TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE

Triple Bottom Line was a concept introduced by John Elkingston in year 1994. Tri
ple bottom line (or otherwise noted as TBL or 3BL) is an accounting framework wi
th three parts: social, environmental (or ecological) and financial. In earlier
business accounting and common usage, the "bottom line" refers to either the "pr
ofit" or "loss", which is usually recorded at the very bottom line on a statemen
t of revenue and expenses leaving the environmental and the social impact accoun
ting aside. But with an increase in the public concerns about the environmental
issues led to the introduction of triple bottom line. The three bottom lines in
TBL are listed below:1.
Economic bottom line
Organization earn profit( bottom line ), which is c
ontrolled by management board, the profits are obviously earned from the society
and should be given back into the community by improving the lives of the consu
mers.
2.
Social bottom line- The social benefit is the meaningful employment of d
isadvantaged citizens, and the reduction in the society's welfare or disability
costs.
3.
Environmental bottom line-The environmental benefit comes from the recyc
ling accomplished. In the private sector, a commitment to corporate social respo
nsibility (CSR) implies a commitment to transparent reporting about the business
' material impact for good on the environment and people.
Triple bottom line is one framework for reporting all these material and non-ma
terial impacts. The main challenge for implementing the TBL process is to assess
the social and ecological impacts as a standard way to measure the non-material
impacts is not available. So the only way to assess these impacts are by measur
ing some variables that can show a trend for changes/impacts.
Some of the variables associated with the three bottom lines are given below:1.
Economic bottom lineA)
Profit and Loss account
B)
Balance sheet
C)
Statement for recognised losses and gains
D)
Long-term sustainability of company s costs
E)
Demand for company s products
F)
Pricing and Profit margins
2.
Environmental bottom lineA)
Government compliance
B)
Provisions for fine
C)
Insurance and other legal related costs
D)
Land-scaping
E)
Decommissioning and abandonment costs
F)
Public complaints
G)
Emergency and contingency plans
H)
Life cycle impact of goods produced
I)
Potentially polluting emmisions
Environmental impacts can be controlled to a limit if companies try to abide by
the rules and regulations prescribed by the government which generally sets a li
mit to which companies can use the natural resources.
3.
Social bottom lineA)
Animal testing
B)
Armaments or other military sales
C)
Community relations
D)
Employment of minorities
E)
Impacts on indigenous peoples
F)
Wages and working conditions
G)
Women rights
H)
Human development index(HDI)

I)
Index of sustainability development welfare(ISDW)
The triple bottom line consists of social equity, economic, and environmental fa
ctors. "People, planet and profit" succinctly describes the triple bottom lines
and the goal of sustainability. In ecology, sustainability is the capacity to en
dure; it is how biological systems remain diverse and productive indefinitely. I
n more general terms, sustainability is the endurance of systems and processes.

Image source: https://tcorpinc.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/triple-bottom-l

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IKEA AND TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE
IKEA is a multinational group of companies that designs and sells ready-to-assem
ble furniture (such as beds, chairs and desks), appliances, small motor vehicles
and home accessories. As of January 2008, it is the world's largest furniture r
etail. It was founded in 1943 by lngvar kampard. It has a revenue of euro29.293
billion in 2014 and employs 147000 peoples across the globe.
IKEA was a futuristic company can was very early to understand the importance of
a sustainable environment, for which it started to promote sustainability in th
eir starting stages itself. Some implications of triple bottom line in ikea that
leads them towards sustainability are written as follows:
1.
Flatpacks and self-assembly become part of the IKEA concept. By using fl
at packing ikea can fit more products in every trailer and container and thus mi
nimise the number of shipments, which in turn means less carbon emissions.
2.
The Dutch registered charitable foundation, IKEA Foundation, is created.
Since 2009, all the global philanthropic efforts have been managed by the IKEA
Foundation.
3.
The first IKEA environmental policy is developed, stating that IKEA sh
all always strive to minimise any possible damaging effects to the environment.
4.
IKEA bans the use of tropical wood not originating from responsible for
estry or plantations.
5.
The iconic IKEA Catalogue becomes the first major colour print publicat
ion in the world to use totally chlorine free (TCF) paper.
6.
IKEA becomes a founding member of the global forest certification organ
isation Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
7.
IKEA updates all supplier contracts to reflect International Labor Orga
nization (ILO) standards on child labour.
8.
IKEA works with Save the Children to promote and protect children s right
s, integrating knowledge into our supplier standards.
9.
A Waste Management Manual is established for IKEA retail operations.
10.
IKEA launches its supplier code of conduct, IWAY, covering both environ
mental and social standards.
11.
A children s rights project with UNICEF breaks ground in India, providing
quality education to 80,500 children in Uttar Pradesh.
12.
Together with WWF, IKEA starts a number of projects to further encourag
e greater adoption of responsible forest management.
13.
During the holiday season at the end of each year, the IKEA Foundation
donates one euro for every soft toy sold in IKEA stores to support Save the Chil
dren and UNICEF projects aimed at improving access to quality education for chil
dren. So far, 35.2 million euro have been donated as a result of the campaign.
14.
IKEA and WWF form a strategic partnership aimed at further reducing gre
enhouse gas emissions in IKEA operations, supply chain and among customers.
15.
IKEA Foundation supports UNICEF and Save the Children programmes on chi
ldren s rights in cotton growing communities in India and Pakistan.
16.
IKEA develops a Sustainability Direction for 2015, with key priorities
and overall goals.
17.
IKEA Social and Environmental Responsibility Report is published.
18.
IKEA is a founding member of the Better Cotton Initiative, which aims t
o reduce stress on the environment and improve the livelihoods in cotton farming
communities.

19.
IKEA and WWF established Farmer Field Schools in India and Pakistan to
train cotton farmers in more sustainable cultivation practices. The share of mor
e sustainable cotton in the IKEA range increased significantly in FY11
up to 50
000 tonnes, representing 23.8 percent of ikea total cotton use.
20.
IKEA confirms its long-term ambition to run all IKEA owned operations f
rom 100% renewable energy and to become 25 percent more energy efficient compare
d to 2005.
21.
All coffee sold and served across IKEA is converted to UTZ Certified, m
eeting independently verified social and environmental standards for responsible
coffee-growing practices. The coffee beans can be traced back to the plantation
s through a unique code on each pack.
22.
Solar panel installations on 40 IKEA buildings in seven countries and 60
wind turbines produced 152 gigawatt hours (GWh) of green electricity this year, e
quivalent to around 12 percent of the electricity needed to run all IKEA stores
and distribution centres.
23.
Ikea uses renewable energy that it produces itself. Which includes Wind
290gwh, Solar PV 29gwh, Biomass 899gwh, Pellets and briquettes sold 633 gwh , wh
ich amounts to 51% of their total energy consumption.
24.
Ikea recycles 86% of their total waste produced.

REFERENCES
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_bottom_line
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability
3. http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_GB/pdf/annual_report/ikea_group_sustainability_repo
rt_2012.pdf
4. http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_GB/about_ikea/pdf/sustainability_report_fy11.pdf