This chapter works through the evolution of the concept of sustainability that has occurred over the last several decades under the influence of three main groups: ecologists, the United Nation’s World Commission on Environment and Development, often referred to as the “Brundtland...

Sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) have become mainstays of business activities: the percentage of large global companies professing to practice some form of sustainability and CSR has been steadily increasing, sustainability reporting has become the norm and businesses of...

While more and more directors and executives are acknowledging the importance of sustainability to their strategies for financial success, companies have continued to struggle with embedding sustainability into their core business practices and overall organizational design. In order for the...

Corporate governance is the responsibility of the company’s board of directors, which is charged with designing, implementing and monitoring the structures and processes for the direction and control of the company. The fiduciary duties and responsibilities of directors are derived from a...

Sustainable finance has been explained to be a long-term approach to finance and investing, emphasizing long-term thinking, decision-making and value creation, and has also been described as the interrelationships that exist between environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) issues on the...

Corporate sustainability initiatives are most effective when sustainability principles have been integrated into the company’s governance and management processes and proactively and publicly embraced by the board of directors, which is responsible for oversight of the environmental and social...

While the interest in applying the principles of sustainable development to the business world has exploded over the last few decades, and companies have increasingly focused efforts on introducing or changing policies, products and/or processes to address pollution, minimize resource use, and...

The idea of a separate seat among a company’s executive leadership dedicated to sustainability first emerged in the mid-2000s and since then companies have hired professionals to work with directors and chief executive officers to design and implement operational strategies and organizational...

While the formatting and presentation of financial reporting has become somewhat standardized due to regulatory requirements, the development and maturation of professional financial accounting standards and long-standing expectations of consumers of such information, there is no particular...

Arguably the path to becoming a sustainable business begins with acting in a socially responsible manner with respect to the company’s labor practices. One of the most important contributions that a business can make to society is creating jobs, paying wages and other compensation for work...