This work marks what seems to be the first explicit conceptualisation of the pillars, complete with diagram, and discussion of inherent ‘trade-offs’. ‘It will create a price signal to incentivise industries to reduce their emissions, complementing the regulatory measures which we are also introducing’, he said. Emergent from the conference was the concept of ‘environmentally sound development’, which by 1973 had been coined as ‘eco-development’ (Clinton 1977; Mebratu 1998). Criticism of the almost ‘business-as-usual’ approach of ‘sustainable development’, which has been promoted to the mainstream by bodies such as the UN, has led to a heterogeneous counter-discourse. To Brown et al., these are different perspectives on the same concept which have emerged from the literature, closer to observation than anything approaching a conceptual framework. These aspects need to be considered in balance in order to achieve a truly sustainable outcome. The Three Pillars of Corporate Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(78)90116-X, Tanguay GA, Rajaonson J, Lefebvre J-F, Lanoie P (2010) Measuring the sustainability of cities: an analysis of the use of local indicators. And sustainability solutions typically fail, even in the presence of the other pillars, when feasible and culturally appropriate technologies are not available. And within this context, planetary ecological stresses are certain to increase, even with new technological developments. p47). With a view of identifying the genesis and theoretical foundations of this conception, this paper reviews and discusses relevant historical sustainability literature. Milne leans towards the latter, concluding that “sustainability requires the subordination of traditional economic criteria to criteria based on social and ecological values”. The modern concept, along with the language of sustainability in a global sense did not emerge, however, until the late 20th century. Lélé holds that the concept of sustainable development requires strong clarification, arguing for the need to reject attempts to focus on economic growth and to recognise the inadequacies of neoclassical economics. Environ Plan A 17:1431–1446. The centrality of markets to this process explains the importance of economics, and the importance of technology explains the importance of the natural science, engineering, and university research. They are critical of what they perceive as the term ‘sustainability’ becoming a “landfill dump for everyone’s environmental and social wishlists” (Goodland and Daly 1996, p1002). Sustainability needs to be integrated into the high-level skill sets on which our economies (that should, themselves, be increasingly and more closely attached to sustainability objectives and ecological boundaries) rely. Blurring the lines of systems/perspectives distinctions come later descriptions such as the ‘3Ps’ of Elkington, or the ‘3Es’ (environment, economy, equity) (Caradonna 2014), which embody broad values further removed from explicit conceptualisation. Sustainability reporting and company performance are the two factors that need to be studiedin recent years. The impact of immunocastration on the three pillars of sustainability has been studied extensively. Of final note is the treatment of sustainability within the business literature. For Public Policy to Achieve Sustainability Objectives. Another example is Singapore’s BCA Skylab, which develops energy efficient building technologies, and considers law and governance issues as part of this development process. This consists of at least the economic, social, and environmental pillars. Laws and governance are part of a dynamic process driven by (and in turn affecting) sustainability challenges and ecological crises, as well as by evolving cultural norms and values which both drive new laws and are determined or influenced by existing laws. Consider again the example of fundamental human rights, which would mean relatively little unless legal provisions granting equal access, human dignity, and due process carried through to results, including adequate consideration in law and process, as well as the establishment of consistent practices in everyday life. United Nations, New York, UN (2001a) Indicators of sustainable development: framework and methodologies. Sustainability Science probes interactions between global, social, and human systems, the complex mechanisms that lead to degradation of these systems, and concomitant risks to human well-being. Dixon and Fallon differentiate between purely ‘biological/physical’, and ‘socioeconomic’ definitions of sustainability which revolve around “social and economic wellbeing”, hinting at necessary structural changes to current economic activity (Dixon and Fallon 1989). Our future sustainability challenges are of such complexity that single disciplines cannot solve them. https://doi.org/10.2304/csee.2014.13.1.26, Turcu C (2012) Re-thinking sustainability indicators: local perspectives of urban sustainability. For now, and focusing on more specific examples and interventions, a good example is the particular role of importance in sustainable development for cities, and related to global, accelerating urbanization trends. Journal Article. It draws direct links between growth (in terms of human populations and related output) and global environmental effects. As these conflicts play out, ‘sustainable development’ is institutionalised by the UN in the 1987 Brundtland Report, and during the subsequent Rio process, which pushes an understanding placing economic growth as the solution to ecological and social problems. p72). Econ Discuss Pap 28:1–24. Contrary to its name, the economic pillar is not about profit at any cost for the corporation -- it’s about corporate risk management. 