Is the Triple Bottom Line Really That Important?

Discussion:
The Triple Bottom
Line concept was initially developed by John Elkington in 1994. In 2018,
Elkington wrote an article titled “25 Years Ago I Coined the Phrase
‘Triple Bottom Line’: Here’s Why It’s Time to Rethink It”. He used the
article as a call to strengthen how the TBL is used and to put more even more
focus on sustainability and less on profit. In the article, he states:

But success or failure on sustainability goals cannot be measured only
in terms of profit and loss. It must also be measured in terms of the wellbeing
of billions of people and the health of our planet, and the sustainability
sector’s record in moving the needle on those goals has been decidedly mixed.
While there have been successes, our climate, water resources, oceans, forests,
soils, and biodiversity are all increasingly threatened. It is time to either
step up—or to get out of the way.

Meanwhile, some
believe that incorporating this framework into practice raises more questions
than it resolves, especially around reporting, regulation, and a deviation from
the financial bottom line of businesses.
In your initial
post, introduce yourself and then address the following questions:

Do you
think that it is the responsibility of businesses to track and manage the
social, economic, and environmental impacts of their actions? Why or why
not?
What value
does using the TBL bring to a business, and is it worth the potential
drawbacks of incorporating it?
What value
do businesses using the TBL bring to society, and how might society be
impacted if TBL were not a common business practice?

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