ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Sustainable business practices
A manager argues that a business can be sustainable simply by maintaining profits indefinitely, since profitable firms can always fund environmental improvements later. Which statement best explains why this view is inconsistent with sustainable development?
The view is inconsistent because sustainable development requires economic, social and environmental factors to be considered together. Maintaining profit covers only the economic dimension, and postponing environmental and social impacts ignores the needs of future generations. Profit remains relevant but is not sufficient.
- AProfit is irrelevant to sustainability and should never be measured
- BSustainable development requires economic, social and environmental considerations to be addressed together, so deferring environmental and social impacts ignores themCorrect
- CEnvironmental improvements are only required by law, never by sustainability principles
- DSustainability applies only to public sector organisations
Explanation
Sustainable development integrates economic, social and environmental objectives, so profit alone is insufficient and impacts cannot just be deferred. The first option is too extreme: profit still matters as the economic pillar. Sustainability is not limited to the public sector or to legal compliance.
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