1-54). W. H Freeman, New York, Daly HE (1996) Beyond growth: the economics of sustainable development. Or, if you prefer, cities are increasingly and often on their own to deal with environmental impact challenges, including adaptation challenges from climate change and sea-level rise. As many commentators have noted, innovation and artistic capacities [6] , or “know how” in the way existing technologies can be effectively used and combined [7] , may be more important to economic success than productive capacity alone. And not, by contrast, growth only from an expansion of population and labor supply, and their commensurately increasing infrastructure requirements. The three-pillar conception of (social, economic and environmental) sustainability, commonly represented by three intersecting circles with overall sustainability at the centre, has become ubiquitous. 2010), ‘perspectives’ (Brown et al. Barbier and Altieri both reject economic growth as their economic goals, and the IUCN too remains wary of the economic system throughout their literature, instead focusing on the balancing of environmental and social goals. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0814062600001853, ILO (1976) Employment, growth and basic needs: a one-world problem. This graphic is found in various forms as a descriptor of ‘sustainability’ within academic literature, policy documentation, business literature, and online, and whilst often described as a ‘Venn diagram’, it commonly lacks the strict logical properties associated with such a construction. 2.3.1. Soc Econ Educ 13:26–38. Whatever the exact origins of the language, it is from the early 1970s that the concept snowballs; the World Council of Churches’ commission on ‘The Future of Man and Society’ in 1974 deem the notion of a ‘sustainable society’ more palatable than the language of limits (Grober 2012, p167). At the same time, it applies while still allowing us to configure or order these essential elements to suit specific projects, changes, and time periods. Campbell’s discussion explicitly highlights the notion of conflict or competition between these goals and of the need for interdisciplinary approaches in elaborating upon them towards a more comprehensive and rigorous conceptual framework. Defining sustainability and corporate social responsibility by using the Three Pillars of Sustainability can help a company determine its own sustainable and successful road. Institutionalizing sustainability: an empirical study of corporate registration and commitment to the United Nations global compact guidelines. Parallels to the three pillars can be seen in Campbell’s ‘planning triangle’. For example, referring again to the Preussen Elektra case, using the three pillars framework we could be more confident that Germany’s economic decision to support its domestic renewable energy industry was based primarily not upon arbitrary or contrived excuses for self-enrichment (at the expense of undertakings from other nations), but upon a proven template for establishing and implementing sustainability projects. This is mirrored in the documents of the UN and may be seen too within organisations such as the OECD, which, in a 2000 report on indicators, heavily emphasise the need to better understand the “complex synergies and trade-offs” between the “three dimensions” of sustainable development (OECD 2000, p19). The 3 Pillars of Sustainability Economic. The three pillars of sustainability, a strategy framework for sustainability solutions. the Treaty of Lisbon), and regional international agreements (like the ASEAN Charter). Campbell acknowledges the difficulty of finding this balance, emphasises the need to think holistically and move towards shared language, and urges collaboration between development planners and environmental planners. The Ecology Party (later to become the British Green Party) adopted their ‘Manifesto for a Sustainable Society’ in 1975 (The Ecology Party 1975), and a series of books were published prominently featuring the language of sustainability (Stivers 1976; Meadows 1977; Pirages 1977; Cleveland 1979; Coomer 1979). https://doi.org/10.1016/0921-8009(94)00062-Z, Meadows DL (1977) Alternatives to growth—I: a search for sustainable futures. Westview Press, Boulder, Dryzek JS (2005) The politics of the earth: environmental discourses, 2nd edn. The three pillars framework is strategic because it often reveals or describes specific and feasible changes that advance sustainability solutions within markets and institutional settings. Likes. Sustainability Science United Nations, New York, UN (2012b) Report of the United Nations conference on sustainable development (A/CONF.216/16). Whilst there exists an obvious semantic difference, and implicit focus in meaning, this distinction is not always present in the literature, especially in reference to the pillars formulation (Pope et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.04.033, Mori K, Christodoulou A (2012) Review of sustainability indices and indicators: towards a new city sustainability index (CSI). The three pillars of sustainability framework is solutions oriented because nearly all sustainability projects that are successful and scalable are driven by all three pillars simultaneously (technology and innovation; laws and governance; and economics and financial incentives). We’re not overlooking the important question regarding whether the way corporations, economic agents, and consumers currently interact has itself become a cause and driver of unsustainable (national and global) trajectories of growth, consumption, and pollution. For example, a community already has a contented set of residents because they have almost everything they need within reach, such as work opportunities, parks, and groceries, but don’t have stabl… Some works consider additional pillars such as institutional (Spangenberg et al. https://doi.org/10.1068/a171431, OECD (2000) Towards sustainable development. From this we find that there is no single point of origin of this three-pillar conception, but rather a gradual emergence from various critiques in the early academic literature of the economic status quo from both social and ecological perspectives on the one hand, and the quest to reconcile economic growth as a solution to social and ecological problems on the part of the United Nations on the other. This is clearly about making an opportunity from necessity, while keeping in mind the pressing domestic need for scale and speed of sustainability solutions (which in many cases in Asia also involves starting this work relatively recently and needing to catch up). