ESG, Triple Bottom Line, and responsible business frameworks

Organisations increasingly face pressure to demonstrate sustainability in concrete, measurable terms, and this video examines three frameworks that structure how that demonstration works in practice. The video covers ESG — Environmental, Social, and Governance — breaking down each component and tracing its relevance to HR decision-making, particularly the Social pillar, which encompasses employee relations, diversity, health and safety, human rights in supply chains, and community engagement. The Governance dimension, including board composition, executive pay, business ethics, and transparency, is also addressed alongside the Environmental component, which takes in carbon emissions, energy use, waste management, and biodiversity impact.

John Elkington's Triple Bottom Line concept, introduced in 1994 and framed around People, Planet, and Profit, forms the second major framework the video covers. The video considers how this model challenges organisations to move beyond purely financial measures of success and what that shift means for how HR activity is evaluated and positioned strategically. Questions about whether employment practices benefit or harm communities, and whether people management approaches are sustainable over the longer term, sit at the centre of this section.

The video also addresses the concept of responsible business, exploring what it means for organisations to hold obligations that extend beyond legal compliance and short-term profit, and how HR professionals operate as custodians of ethical standards within the people domain. Themes of stakeholder accountability, organisational integrity, and the HR function's role in raising ethical concerns — including the professional courage that requires — run through this part of the video. Taken together, ESG, the Triple Bottom Line, and responsible business frameworks are presented as practical tools for understanding AC 1.1's focus on what sustainability means in a workplace context.