I was having a coffee the other day when a person struck up a conversation. We were chatting about our work, when we came across an interesting conversation about the jargon within the sustainability industry, and that sustainability is a bit of a ‘jargony’ word itself. Many people do not know what it means, or interpret it as meaning something only related to the environment.

I found this conversation lit the spark I needed for the first topic of Niyâk’s blog, what is sustainability? Also, what is ESG, SASB, GRI, impact business, B Corp, and all of these other words that you may hear when you step into this arena? I hope this helps you along your journey, and breaks some complex jargon down into simple terms we all understand.

This is a typical image that comes up when you search sustainability, it doesn’t provide much context. In fact, it probably leads you to associate the planet more with sustainability than people or profit (more on this in a future blog post).

The simple definition of sustainability, provided by the UN is “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” To put this into perspective, it is about allowing our grandchildren and their grandchildren a future where they can live a good life (miyopimatisiwin) with all people and beings on earth. In business, sustainability is a long-term goal that your company is trying to ‘achieve’. Whether we can fully achieve sustainability is a great question to ponder; however, don’t get stuck thinking too much on it. The best we can all do is work towards this goal and focus on continuous improvement within our businesses.

ESG is known as environment, social, and governance, this term is heavily used in the financial industry as describing sustainability; however, they are different. The main difference is that ESG is a measurement tool for your businesses environmental, social, and governance practices; whereas sustainability can be used as an overarching goal of the business. ESG and sustainability go well together in fact, and ESG can be very useful in your sustainability journey, if done right (no greenwashing!).

Here is an example of Sustainability vs. ESG:

Another take on ESG is ESGI, known as Environmental, Social, Governance, and Indigenous. This form of reporting is especially relevant for Canadian businesses to address the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRCs) Call to Action #92 and the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

SASB is known as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, which is a standards setting organization that focuses on material topics (see below) that affect the financial materiality of a business. Financial materiality is an outside-in perspective of your business, and covers risks and opportunities that effect financial performance.

GRI is known as the Global Reporting Initiative, and is also a standards setting organization that focuses on material topics that affect the impact materiality of a business. Impact materiality is an inside-out perspective of your business, and covers the impacts of your business model on people and planet (aka economy).

CSSB is known as the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board, and is setting the sustainability disclosure standards for (public) organizations in Canada, while working with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) to ensure alignment with international standards.

A material topic is a sustainability topic that is important to your business. You can determine your businesses material topics by conducting what is called a materiality assessment, in this assessment you use international sustainability frameworks (as mentioned above) to determine material topics to your industry and business and discuss this with stakeholders.

Stakeholders are the people and planet that your business impacts, or that impact your business. Some examples are the local community you operate in, your workforce, your shareholders, Indigenous rights holders, the environment, and many more.

An impact business is a business with a specific positive impact mission that the business is built around. This is a field within the for profit sector where entrepreneurs are developing solutions to societal problems of inequity, climate change, emissions reduction, diversity and inclusion, and much more.

B Corp is a certification that for profit businesses can achieve to prove their commitment to transparent, higher social and environmental practices, and changing the current economic system. Do not confuse B Corp with Benefit Company, a Benefit Company is a type of for profit corporate entity that you can incorporate your business into in British Columbia.

If you are interested in learning about more terms, the University of Victoria’s Impact Investing Hub has a great “alphabet soup” visual here.