"ECONOMIC" -- Pillar of Sustainability

              E C O N O M I C   |   E N E R G Y   |    E N V I R O N M E N T A L    |    S O C I A L

Today’s economic climate demands that organizations carry out investment strategies that reduce costs, optimize efficiencies and mitigate risks. Increasingly and fortunately, the execution of these strategies is in alignment with long term sustainability. Sustainability may be important for society and the planet, but it also presents organizations with potential for new growth and improved services. Sustainability initiatives can help organizations reduce costs in a carbon-sensitive world, find new resources, reduce costly inefficiencies, and streamline operations.

According the Ceres Report, The 21st Century Corporation: The Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability, the investor perspective is that "the bottom line for business is that investors are rewarding companies that understand how sustainability issues impact their business and that are implementing strategies and actions that will enable them to thrive in a sustainable global economy."

The report continues on to suggest that there is an expectation that companies will invest the necessary resources to achieve environmental neutrality and to make demonstrable efforts towards social responsibility across their operations. Companies will measure and improve performance related to GHG emissions, energy efficiency, facilities and buildings, water, waste, and human rights.

With the ever-increasing requirement to achieve sustainable results, organizations are turning to performance governance solutions that facilitate the process of addressing these opportunities. At the very highest levels of the organization, Boards and Administrations are seeking the backdrop of knowledge about their current operations in order to identify the opportunities for significant change and optimal investment.

With a Sustainable Performance Governance Solution you have transparency, accountability and stewardship of assets as well as the ability to benchmark, monitor and verify operating performance. From investment analysis to lifecycle planning and on-going performance management, sustainable performance governance presents a transparent standard and model for defining, measuring, implementing and supporting financial performance decisions. Organizations possess the required understanding and knowledge to make informed investment decisions and implement strategies which produce positive bottom line results and achieve sustainability goals.