Sustainable development has been defined as the balance of economic success, ecological protection and social responsibility. To effectively manage sustainability, a company must be able to measure or otherwise quantify sustainability in each of these pillars.
Many shoppers know the feeling: "I want to buy a decent product that's good quality, worth the money, and manufactured in an environmentally and socially compatible way." But finding such a product is not generally easy. Glass or plastic? Petrol or bio-diesel? Chemical or fermentation processing? The results are sometimes surprising.
Though a number of different measurement and valuation methods exist, most of them are focused exclusively on ecological aspects, i.e. impact on climate, forest decline or water. However, methods developed on that basis reflect only a small part of what sustainability is all about: balancing environment, society and economics. The aim of BASF´s analysis methods is therefore to quantify corresponding aspects.
Maendeleo endelevu yamefafanuliwa kama usawa wa mafanikio ya kiuchumi, ulinzi wa ikolojia na wajibu wa kijamii. Ili kusimamia ufanisi endelevu, kampuni lazima iwe na uwezo wa kupima au vinginevyo kuhesabu endelevu katika kila moja ya nguzo hizi. "Wauzaji wengi wanajua hisia hii: ""Nataka kununua bidhaa nzuri ambayo ni ya ubora, inafaa pesa, na imetengenezwa kwa njia inayofaa mazingira na jamii.""" Lakini kwa kawaida si rahisi kupata bidhaa kama hiyo. Kioo au plastiki? Bensiini au dizeli ya kibiolojia? Utaratibu wa kemikali au fermentation Nyakati nyingine matokeo ni yenye kushangaza. Ingawa kuna njia kadhaa tofauti za kupima na kutathmini, nyingi zao zinaelekezwa tu kwa mambo ya ikolojia, yaani. Mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa, uharibifu wa misitu, na maji Hata hivyo, mbinu zilizotengenezwa kwa msingi huo zinaonyesha sehemu ndogo tu ya nini endelevu ni wote kuhusu: kusawazisha mazingira, jamii na uchumi. Kwa hiyo lengo la mbinu za uchambuzi wa BASF ni kuhesabu mambo yanayolingana.