Triple Bottom Line: Profit, People and Planet

Quick answer: The Triple Bottom Line, or TBL, measures business success in three ways instead of profit alone. The three pillars are people, planet and profit. A company is judged by how fairly it treats workers and communities, how gently it treats the environment, and whether the business earns enough money to survive and keep growing.

Learn more about Triple Bottom Line (TBL) in Good Environmentally Sustainable Practices.

The triple bottom line (TBL), a sustainability concept was coined by Elkington in 1980 who highlighted the importance of accounting for the non-market and non-financial aspects of performance in corporations, including social performance. The triple bottom line is comprised of three parts as social, environmental and financial, which forms a framework that is being adopted by industries and organisations for performance evaluation. TBL not only does the business a greater one but also recommends the organisation to focus on socio-economic issues.

TBL has 3Ps dimensions commonly called as Profit, People and Planet. In short, TBL for a business is financial return, social impact, and environmental responsibility. Interpretation of TBL in a sectoral context like development, agriculture, fisheries, industry etc. and also in a dimensional context like environmental, social, and economic at a different locality, nation, region, and global region.  It is beneficial for businesses, policymakers and economic development practitioners. Triple Bottom Line ensures sustainable development by maintaining a balance between the necessity for the current generation and also preserving for future generations too. Triple bottom line and sustainability concepts have gained attraction in fields related to economic development, including business, planning, finance, and real estate.

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