What is Sustainability?
There is no universally accepted definition of sustainability. The United Nations defines sustainable development as follows :-
“as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Sustainability is made up of three pillars: the economy, society, and the environment which when combined allow for sustainable development.
These principles are also informally known as profit, people and planet. They represnt the mantra for many purpose driven organisations who assess their impacts upon the environment and the community.
The wider busiess community refer to "ESG" (Environment, Social and Governance) in the context of sustainability as ESG involves the use of metrics to assess an organisations progress in achieving targets.
ESG & the UN Sustainable Development Goals
