As humans we are all conditioned to convert values into currencies. But when it comes to sustainability, we hit a brick wall. To determine how many francs clean air is worth, or how much a company having its own nursery contributes to the well-being of its workers, basic arithmetic just isn’t enough. Similarly, it is not enough to just consider economics when it comes to sustainability.

The sustainability triad

“If companies want to be fully sustainable, they must always consider three dimensions: the social, the environmental and the economic dimension,” explains Markus Zemp from the Lucerne University of Applied Arts and Sciences. In this triad, economic sustainability is the key requirement that will ensure a company’s survival. Or, to put it another way: if you don’t have a sound financial basis, there is no prospect of a long-lasting business.

A sustainability scenario

But a company can only develop sustainably if it reaches environmental and social objectives given equal status in addition to its economic objectives. Markus Zemp explains how these dimensions interact using a scenario: “Let’s take the example of flexitime: if employees are occasionally able to work from home, you are not only reducing commuter traffic, which can have a positive environmental impact, it also means that employees, on top of their work commitments, can also do more on a social level. This, in turn, could mean the company has motivated employees, who are its greatest asset to achieving economic progress.”

What makes sense for us?

According to Zemp, companies are broadly acting sustainably if they take sensible actions, and a company may give more weight to one of the sustainability dimensions in the process. “If, for example, a company decides to stop using fossil fuels, its production costs will increase, but it will be for the good of the environment and society,” Zemp explains. For companies, fostering sustainable development is therefore about striking a balance between the different sustainability dimensions based on their own value systems. This means it may well make perfect sense to not maximize profit, and instead to invest in environmental and social endeavours or projects.

It’s not just return on investment that counts

But how can companies demonstrate the added value they are creating, and make it visible to the outside world? Sustainability reports  A sustainability report informs stakeholders about environmental and social aspects of a company in addition to economic ones. Along with the annual report, it is an important part of a company’s information policy., which bigger companies are obliged to publish, or common good balance sheets  The common good balance sheet is an assessment method for private individuals, municipalities, companies and institutions that is used to determine the degree to which they are serving the common good. It assesses environmental, social and other aspects., attempt to do just that. However, the most important thing about the drive towards sustainable economic activity is that companies do not just consider return on investment, but also how a given action might benefit society. Otherwise, initiatives such as a new company nursery, promoting a local club or investing in a company culture based on respect would never see the light of day.

For Zemp, one thing is very clear: “In these post-coronavirus times, we now find ourselves at a turning point where we have a huge opportunity to take things in different directions.” The carbon footprint, for instance, would clearly show what would happen if the number of passengers flying every day fell overnight from 30 million to almost none at all.