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0959-3780(97)00024-1, Kajikawa Y, Tacoa F, Yamaguchi K (2014) Sustainability science: the changing landscape of sustainability research. Thus, in 1987 when the UN World Commission on Environment and Development published its report ‘Our Common Future’ (the Brundtland Report), calling for “a new era of economic growth—growth that is forceful and at the same time socially and environmentally sustainable”, the debate had come full circle: economic growth was no longer the problem, but it was the solution (UN 1987). The figure at the top of this page suggests that there are three pillars of sustainability – economic viability, environmental protection and social equity. This logic is at best simplistic (Lélé 1991), and at worst smuggling an inherently ideological agenda under the guise of benign necessity (Tulloch 2013), clearly running in direct opposition to the earlier growth-critical works. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(79)90093-7, Hill RC, Bowen PA (1997) Sustainable construction: principles and a framework for attainment. 4. 19, No. As an example of a solution, and one which allows for better accounting, a German law subsidized its domestic renewable energy industry by sharing costs with upstream and downstream market participants. Actually, our broader policies and frameworks already operate to determine pathways of technology and innovation development. By drawing on Kidd’s argument that the discourse is fundamentally rooted in different schools of thought who have all adopted the common language of ‘sustainability’, we suggest that this presents itself as the source of much confusion and competing conceptualisation. Tag: three pillars of sustainability . This approach is similar and related to the fact that sustainability is fundamentally a multidisciplinary endeavor. GAIA Ecol Perspect Sci Soc 21:5, Brown BJ, Hanson ME, Liverman DM, Merideth RW (1987) Global sustainability: toward definition. With a view of identifying the genesis and theoretical foundations of this conception, this paper reviews and discusses relevant historical sustainability literature. Inst Dev Stud Commun 44:1–26, Sneddon CS (2000) “Sustainability” in ecological economics, ecology and livelihoods: a review. This, in turn, depends on integrating sustainability practices and decision-making into most of society’s regular business, institutions, laws, and practices. Focusing on the development literature has allowed us to present an example of twin ecological and ‘basic needs’ critiques of ‘economic development’ from the 1960s, crystallising into three pillars of ‘sustainable development’ in the 1980s. The objective of sustainable development then is to “maximise the goals across all these systems through an adaptive process of trade-offs” (p104). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UN (1992) Agenda 21. For example, as suggested above, early consideration of economic feasibility and legal requirements are beneficial to and supportive of sustainability research and technology development if success in implementation and commercialization are among the objectives. In the years following the publication of the Brundtland Report, ‘sustainable development’ became the dominant paradigm of the environmental movement, and the literature considering it grew exponentially. Futures 30:367–375. Dealing, for example, with some of the big issues within a city related to housing, transportation, clean water, energy security, ensuring livability and public order, and providing education, requires a more integrated analysis than ever before. Here, sustainable development is again understood as the “balance between three broad objectives—maintenance of economic growth, protection of the environment … and social progress”. With a view of identifying the genesis and theoretical foundations of this conception, this paper reviews and discusses relevant historical sustainability literature. This is followed by a literature survey tracking the early development of these concepts with an aim to probe the origins of the three pillars, prior to 2001, when the three circles diagram is first described as a ‘common view’ (Giddings et al. The same year, in ‘A Blueprint for Survival’, which draws on the unpublished manuscript for ‘Limits to Growth’, the editors of The Ecologist present their proposals for the creation of a ‘sustainable society’ (The Ecologist 1972). And throughout all of it, is an analysis of cultural change (including tipping points) and political resistance. In contrast, Milne suggests that it is “generally accepted that ‘sustainability’ is about integrating social, economic, and ecological values” (p137), but cautions a lack of agreement in interpretation, distinguishing between authors who call for ‘balancing’, and those who prioritise the biological aspect (Milne 1996). Therefore, the emphasis for developing countries is on the need for progress, a desire to have social and economic gr… This study therefore is organized in six parts. Truman’s 1949 ‘Point Four’ marked the first large-scale technical assistance development programme, notions of building up capital followed, and by 1961 the United Nations declared “International Trade as the primary instrument for economic development” (ibid. On the one hand, as the three pillars model makes clear, sustainability and economic viability are actually closely connected, and a more integrated analysis would be even more useful. Another approach focuses on local law, and is particularly appropriate considering global urbanization trends and the increasingly important role of cities in leading sustainable development: “Yet, environmental law and governance comprise different levels and scales (planetary, continental, regional, local etc.) The triple bottom line framework. Health Promot Int 8:41–47. The goals of “advancement of social and institutional development, to maintain ecological integrity, and to ensure economic prosperity” are also mentioned (ibid. