ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Environmental and sustainability factors
Marlow Ltd extracts a mineral that is a finite resource. Its board adopts a policy of reinvesting part of each year's profit into developing renewable alternatives, so that the company can continue to operate after the mineral is exhausted. Which sustainability concept does this policy most closely reflect?
The policy reflects intergenerational equity: preserving the ability of future generations to meet their needs. By reinvesting profit into renewable alternatives before a finite resource runs out, Marlow looks beyond present gains to long-term continuity, which is the core of sustainable development, rather than charity or supply chain control.
- AIntergenerational equity, preserving the capacity of future generations to meet their needsCorrect
- BPhilanthropy, giving to charity without a link to the business
- CVertical integration of the supply chain
Explanation
Reinvesting to ensure continued capability after depletion looks to future generations' needs, which is intergenerational equity, central to sustainable development. Philanthropy is unrelated giving, and vertical integration concerns controlling supply chain stages, neither of which fits the scenario.
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