With the economy and the equities markets increasingly
unpredictable and faith in corporate governance in
steep decline, it is not surprising that stakeholders of all
types have growing interest in the sustainability of companies.
Yet the word sustainability remains ambiguous
and politically charged, particularly within the lexicon of
business. When, as is commonly the case, the term is
limited to encompass environmental management or social
equity, sustainability is often perceived to be at odds
with fiduciary responsibility and unlinked to business
strategy (Funk, 2003).
Corporate sustainability is a business approach that
creates long-term shareholder value by embracing opportunities
and managing risks deriving from economic, environmental
and social developments
The sharing information on, and the responsibility for,
risk is a developing area of modern approaches to risk
management. Many organizations recognize that their performance,
and the performance of their customers and
suppliers, is intrinsically linked, and that sharing risk is
ultimately beneficial to all concerned (WBSCD, 2004).