Triple Bottom Line Performance: Role of Business in Securing Sustainable and Inclusive Development

Abstract

Despite path breaking advancements the world has made over several centuries, more than half of the global population is still threatened by the worst forms of poverty, hunger, disease and degradation. Aggravating this is also a global economic system that has paid scant attention to conserving and augmenting the rich natural resources human beings have inherited over many generations. In this race for economic strength, for faster and higher growth rates, it seems to have created a world with tremendous inequities as also apathy for nature’s rich endowments. It is obvious that somewhere the world has gone terribly wrong in pursuing its growth objectives. The multiple challenges arising from growing income inequities, global warming and climate change indeed make future economic progress unsustainable. Market forces, as they stand today, do not adequately reward such longer-term sustainability objectives and therefore have not been able to address these challenges. Going forward, the world will have to necessarily chart a growth path that not only achieves the economic goals but also simultaneously addresses the larger social and environmental objectives. This article explores some of the initiatives of corporate sector in this line with reference to the successful strategy of e-Choupalproject of ITC Ltd., and also gives propositions to the industrialcommunityfor developing inclusive business models.