ABSTRACT
The subject of this chapter is sustainability, more particularly, the reporting of sustainability by business firms. Interest in sustainability originated in the 1980s with a wide-spread concern that the current modes of production and consumption were not sustainable in the longer run, given the exhaustion of the earth's natural resources (such as oil) and the harm being inflicted on the environment (leading to threats such as global warming). The chapter shows how the business firm should report on sustainability. As the concept of sustainability has three dimensions, the firm's report should cover all three dimensions. It should cover the impact of the firm's activities on the economy, on society and on the environment. Hence, a firm's sustainability report covers a significantly wider field than its report to stakeholders. The chapter also discusses the origin and mission of the Global Reporting Initiative, which is now called the Global Sustainability Standards Board.
