What do concepts like community and equity have to do with sustainability?
February 15, 2023
When the new Green Business program categories were unveiled, one may have stood out to you as an outlier: Thriving Community & Equity.
We often think of sustainability as ‘meeting the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ Of course, part of this means ensuring that the natural environment is healthy, but it also means ensuring people and communities have what they need to thrive.
From a business perspective, social sustainability is about understanding the impacts of businesses on people and society. For your business, social sustainability may not always be as clearly defined or tangible as environmental sustainability, but it’s vitally important for the health of your business and our community. Directly or indirectly, companies affect what happens to employees, workers in the value chain, customers and local communities, and it is important to manage impacts proactively.
Our business community has a huge impact in how our community embraces human rights, fair labor practices, living conditions, health, safety, wellness, diversity, equity, work-life balance, empowerment, community engagement, and philanthropy. Remember, all aspects of sustainability are about continuous improvement. As with environmental sustainability, social sustainability has no endpoint. If we keep working, we can find our way together.
