The Triple Bottom Line
The Brundtland Commission expanded the scope and time horizon of what then was on the minds of internationalists and the U.N., the economic development of poor nations. Brundtland supported the well being of poor people but also recognized the basic ecological threats that were becoming undeniable. Thus, by attempting to find a path to reconcile these broad ecological, economic, and social concerns, Brundtland altered the paradigm, the basic way of thinking, about sustainable development.
The article by Gene Bazan in Schroyer and Golodik (pp. 311-323) provides an introduction to the comprehensive nature of sustainability. See his diagram on page 314 for a graphic illustration. The incorporation of ecology, economy, and society into world sustainability is a fundamental theme in Schroyer and Golodik.
The concept of the triple bottom line widens the scope and complexity of decision-making about sustainability into three realms or domains of activities:
- The ecological realm tracks the environmental aspects of decision-making, augmenting what is often left out of political and economic decision-making. We can divide the ecological dimension into the realm of the geophysical world and the realm of the natural world. The physical and natural worlds provide the foundation, or grounding, of the economic and social realms.
- The economic realm examines how actions and decisions lead to development (not physical growth) effects. This implies that sustainability need not conflict with ecological considerations that point to the physical and natural world. The article by Peter Montague in Schroyer & Golodik explains how ecological economics intersects with sustainable development.
- The social realm examines culture and institutions (such as nations, communities, households and families), raising issues of gender, class, race, poverty, inequality, power, inclusion and exclusion, etc.
©Wayne Hayes, Ph.D. 5/24/2008
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.