The Triple Bottom Line Blog

Via Ted Samson's column at InfoWorld, here are the latest findings on the perennial question as to whether sustainable business practices help, hurt, or have no impact on the financial bottom line. According to a new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit, a focus on social and economic sustainability is associated with positive stock market performance among the companies surveyed. Key graf:

The survey does not claim that the adoption of sustainable practices causes companies' share prices to rise. It could be that companies with a strong financial performance simply have more resources to devote to sustainability. What the findings do show, however, is that it is possible to take a proactive position on social and environmental issues while still delivering robust financial growth. Indeed, companies in the survey that saw their share price rise by at least 50 percent in the last three years (share price climbers) place a greater importance on social and environmental goals than companies with share prices that have declined by more than 10 percent (share price losers). Social and environmental goals include improving environmental and human rights in supply chains, where 40 percent of share price climbers rank this as an important priority versus 18 percent of share price losers; reducing greenhouse gases (38 percent to 24 percent); and developing products which address social and environmental problems (49 percent to 35 percent). Share price climbers also put a greater emphasis on social and environmental considerations at board level.

Worth noting if you're among the many business people who find themselves occasionally having to defend an interest in sustainable business practices among skeptical or even hostile colleagues.

Labels: Economist Intelligence Unit, Finance and Investment, InfoWorld, Measurement, Ted Samson