Sustainability Auditing - an Instrument for Sustainable Business

The Sustainability Audit is a management tool that integrates all three dimensions of sustainability, that is the economic, social and ecological one. The auditing process is a decisive step to demonstrate the links between these three dimensions and make them fruitful for the company by means of a sustainability management process. To do this, the auditing process of EMAS is combined with a social audit that integrates stakeholder interests and with a newly developed product audit that faces the ecological impacts of products and their social implications.

After an analysis of the current state of affairs within the company which makes sustainability problems obvious, synergies and conflicts between the sustainability dimensions are identified. Sustainability targets are chosen based on synergies, and conflicts should be dealt with in an adequate way. The article suggests the implementation of so-called problem-circles. Then, a programme of sustainability measures is decided upon and is anquored in the management process. The progress achieved within the targets that have been set should be measured by suitable indicators and published in a comprehensible way. To ensure the credibility the process should be verified by external independent experts.

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