The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) concept was coined by John Elkington and is a means to assess the degree to which a company pursues sustainable growth. The TBL identifies that the operations of a company should be measured along three aspects – Economic, Social, and Environmental . It alternatively goes by the term 3 Ps which stand for People, Planet, and Profits.

Economic/Profit: Growth enhancement, Capital efficiency, Profit margin improvement, Innovation, Research and Development, Risk management, Resource and cost savings Social/People: Human rights, Local/ Indigenous community benefit and approval, Labor relations, Standards of living, Poverty reduction, Education, Diversity, Equality Environment/Planet: Pollution management, Emission reductions, Zero waste, Biodiversity promotion, Conservation efforts, Sustainable resource use

The TBL is an accounting framework that attempts to broaden the standard definition of a company’s “bottom line”, and therefore looks both at “gains” and “losses”. In this framework, a company can assess its impact on and activities implemented towards social responsibility (people), the natural environment (planet), and its economic value (profits).

The areas in which these three ‘bottom lines’ intersect, especially when a company addresses all three, leads a company towards a sustainable business model

Focus Box: Business view of the Triple Bottom Line  The TBL sustainability framework acts as a catalyst to develop innovative and effective business models for the future. It encourages companies to look beyond the traditional measures of profits to include environmental and social accountability considerations to further enhance their operational efficiency, effectiveness and success. The table below are some examples of ways in which companies can achieve sustainability by overlapping economic, social and environmental aspects of the TBL. Socio-economic Socio-environmental Eco-efficiency Health and Safety Regulations Business Ethics Resource use efficiency Essential resource access (ie. water) Fair trade Product Stewardship Environmental Justice Workers/Employee Rights Life-cycle management Hazard and Crisis Management Job creation Products to services shift Natural Resource Stewardship Capacity Building Energy efficiency Social Security Cradle to Cradle Product Labelling Anti-corruption/competition

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