Sustainable development performance

The Japanese government has worked with the cement industry to develop a new performance indicator aimed at assessing sustainable development performance. This indicator integrates many types of energy conservation technologies for cement production with the development of co-processing technologies for the utilization of wastes and by-products. 

Operational performance, primary measurements of, 20 731 Operational qualification (OQ), in fine chemical production, 11 433 Operational systems, for sustainable development, 24 190 Operational testing, piping system,... 

The chemical industry views sustainable development as a challenge put before all parts of society. In the advances made in its own operations, its improved performance and in the improvements to the hnman condition made through its products, the chemical industry sees cause for optimism and believes that sustainable development can be the intellectual framework around which the chemical industry, other industries and other sectors of society can reach consensus on how to improve living standards and the environment. 

Scholes G. Integrating sustainable development into the Shell Chemicals business. In Weijnen MPC, Herder, PM, eds. Environmental Performance Indicators in Process Design and Operation. Proceedings of EFCE Event 616. Delft Delft University Press, 1999 69-82. 

Harmsen [4] points out that there are several views with which one can look at sustainable development. One view is the theocratic view, prominent in Judeo-Christian religion in which the Creator stands central and needs to be honored and served by man. Nature is trusted to man, who should take care of it, while Technology should help him and simplify his task. Man assumes this responsibility, much as a steward of property and capital does. This is the same role as the one many responsible company directors play The interest of the company should be served and is central in one s performance and behavior toward the company. This view is to some extent expressed in a moving way by the text on the statue of the Japanese-American environmentalist Yasui Minoru in Denver s Sakura Center "We are all put on this earth to leave it a better place for our having been there."... 

On one hand, Responsible Care is seen as compliance focused and, while considered a component of sustainability, does not currently offer the platform for embracing all of the concepts of sustainability (focus groups above Sustain Ability, 2004). Responsible Care is viewed as a sector-specific collaborative initiative, whereas sustainability broadly encompasses issues of competitive positioning and business growth, which involve full engagement of internal and external stakeholders. Even as Responsible Care expands focus to include more sustainability parameters, it is not (seen as) sufficient to drive an overall sustainability program, performance, and the business value derived from sustainable development (Savitz, Chapter 8, Section 8.2). 

Various metrics within each of the three dimensions of sustainability have long been well developed and used. Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, literacy and poverty rates, and ambient concentration of urban air pollutants are some examples of economic, social, and environmental metrics employed at the national level. In businesses, financial metrics such as return on investment as well as certain metrics that reflect employee well-being and environmental performance, such as health and safety incident rates and regulated toxic releases, are also conventionally used. Sustainable development, however, requires further cross-functional integration of these metrics as well as the inclusion of additional metrics that facilitate more systemic and comprehensive multidisciplinary communication and thinking. 

Several issues, however, need further exploration. While considerable efforts have been made in developing performance metrics, leading metrics such as management metrics still require additional development. Such metrics, however, may differ considerably from one company or organization to another due to the varying cause-and-effect relationship within each company or organization. Moreover, while anecdotal evidence exists that links various impacts to a company s financial performance, further studies are needed to more explicitly link sustainability metrics to a company s exposure to risks and opportunities. 

H. A. Verfaillie and R. Bidwell, Measuring Eco-efficiency A Guide to Reporting Company Performance, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Geneva, 2000. 

Sustainable Development, Sustainability, Corporate Social Responsibility, are terms often used to describe the trend towards enhanced performance and reporting with respect to environmental, social, and economic indicators. 

It will take a considerable effort to recover. But that recovery is in the sights of many employees, and central to that is a firmly held commitment to sustainable development. Only by continuing to focus on achieving a strong economic, environmental, and social performance can the expectations of shareholders, customers, and society at large be met, licences to operate retained, and the damage to the Group s reputation repaired. 

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