Editing Triple bottom line (section)

==Definition==
[[Sustainable development]] was defined by the [[Brundtland Commission]] of the United Nations in 1987.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.worldfinance.com/banking/egypts-sustainable-finance-trailblazer|title=Egypt's sustainable finance trailblazer|access-date=2018-10-11|language=en-US}}</ref> Triple bottom line (TBL) accounting expands the traditional reporting framework to take into account social and environmental performance in addition to financial performance.

In 1981, [[Social enterprise|Freer Spreckley]] first articulated the triple bottom line framework in a publication called ''Social Audit - A Management Tool for Co-operative Working''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Spreckley |first=Freer |url=http://www.locallivelihoods.com/cmsms/uploads/PDFs/Social%20Audit%20-%20A%20Management%20Tool.pdf |title=Social Audit: A Management Tool for Co-operative Working |publisher=Beechwood College |year=1981 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301021617/http://www.locallivelihoods.com/cmsms/uploads/PDFs/Social%20Audit%20-%20A%20Management%20Tool.pdf |archive-date=2020-03-01 |publication-date=1981 }}</ref> In this work, he argued that enterprises should measure and report on financial performance, social wealth creation, and environmental responsibility. The phrase "triple bottom line" was articulated more fully by [[John Elkington (business author)|John Elkington]] in his 1997 book ''Cannibals with Forks: the Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business'',<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Cannibals with forks: the triple bottom line of 21st century business|last=Elkington|first=John|publisher=Capstone|year=1999|isbn=9780865713925|location=Oxford|oclc=963459936|author-link=John Elkington (business author)|url=https://archive.org/details/cannibalswithfor00elki_0}}</ref> where he adopted a question asked by the Polish poet [[Stanisław Jerzy Lec|Stanisław Lec]], "Is it progress if a [[Human cannibalism|cannibal]] uses a fork?" as the opening line of his foreword. Elkington suggests that it can be, particularly in the case of "[[sustainable capitalism]]", wherein competing corporate entities seek to maintain their relative position by addressing people and planet issues as well as [[profit maximisation]].<ref name=":0" />

A ''Triple Bottom Line Investing'' group advocating and publicizing these principles was founded in 1998 by [[Robert J. Rubinstein]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/devinthorpe/2018/05/22/one-key-to-impact-investing-start-big/#eab84e15ddb9|title=One Key To Impact Investing: Start Big|last=Thorpe|first=Devin|work=Forbes|access-date=2018-10-11|language=en}}</ref>

For reporting their efforts companies may demonstrate their commitment to [[corporate social responsibility]] (CSR) through the following:

*Top-level involvement ([[CEO]], [[Board of Directors]])
*Policy Investments
*Programs
*Signatories to voluntary standards
*Principles (UN Global Compact-Ceres Principles)
*Reporting ([[Global Reporting Initiative]])

The concept of TBL demands that a company's responsibility lies with [[stakeholder (corporate)|stakeholders]] rather than [[shareholders]]. In this case, "stakeholders" refers to anyone who is influenced, either directly or indirectly, by the actions of the firm. Examples of stakeholders include employees, customers, suppliers, local residents, government agencies, and creditors. According to the [[stakeholder theory]], the business entity should be used as a vehicle for coordinating stakeholder interests, instead of maximizing shareholder (owner) profit. A growing number of financial institutions incorporate a triple bottom line approach in their work. It is at the core of the business of banks in the [[Global Alliance for Banking on Values]], for example.

The [[Detroit]]-based [[Avalon International Breads]] interprets the triple bottom line as consisting of "Earth", "Community", and "Employees".<ref name="Avalon">{{Cite web|url=http://www.avalonbreads.net/about-us/triple-bottom-line/|title=Triple Bottom Line: Earth, Community, Employees|website=Avalon International Breads|access-date=27 February 2015|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112185233/http://www.avalonbreads.net/about-us/triple-bottom-line/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===The three bottom lines===
{{more citations needed section|date=April 2014}}
The triple bottom line consists of social equity, economic, and environmental factors. The phrase, "people, planet, and profit" to describe the triple bottom line and the goal of [[sustainability]], was coined by John Elkington in 1994 while at SustainAbility,<ref name="elkington" /><ref name=":0" /> and was later used as the title of the Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell's first sustainability report in 1997. As a result, one country in which the 3P concept took deep root was The Netherlands.

