Colloquia – Business Sustainability  

Mr. John Scade

Date: 27 July, 2010

Venue: ASB Sri Krishna Hall

BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY

Mr. Scade started off with the importance of Business Sustainability in the present scenario. He gave a glimpse of the various problems that the economy faces like the overgrowing population leading to shortage of basic necessities like water, food etc which eventually leads to illness pandemics. He pointed out the fact that around 1300 million people in the world live without water and lead their life with just 1$ per day.

The need for Business Sustainability was emphasized in which he explained through epitomes like the Nike issue, Union Carbide issue etc. Then the term “TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE” was introduced. This concept gave an idea of how a company is accountable for environmental, social and economic issues of the people. He also stated that the responsibility of the company is not just limited to the stakeholders but to all aspects i.e. social and environmental.

After giving a glimpse of what is the need and importance of sustainability report, he then proceeded to what a sustainability report is and elaborated on the issues regarding sustainability. How to prepare the sustainability report was also detailed. Various standards adopted in different countries were also elaborated.

This session was extremely helpful to understand how Business Sustainability helps a company to improve their credibility and also learn about the various risks and opportunities. Students were able to get a clear picture of the real scenario and their queries were addressed effectively by him, Mr John Scade is a specialist CSR consultant and qualified sustainability assurance practitioner.