Sustainable business

A business is sustainable if it has adapted its practices for the use of renewable resources and holds itself accountable for the environmental and human rights impacts of its activities. This includes businesses that operate in a socially responsible manner and protect the environment.

History

Enormous economic and population growth worldwide in the second half of the twentieth century drove the impacts that threaten the health and the world — ozone depletion, climate change, depletion and fouling of natural resources, and extensive loss of biodiversity and habitat.

The standard approaches in the past to the environmental problems generated by business and industry have been regulatory driven "end-of-the-pipe" remediation efforts. In the 1990s, efforts by governments, NGOs, corporations and investors began to grow substantially to develop awareness and plans for investment into business sustainability.

One critical milestone was the establishment of the ISO 14000 standards whose development came as a result of the Rio Summit on the Environment held in 1992. ISO 14001 is the corner stone standard of the ISO 14000 series. It specifies a framework of control for an Environmental Management System against which an organization can be certified by a third party. Other ISO 14000 Series Standards are actually guidelines, many to help you achieve registration to ISO 14001. They include the following:
*ISO 14004 provides guidance on the development and implementation of environmental management systems
*ISO 14010 provides general principles of environmental auditing (now superseded by ISO 19011)
*ISO 14011 provides specific guidance on audit an environmental management system (now superseded by ISO 19011)
*ISO 14012 provides guidance on qualification criteria for environmental auditors and lead auditors (now superseded by ISO 19011)
*ISO 14013/5 provides audit program review and assessment material.
*ISO 14020+ labeling issues
*ISO 14030+ provides guidance on performance targets and monitoring within an Environmental Management System
*ISO 14040+ covers life cycle issues

ee also

*Co-op America
*Bottom of the Pyramid
*Bright green
*Clean Edge
*Clean Energy Trends
*Externality
*Green brands
*Green Globe
*ISO 14000
*Low carbon economy
*Not Just For Profit
*Renewable energy commercialization
*Renewable energy industry
*Sustainable Business Network
*The Clean Tech Revolution
*The Lorax
*Worldchanging
*Triple Bottom Line

External links

* [http://www.greenlineindex] List of all Green Services
* [http://www.FunPhotoGuys.com/BecomingAGreenBusiness.pdf 9 Steps to Greening Your Business] - a guide that helps businesses learn to go green
* [http://www.erb.umich.edu Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan]
* [http://www.johnson.cornell.edu/sge/ Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell University]
* [http://www.ceres.org Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies]
* [http://www.coopamerica.org Co-op America]
* [http://www.epgsustainability.com Environmental Performance Group] - A US based consulting firm that helps organizations develop environmentally and socially responsible business practices.
* [http://www.internationalbusinessreport.com/main/report.php?page=137&lang=en&id=122357&country_id=0 Grant Thornton International Business Report Energy & Environment survey]
* [http://www.GreenChamberOfCommerce.net National Green Chamber of Commerce]
* [http://www.greenpages.org National Green Pages]
* [http://www.nrdc.org Natural Resources Defense Council]
* [http://www.nbis.org Network for Business Innovation and Sustainability]
* [http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5561#toc State of the World 2008: Innovations for a Sustainable Economy]
* [http://www.sustainablebiz.org Sustainable Business Alliance]
* [http://www.sustainablebusiness.org/ Sustainable Business Institute]
* [http://www.wbcsd.org World Business Council for Sustainable Development]
* [http://www.chatsworthcommunications.com/documents/PRESSRELEASEFOOTSIE100GreenWinnersandGreenWasherssurvey.pdf FOOTSIE 100 Green Winners and Green Washers Survey] - results of a survey carried out by Chatsworth Communications.
* [http://www.earthrightinstitute.com EarthRight Business Institute] - Offers green business certifications to organizations that meet EarthRight standards and offers training for sustainability managers.
* [http://www.rosengreenmeetings.com Orlando Green Meetings]