==== People, the social equity bottom line ====
The people, social equity, or [[human capital]] bottom line pertains to fair and beneficial business practices toward labour and the community and region in which a corporation conducts its business. A TBL company conceives a reciprocal [[social structure]] in which the well-being of corporate, labour and other stakeholder interests are interdependent.

An enterprise dedicated to the triple bottom line seeks to provide benefit to many constituencies and not to exploit or endanger any group of them. The "up streaming" of a portion of profit from the marketing of finished goods back to the original producer of raw materials, for example, a farmer in [[fair trade]] agricultural practice, is a common feature. In concrete terms, a TBL business would not use child labour and monitor all contracted companies for child labour exploitation, would pay fair salaries to its workers, would maintain a safe work environment and tolerable working hours, and would not otherwise exploit a community or its labour force. A TBL business also typically seeks to "give back" by contributing to the strength and growth of its community with such things as health care and education. Quantifying this bottom line is relatively new, problematic and often subjective. The [[Global Reporting Initiative]] (GRI) has developed guidelines to enable corporations and [[NGO]]s alike to comparably report on the social impact of a business.

==== Planet, the environmental bottom line ====
The planet, environmental bottom line, or [[natural capital]] bottom line refers to sustainable environmental practices. A TBL company endeavors to benefit the natural order as much as possible or at the least do no harm and minimize environmental impact. A TBL endeavour reduces its [[ecological footprint]] by, among other things, carefully managing its consumption of energy and non-renewables and reducing manufacturing waste as well as rendering waste less [[Toxicity|toxic]] before disposing of it in a safe and legal manner. "[[Cradle-to-grave analysis|Cradle to grave]]" is uppermost in the thoughts of TBL manufacturing businesses, which typically conduct a [[life cycle assessment]] of products to determine what the true environmental cost is from the growth and harvesting of raw materials to manufacture to distribution to eventual disposal by the end user.

Currently, the cost of disposing of non-degradable or toxic products is born financially and environmentally by future generations, the governments,  and residents near the disposal site and elsewhere. In TBL thinking, an enterprise which produces and markets a product which will create a waste problem should not be given a free ride by society. It would be more equitable for the business which manufactures and sells a problematic product to bear part of the cost of its ultimate disposal.

Ecologically destructive practices, such as overfishing or other endangering depletions of resources are avoided by TBL companies. Often [[environmental sustainability]] is the more profitable course for a business in the long run. Arguments that it costs more to be environmentally sound are often specious when the course of the business is analyzed over a period of time. Generally, sustainability reporting metrics are better quantified and standardized for environmental issues than for social ones. A number of respected reporting institutes and registries exist including the Global Reporting Initiative, CERES, Institute for Sustainability and others.

The ecological bottom line is akin to the concept of [[eco-capitalism]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Gaia Atlas of Green Economics|last=Ekins|first=Paul|publisher=Anchor Books|year=1992|isbn=0-385-41914-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/gaiaatlasofgreen00ekin/page/191 191]|author-link=Paul Ekins|url=https://archive.org/details/gaiaatlasofgreen00ekin/page/191}}</ref>

==== Profit, the economic bottom line ====
The profit or economic bottom line deals with the economic value created by the organization after deducting the cost of all inputs, including the cost of the capital tied up. It therefore differs from traditional accounting definitions of profit. In the original concept, within a sustainability framework, the "profit" aspect needs to be seen as the real economic benefit enjoyed by the host society. It is the real economic impact the organization has on its economic environment. This is often confused to be limited to the internal profit made by a company or organization (which nevertheless remains an essential starting point for the computation). Therefore, an original TBL approach cannot be interpreted as simply traditional corporate accounting profit ''plus'' social and environmental impacts unless the "profits" of other entities are included as a social benefit.{{Citation needed|date=March 2018}}