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ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Environmental and sustainability factors

A mining company extracts a non-renewable mineral and says it is sustainable because it plants trees near the site and donates to local schools. Which criticism best shows why this claim may be weak from a sustainable development perspective?

The claim is weak because the core activity depletes a finite resource. Tree planting and donations may offer benefits, but they do not by themselves preserve the resource base for future generations, so the overall business model is not clearly sustainable.

  1. AThe core activity depletes a finite resource, so offsetting actions do not by themselves make the overall business model sustainableCorrect
  2. BPlanting trees is illegal for mining companies
  3. CDonations to schools cannot count as social contribution
  4. DSustainability only applies to renewable energy companies

Explanation

Sustainable development concerns whether the resource base is preserved for future generations. Peripheral activities may help, but depletion of a finite resource at the core of the business remains a challenge. The other options are factually incorrect statements about sustainability.

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