we can still achieve Sustainability. Even better, it won’t be as difficult as you might think. Our world is complex, but not everything needs to be hypercomplex. Sometimes the simple things in life will bring us where we should be. Curious? You’re more than welcome to continue reading.

A Sustainable 2023 Starts With You! Create A Future To Look Forward To

Are you looking forward to 2023? I hope so. Now more than ever, we need encouraged and motivated people to make a difference. To contribute to our planet – the paradise which sustains our lives. Although there are many ways to be sustainable, we overlook one: how you can make a meaningful impact. I do not mean recycling or going zero waste. What I mean is who you are as a person. How do you fit in with your uniqueness and strengths? Sustainability has all opportunities open for you. What matters is if you are willing to discover them.

12 Short And Inspirational Sustainability Affirmations For A Positive Mindset

Sustainability affirmations help you find your role in the world. You become more mindful of what you need to do to help make sustainability the norm and dismantle unsustainable practices. Actions are crucial, but sometimes all you need is a different perspective to understand what the future holds for you. A sustainable lifestyle has a lot to offer and can contribute to your overall well-being. That is sometimes all you need – feeling good. A game changer is to understand your potential and how your well-being connects to the natural environment and the decisions you make along the way.

Climate Anxiety First Aid Kit: Do Not Let Climate Panic Become The Norm

Climate anxiety is a relatively new phenomenon. It occurs when people increasingly see, hear or read bad news about environmental impacts in connection with the climate crisis. Consequently, people are scared of the consequences that make the future look grim. Negative emotions like distress, anger and hopelessness contribute to a spiral of worries that might have a bigger impact on their life than the effects of the climate crisis. Luckily, there are different and simple ways to deal with climate anxiety. No one has to suffer in silence, but it means taking action and taking matters into our hands.

Why I Started My Reimagine Sustainability Blog?

Sustainability is what I dedicate to my life. For too long, I felt helpless and increasingly annoyed by news about climate change, biodiversity loss, food crises, rising mental health issues etc. It’s a lot to deal with for a normal human being. But I always believed in Sustainability, it simply makes sense to me to adapt to the Earth’s systems. Our societies developed on ideals of exploitation and destruction, but good and kind people have a voice now. Thank you, internet! It doesn’t take much anymore to become the change you want to see in this world.

Quadruple Helix: We Are All In This Together

The Quadruple Helix model describes necessary collaboration processes between government bodies, industries, academia and citizens. In innovation systems, the public has been widely neglected, thus creating solutions and systems which are not beneficial for the majority. Social responsibility is strongly connected to the Quadruple Helix model and is needed to reinforce the involvement of citizens in research and development processes. Addressing the immediate needs of a society should be at the centre of decision-making for governments as well as businesses. Applying the Quadruple Helix model makes it easier to involve all representatives who need to take part in the decision-making process.

2 Comments

  1. Cheapest eBooks Store

    Ahaa, its nice discussion on the topic of this article at this place at this weblog, I have read all that, so at
    this time me also commenting here.

    Reply
    • Veronika

      Thank you 🙂 the triple bottom line is in my top five of Sustainability concepts

      Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This