Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All: Sustainability
NOVEMBER 2003

Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All: Sustainability

Background
The ELCA social statement “Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All” (ELCA, 1999) [1] is a benchmark for our role as Christians in economic life. Because of sin, we have fallen short of our responsibilities to one another in this world, but we live in light of God’s promised future that ultimately there will be no hunger and injustice. This promise makes us restless with a world that is less than what God intends. In economic matters, this draws attention to:

The scope of God’s concern: “for all”; The means by which life is sustained: “livelihood”; What is needed: “sufficiency”; and Long-term perspective: “sustainability” (pg. 3).

“The vantage point of the kingdom of God motivates is to focus on more than short-term gains. Humans, called to be stewards of God’s creation, are to respect the integrity and limits of the earth and its resources” (pg. 14). We are challenged to pursue policies and practices around sustainability. The multitudes around God’s global table are recognized as neighbors rather than competitors or strangers (pg. 17).

Sustainable development is about ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come. Thus it combines ecological, social, and economic concerns and offers business opportunities for companies to improve the lives of the world’s people see for example, the World Business Council on Sustainable Development [2] ). The International Institute for Sustainable Development [3] further develops the concept to include, “Sustainable production and consumption to mean using, disposing and transforming resources in a way that minimizes harm to the environment while supporting the well being of people.”

Although the concept of sustainability is evolving, several instruments, guidelines, and benchmarks have been developed and are now being used in the governmental and corporate sectors. The first of these is the 2002 Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), [4] a long-term, multi-stakeholder, international process whose mission is to develop and disseminate globally applicable Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. Many corporations have embraced these guidelines as a way to organize their voluntary reporting around issues of sustainability.

In 2003, the 3rd edition of “Principles for Global Corporate Responsibility: Bench Marks for Measuring Business Performance” was released.5 Faith-based investor groups from Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, South Africa, Colombia, and the United Kingdom, as well as the U.S.-based Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, gathered to update these principles and offer a long-range view for corporations focused on protecting the environment, creating sustainable communities, and insuring human dignity.

With these new tools, corporations are able to look at a “triple bottom line”—the integration of social, environmental, and economic performances. This integrated, holistic approach is also referred to as a corporation’s sustainability performance.

ELCA Social Policy
“Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All” (ELCA, 1999) develops this church’s vision of sufficiency and sustainability focusing on economic life of all, with an emphasis on those who are poor and disenfranchised. It particularly calls for companies to bear the wider social and environmental costs of what they produce (pg. 14). Numerous Church Council actions support standing with those who are poor and disenfranchised around a variety of environmental and social issues. ELCA Advocacy Plans have outlined a variety of taxation, environment, employment, globalization, and fair trade issues.

Corporate Response
In responding to many converging calls for disclosure, accountability, and transparency, many in the corporate world are responding by voluntarily reporting on sustainability and/or the triple bottom line. We have seen a move from individual ethics to corporations reviewing their corporate ethics and the impact of their operations on peoples and communities in a public and verifiable manner.

It is reasonable to ask companies to begin looking at this type of reporting if they are not already doing so. Additionally, companies might be asked to increase the quality and relevance of triple bottom line reporting and/or use the format established by the Global Reporting Initiative. These measurements and reporting mechanisms could help companies identify ways to run their operations more efficiently and identify problems that might result in liability for the company.

Shareholder Work History
For over 30 years, the community of faith-based shareholders (mainly through the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility) has been urging companies to disclose non-financial information. In the past two years, we have seen the requests shift toward sustainability reports. Language has included a request for definitions of sustainability and how that affects a company’s policies and operations, as well as reporting based on the Global Reporting Initiatives.

The ELCA Church Council approved the call for Global Reporting Initiatives in its resolution packet in 2002. Dialogue around the Global Code of Conduct has progressed into sustainability discussions.

Resolution Guidelines for ELCA

We support public disclosure of information on corporate sustainability based on the format established by the Global Reporting Initiative. We support the preparation of sustainability reports. We support policies reflecting the triple bottom line of environment, social and economic factors.