Author: Dr. Chandra Sekhar Dash
Abstract: Nations grow through a process of development that harnesses the socio-economic resources of country through a sequence of discoveries & innovations, tested and trialled into usable goods and services, produced by means an industry and business, satisfying the needs of the society at large, through the vehicle of entrepreneurship. Originally measured in GDP or GNP, the index of national growth was factored to HDI (Human Development Index) to ensure that the wellbeing of the society is not subdued by extreme human greed for profit. Now, it’s time, the GDP needs to be factored with environmental or ecological wellbeing to ensure that the ecology or environment are not degraded that would annihilate the whole planetary system on whose existence, the existence of the whole human society thrives. Realisation that the global economy is exhausting the world’s natural resources and generating waste streams at an unprecedented scale. calls for the redesign of commercial activity that would stop the annihilating process, instilling equity & justice, and protecting environmental quality of present and future generations. These three aspects form the basis the triple bottom line concept of sustainability. Sustainability in business is not about altruism and doing what is right for its own sake but, businesses with successful strategies that are profitable as well, because they integrate considerable amount of green and clean design and resource. Sustainability innovation is about defining economic development as the creation of private and social wealth to ultimately eliminate harmful impacts on ecological systems, human health, and communities. A review of research in this field is found to be rich with corporate reporting and relates to mostly CSR. The socio-economic equality, social justice and environmental safety, as a major part of sustainability are rarely studied. Hence, in this paper an attempt is made to delve deep into the field by adopting a methodology that covers, firstly, the analysis of existing knowledge as available from secondary sources such as journals and periodicals, books published/unpublished, UN and World Bank reports, TEDx Talks, epoch-making discoveries and innovations and secondly by Participant observation and case study. The finding of the study indicated that poverty, lack of social equity and justice are as much a cause of degradation of environmental safety with growth of industrialisation. It also cited the case of the initiatives taken by a young scientist in the dept. of botany, university of Delhi, which perfectly matches or a model of the concept of triple bottom line.
Keywords: - poverty, equity, sustainable development, triple bottom line
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