The triple bottom line stands for people, planet and profit. Economy should function in service of these three Ps if it is to function successfully in the long term. If it is to function sustainably.
Yesterday I heard somebody say that "I'm willing to conduct business sustainably, if I can make a lot of money on it". Hm, I was intrigued. Sustainability and profit. What is their interrelation? I have thought about it a lot already, and the statement I just heard was not in line with my conclusions.
Nevertheless, profit is important, I agree, too. But can it be a driver of sustainable business? I still have my doubts. If a business is conducted in service of the people and without harming the planet, it should ultimately generate profit. Right. I agree with this approach. Profit is a consequence of sustainable conduct, and not the driver of it.
That is what makes profit in the triple bottom line different for me from business as usual.
And yes, investments into "greening the business" should bring about returns. Profit is the oil of the 3Ps. I wonder how many businesses are already thinking along these lines. And how many of them will make it to the Fortune 500. Will there still be a Fortune 500 in a responsible, sustainable world?
When I first came across the 3Ps in our sustainability initiative group at work, we indeed had some trouble agreeing the order of the 3Ps. Is it Profit People Planet, or People Profit Planet, or indeed in order to make a Profit do we first need a Planet to live on, then People to live on it, and only then a Profit. I believe we ended up with People Planet Profit, as in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_bottom_line
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