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-006-0007-4, Lamberton G (2005) Sustainability accounting - A brief history and conceptual framework. https://doi.org/10.1017/S037689290001465X, Callicott JB, Mumford K (1997) Ecological sustainability as a conservation concept. It provides an advanced forum for studies related to sustainability and sustainable development, and is published semimonthly online by MDPI. Pergamon Press, New York, Gómez-Baggethun E, Naredo JM (2015) In search of lost time: the rise and fall of limits to growth in international sustainability policy. United Nations, New York, UN (2015) Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. 9, Issue 5 (Apr.) In that context, a specific focus is given throughout the discussion sections to the key role of laws and governance in supporting relevant, effective, and sustainable technological and economic development, as well as to highlight the crucial (often final) steps the law plays in successfully implementing new sustainability projects. There remains an urgent need to critically examine the models we employ for understanding. 2012), yet in none of these documents is a clear framework or theoretical background made explicit. J Environ Plan Manag 56:1–25. An approach like the three pillars model provides the essential structural elements for many of our sustainability solutions, while allowing us flexibility over projects, technological shifts, and time to re-configure and re-order elements as required. English, Spezial. access_time 3 minute read time To say sustainability has become one of the most discussed topics of recent times would be an understatement. Numerous ‘sustainability accounting’ methods predate the TBL, yet Elkington’s work appears to mark the first use of a three-pillar conceptualisation here (Lamberton 2005). The three pillars of sustainability framework is a multidisciplinary and solutions oriented approach for sustainable development based upon the key and connected roles of: 1) technology and innovation; 2) laws and governance; and 3) economics and financial incentives.1 The three pillars framework is solutions oriented because nearly all sustainability projects that are successful and scalable are driven by all three pillars simultaneously. As Dryzek has argued, we then see a wide range of actors who see the emergence of ‘sustainability’ as a dominant discourse and recognise it as ripe for shaping in terms that are favourable to them (Dryzek 2005, p146). United Nations, New York, UN (2012a) The future we want. Determining sustainability research agendas and funding should be considered within the context of dynamic public policy, cultural, and economic processes. 2002). Milbrath for example presents a vision of a ‘sustainable society’ based on a set of defined values (Milbrath 1989), the ‘Natural Step’ framework is based upon four guiding criteria (Upham 2000), and Giddings et al.’s conceptualisation involves principles of equity (Giddings et al. In fact, this is very much in keeping with the notion of flexible but guided objectives6 to improve effectiveness and coordination [22] . Left, typical representation of sustainability as three intersecting circles. This approach seems to differ from that of other early ecological economists such as Daly and Mishan who suggested no-growth, and slow-growth economies (Daly 1973; Mishan 1977). A ‘Venn diagram’ model is presented of health, or ‘human development’, being the confluence of three systems which meet several requirements: a ‘community’ which is ‘convivial’, an ‘environment’ which is ‘viable’, and ‘livable’ with respect to the community, and an economy which is ‘adequately prosperous’, ‘equitable’ with respect to the community, and ‘sustainable’ with respect to the environment. Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050; CODEN: SUSTDE) is an international, cross-disciplinary, scholarly, peer-reviewed and open access journal of environmental, cultural, economic, and social sustainability of human beings. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(91)90197-P, Lozano R (2008) Envisioning sustainability three-dimensionally. The three pillars of sustainability framework is a multidisciplinary implementation and solutions oriented approach that recognizes most successful and scalable sustainability solutions require the presence of, and are driven by, all three pillars simultaneously: 1) technology and innovation; 2) laws and governance; and 3) economics and financial incentives. Environ Sci 3:83–96. Following these general guidelines and learning from the examples of other companies will let you determine the best path to take for your own company. Sustainable Development. citizenship. Eventually 4 domains were defined as part of sustainable development – ecology, economics, politics and culture. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1479244311000096, Woodhouse EJ (1972) Re-visioning the future of the third world: an ecological perspective on development. But it also suggests the need for new research support from economic or legal disciplines. 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