Creating a Sustainable Organization: Approaches for Enhancing Corporate Value Through Sustainability

3. ES&G Issues and How They Affect the Business Enterprise

It is widely understood, if only generally, that the system of legal and other controls that exists in the U.S. to control pollutant emissions and other environmental and safety impacts can impose costs on the affected business enterprise. In response to new requirements, the business generally must modify its operations in some way to reach and maintain compliance. It also is increasingly understood that EHS and broader ES&G/sustainability issues can affect businesses in ways and through mechanisms that are not regulatory in nature, and that these impacts can be both adverse and beneficial. This chapter describes how and why these impacts occur, what form they take, and what types of ...