We have finally started to realize that the true costs of business operations and consumer habits are moving far beyond the classical profit bottom line turning into costs that affect the triple bottom line. Our natural resource dependency has reached a point where it is necessary to calculate and track our environmental impact if we want to formulate strategies to maximize our natural capital by protecting our planet. Industry giants have found opportunity in responding to market pressures and environmental policies by changing their corporate culture and influencing sustainable practices along entire value chains. As a consequence we all need to learn how to become more conscious of our actions, by improving our efforts to limit waste and increase efficiency and through this extending the life of industries, products and services that we have become accustomed to.

Disclosing environmental impacts should be streamlined into annual reporting just as sustainable strategies need to be incorporated into financial planning. Determining an entity’s environmental impact is conducted both through quantitative and qualitative measurements. Measurements allow entities to know whether they are successful in their efforts and where there is room for improvement. As part of the ISOS Application, data calculations related to energy consumption, waste, and operational procedures affecting the environment will be assessed in the overall Sustainability Analysis, but could be also streamlined into Life Cycle Assessments, and Carbon Accounting mechanisms to determine tradable emissions.