Triple bottom line
Ecotourism and Sustainable Development: a Triple Bottom Line approach to business
The concept of Triple Bottom Line (TBL), as John Elkington coined it in 1995, refers to the idea that companies and organizations should extend their agenda beyond the goals of economic prosperity by taking a three-dimensional approach to business, adding social justice and environmental quality as new goals on their agenda towards ‘sustainable capitalism’. Encouraging concern about sustainability is, according to Elkington, absolutely necessary if we are to survive on the planet: “to refuse the challenge implied by the TBL is to risk extinction”. (Elkington, 1999:139) The TBL model is used to measure the impact that the three bottom lines – economic, social and environmental – have within a certain business or industry sector against which it is applied. TBL is closely linked with the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) whose goal is to enhance sustainable growth by developing new business practices. In describing the TBL model as a way/strategy to lower the (negative) impacts of business activities on the community and the environment by rising awareness, Elkington emphasized the importance of asking new questions that do not concern only financial aspects, rather they are a combination of ‘corporate governance’, social responsibility and sustainable development: “What is business for? Who should have a say in how companies are run? What is the appropriate balance between shareholders and other stakeholders? And what balance should be struck at the level of the triple bottom line?” (Elkington, 2006:524) For Elkington, the transition towards sustainable capitalism depends on seven ‘revolutions’ as follows: markets, values, transparency, life-cycle technology, partnerships, time perspective and corporate governance. The author describes this transition as “one of the most complex our species has ever had to negotiate”. (Elkington, 1999:140)
But what is the role
The concept of Triple Bottom Line (TBL), as John Elkington coined it in 1995, refers to the idea that companies and organizations should extend their agenda beyond the goals of economic prosperity by taking a three-dimensional approach to business, adding social justice and environmental quality as new goals on their agenda towards ‘sustainable capitalism’. Encouraging concern about sustainability is, according to Elkington, absolutely necessary if we are to survive on the planet: “to refuse the challenge implied by the TBL is to risk extinction”. (Elkington, 1999:139) The TBL model is used to measure the impact that the three bottom lines – economic, social and environmental – have within a certain business or industry sector against which it is applied. TBL is closely linked with the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) whose goal is to enhance sustainable growth by developing new business practices. In describing the TBL model as a way/strategy to lower the (negative) impacts of business activities on the community and the environment by rising awareness, Elkington emphasized the importance of asking new questions that do not concern only financial aspects, rather they are a combination of ‘corporate governance’, social responsibility and sustainable development: “What is business for? Who should have a say in how companies are run? What is the appropriate balance between shareholders and other stakeholders? And what balance should be struck at the level of the triple bottom line?” (Elkington, 2006:524) For Elkington, the transition towards sustainable capitalism depends on seven ‘revolutions’ as follows: markets, values, transparency, life-cycle technology, partnerships, time perspective and corporate governance. The author describes this transition as “one of the most complex our species has ever had to negotiate”. (Elkington, 1999:140)
But what is the role