The environment, the society, culture and the economy encompass the areas to manage if we are ” to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations” (Rio 1992).
Much work has been done to identify a framework for measuring sustainability.
The framework for accounting for sustainability includes:
- The Physical Environment
- Society
- Human Capital (1)
- Cultural Capital
- Economic Capital (Infrastructure and Operating Assets).
Much work has been done on finding ways to measure and manage these God-given and Human-made underpinnings of life on earth. The United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and many more international bodies and agencies have been working tirelessly for over a decade to develop their understanding of the challenges we face and to develop ways to address these challenges.
This blog will refer to their work and to research being completed through the Asian Pacific Institute of Good Asset Management that advocates the systemic asset management – an approach that integrates all human assets into its context and overall environment.
(1) The 2008 workshop was the kick-off of an OECD activity on measuring human capital. We hope the OECD will release a working paper with some results this year.