Corporate Social Review Magazine 1st Quarter 2012 | Page 26

Business sustainability
The right cause for the right reasons
by Kevin McKinley

Sustainability has come a long way in a short time,
driven in particular by fast-changing consumer
sentiment and government policy. In the business
world, “business + sustainability” is no longer a
matter of “if” but rather “how”. By providing practical, internationally consistent “how” solutions, ISO
is well placed to assist.

W

because sustainability is a “cause”
or a moral obligation, but because
it makes sense for all ISO’s multistakeholder customers.

Despite this, if you ask the average
consumer how ISO is relevant in
helping to tackle climate change,
eradicate poverty, address the water challenge or combat terrorism,
you will get a simple answer: it’s
not.

Over the years, civil society nongovernmental organizations and
global social and environmental
change agents have prompted industry to consider the broader implications of its activities. But now
the arguments are over and the
case is made: focusing solely on
financial and economic performance, without capitalizing on value
creation from social and environmental innovation, is a business
dead-end.

e know standards make
sense for business.
Ongoing ISO studies on
the economic benefits of standards
clearly demonstrate substantial
bottom-line benefits to companies.
Standards usually bring doubledigit percentage increases in efficiency and revenue, and similarly
large reductions in costs.

This perception is clearly wrong,
so we must ask: does ISO have an
image problem? Does its success
with business preclude a role for
ISO in addressing global sustainability challenges? Are the benefits of standardization to industry
at odds with the broader goals of
sustainable development? And is
ISO becoming more responsive to
“customers”, at the expense of the
environment and society?

According to a July 2011 McKinsey
survey of more than 3 000 execu-

tives across sectors and regions,
companies are now actively integrating sustainability principles
into their businesses. The report
says: “They’re doing so by pursuing goals that go far beyond earlier
concern for reputation management – for example, saving energy,
developing green products, and
retaining and motivating employees, all of which help companies
capture value through growth and
return on capital.”
This is why ISO Council recently
focused its attention on sustainability. Council wanted to see if there
were gaps in sustainability- related
terms and definitions, how existing
ISO work on sustainability could be
complemented or reinforced, and
what messages could be brought
to Rio+20, the United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development in June 2012. The results
include placing “sustainability” as
a strategic agenda for Council itself, ensuring sustainability-related
standards follow some key principles when supporting public policy,
and working more closely with rel-

The sustainability trend

Quickly and decisively disproving
such concerns, ISO and its committees are pushing forward with
impressive contributions to the
sustainability agenda. This isn’t
Township Patterns

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