SustainabilityHQ.com Weekly Highlights June 25, 2014

What Does "Sustainability" Mean to You?

When you hear the word "sustainability," what comes to mind?  Writing in Fast Company, Phillip Barlag thinks the word still needs a common understanding.  Sustainability might be better understood in clear context - as applied for example to the corporate sector.  "Sustainability in corporate terms," he writes, "is really about helping companies thrive forever."

Back in 2006/2007, when we were creating the Governance & Accountability Institute, sustainability was just becoming a word many company managements were tuning in to.  Author Barlag notes that about that time sustainability could be viewed as a fad.  Today, it is a movement (as much of the content of this newsletter portrays each week).  We used to scour the media environment to find news or commentary or other content related to sustainability (especially in the business media).  Now, we are passing through thousands of items for the relevant content for our research, our blogs, web platforms or for the Highlights newsletter.

The Fast Company commentator suggests that fixing on the profit factor will help corporate managements better understand the importance of sustainability and more effectively reach marketplace success and presumably greater profits.  He makes a strong business case for companies to follow the example of Patagonia, Seventh Generation and other companies.

His conclusion:  "While every company will establish different goals for profitability, changing the nature of sustainability to be profit-centric will greatly help move the collective agenda forward...reframing the discussion (about sustainability) around "profit forever" can elevate corporate sustainability above the noise...:"

Interesting commentary that we invite you to read in our Top Story this week.

Top Story of the Week

Sustainability Doesn't Mean Less Profit, It Means Profit Forever
(Monday - June 16, 2014)
Source: fastcoexist.com - Sustainability has become a term that serves as a catch-all for everything altruistic and pro-social. These are not bad things, of course, but as the word sustainability has entered the collective consciousness, it has – in many...

This is just a sample of some of the articles from this weeks SustainabilityHQ Highlights.  You can view the full Highlights by using the following links. Sustainability | ESG, Highlights for the Week of June 25, 2014