Editing Triple bottom line (section)

==Background==
In traditional business accounting and common usage, the "[[bottom line]]" refers to either the "profit" or "loss", which is usually recorded at the very bottom line on a statement of revenue and expenses. Over the last 50 years, environmentalists and [[social justice]] advocates have struggled to bring a broader definition of bottom line into public consciousness by introducing [[full cost accounting]]. For example, if a corporation shows a monetary profit, but their [[asbestos]] mine causes thousands of deaths from [[asbestosis]], and their [[copper mine]] pollutes a river, and the government ends up spending taxpayer money on health care and river clean-up, how can we capture a fuller societal [[cost benefit analysis]]? The triple bottom line adds two more "bottom lines": social and environmental (ecological) concerns.<ref>[http://www.goethe.de/ges/umw/dos/nac/den/en3106180.htm Sustainability – From Principle To Practice] ''[[Goethe-Institut]]'', March 2008.</ref> With the ratification of the [[United Nations]] and [[International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives|ICLEI]] TBL standard for urban and community accounting in early 2007,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unep.org/delc/Portals/119/industrryRoleOfIndclean.pdf|title=Enhancing the role of industry through for example, private-public partnerships|date=May 2011|publisher=[[United Nations Environment Programme]]|access-date=2012-08-13|archive-date=2012-11-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112080747/http://www.unep.org/delc/Portals/119/industrryRoleOfIndclean.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> this became the dominant approach to [[public sector]] full cost accounting. Similar UN standards apply to [[natural capital]] and [[human capital]] measurement to assist in measurements required by TBL, e.g. the EcoBudget standard for reporting [[ecological footprint]]. Use of the TBL is fairly widespread in [[South African media]], as found in a 1990–2008 study of worldwide national newspapers.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262009650 |last1=Barkemeyer |first1=Ralf |last2=Figge |first2=Frank |last3=Holt |first3=Diane |last4=Wettstein |first4=Barbara |title=What the Papers Say: Trends in Sustainability. A Comparative Analysis of 115 Leading National Newspapers Worldwide |journal=Journal of Corporate Citizenship |date=1 March 2009 |volume=2009 |issue=33 |pages=68–86 |doi=10.9774/GLEAF.4700.2009.sp.00009|doi-broken-date=30 November 2024 }}</ref>

An example of an organization seeking a triple bottom line would be a [[social enterprise]] run as a non-profit, but earning income by offering opportunities for handicapped people who have been labelled "unemployable", to earn a living by [[recycling]]. The organization earns a profit, which is invested back into the community. The social benefit is the meaningful employment of disadvantaged citizens, and the reduction in the society's welfare or disability costs. The environmental benefit comes from the recycling accomplished. In the [[private sector]], a commitment to [[corporate social responsibility]] (CSR) implies an obligation to public reporting about the business's substantial [[Human impact on the environment|impact]] for the better of the environment and people. Triple bottom line is one framework for reporting this material impact. This is distinct from the more limited changes required to deal only with ecological issues. The triple bottom line has also been extended to encompass four pillars, known as the quadruple bottom line (QBL). The fourth pillar denotes a future-oriented approach (future generations, [[intergenerational equity]], etc.). It is a long-term outlook that sets [[sustainable development]] and [[sustainability]] concerns apart from previous social, environmental, and economic considerations.{{cn|date=February 2022}}

The challenges of putting the TBL into practice relate to the measurement of social and ecological categories. Despite this, the TBL framework enables organizations to take a longer-term perspective and thus evaluate the future consequences of decisions.<ref name=IBR />