nable.
Gorging on a finite resource to maximize profit has grave environmental and social costs. Yes, profit is vital for corporate success but it cannot be at the expense of the other two pillars. To truly understand why, read the next section of this article.
A model for sustainability: Three-nested dependencies model
There has been some debate over how the three pillars of sustainability interact with one another. The most accurate model proposed is the 3-nested-dependencies model.
This model represents a co-dependent reality between the environment, society, and the economy.
Human society and our economy are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the environment. Neither can prosper in the long-run without prosperous, healthy surroundings. Beyond the environment, economic success is then driven by the exchange of goods and services. This exchange is determined by social constructs and choices that make up a society. Economic success does not come with fragile, poverty-stricken, despondent communities.
In summary, a healthy economy cannot be sustained without a healthy society or environment. From the small-scale economy of a single business, up to the larger-scale global economy, all financial facets are at the mercy of social and environmental factors, and it is the environment that ultimately deals the trump card.
The next part of this article outlines case studies to show the sustainable business model and its interacting three principles, in real-life scenarios.
Case studies for sustainable business
Sustainable business case study one: The collapse of cod fisheries
The year 1993 saw the commercial extinction of the Northern Cod.
Commercial extinction is the depletion of a species population to the point where not enough can be caught and sold to earn a profit.
Technological advances, like ocean-trawling and pinpointing fish using radar and electronic navigation systems, meant the number of fish caught in Canadian catches dramatically rose. Peaking in the 1970s and 1980s, the economic success of Canadian fisheries s