People, Planet, Profit,... and Photosynthesis

Ever heard of the Triple Bottom Line?

Or maybe the Three P’s?

The Triple Bottom Line is a business concept which posits that organizations should also commit to measuring their social and environmental impact, rather than solely focusing on generating profit. John Elkington, a global authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable capitalism coined the phrase in a book in 1997. His argument was that measuring value should go beyond the traditional financial bottom-line: “Did we make a profit or not?”.

The world is full of uncertainty. Monumental challenges—including climate change, poverty, and inequality—are at the forefront of daily life and seemingly becoming ever more urgent. Business leaders are increasingly realizing the power of sustainable business strategies in not only addressing the world’s most pressing challenges but also in driving their firms’ success.

The Triple Bottom Line concept mainstreamed the idea of a sustainable business strategy including a positive impact on three elements: People, Planet AND Profit, presented typically as three overlapping circles with sustainability at the centerpiece of it.?

However, do these overlapping circles convey what they need to convey? With all three circles having the same relative size, do they also have the same relative value? Could I trade off 2 social and 3 environmental initiatives for 5 economic ones if I stay close enough to the middle?

Let us see if we can reframe this concept.

What is the single most important thing needed for life on earth?

Any guesses?

It is SUNLIGHT.

The energy of the sun fuels the creation of our three most essential human necessities: food, water, and oxygen. Obviously, we can't eat or drink sunlight itself, nor can we breathe it in. So how do we get access to the life-sustaining nourishment from the sun? That is where Photosynthesis comes in.

Allow me to take you back for a second to your high school biology classes.

Photosynthesis is a chemical process whereby plants and algae that contain chlorophyll capture radiant energy from the sun and use carbon dioxide and water from the environment to then convert the sunlight to food (glucose), while at the same time creating oxygen and water as byproducts.

Plant cells are, for all intents and purposes, the only cells that can produce structure from energy. Photosynthesis is the process by which matter is structured on our planet. It is why we say that photosynthesis pays the bills. Without it, creation of structure from energy would not occur.

Now how does this help us better grasp the essence of a sustainable business strategy?

Naturally, plant cells belong to the PLANET circle of the triple bottom line. If plants are the original creators of structure, then this is the circle everything else depends on, or in which every other circle is embedded.

So, everything comes from nature at some point. That includes society which relates to the PEOPLE circle, and our economy is a by-product of human society. Instead of looking for the overlap of three separate circles, we now have three embedded circles where PROFIT is dependent on the wellbeing of our planet and its people.?

From this new viewpoint, to achieve sustainability we need to comply with social and environmental conditions in our decision-making processes: meet our human needs within ecological constraints.

Does this mean that businesses need to put their financial gains last? Of course not. But all economic decisions are to be a part of a sustainable business strategy that allows to create more financial value for their shareholders while also getting closer to social and ecological sustainability.

Think of Proximus for example and their “Don’t miss the call” initiative. They collect old smartphones to either give them a second life by refurbishment or recycle the valuable raw materials from these existing devices instead of extracting them from nature.

Surely, the economic profit here is clear as they can sell these refurbished phones and they are able to recover valuable raw materials, but it also benefits the environment and society. It reduces the need for artisanal mining, well known for its enormous impact on the environment: just think of deforestation, soil and water pollution, CO2 emissions, etc. Besides environmental problems, artisanal mining is often also at the root of humanitarian crisis situations. Plus, with the campaign, Proximus wants to close the circle by doing something meaningful for the people in these mining regions. Therefore, the company will work with EIGHT, a Belgian organization committed to eradicating poverty by sponsoring African villages.

The economy is a means to an end. Not the end itself.?

Written by Tom Simmillon - 26/10/2021