Methodology
Guide
What the Benchmark is
Its scientific foundations
How it was developed
Methodology Guide
About this document
Release 2.2 – April 2020 Page 2 of 84
About this document
This document forms part of Release 2.2
of the Future-Fit Business Benchmark.
Methodology Guide
This document presents the core
components of the Future‑Fit Business
Benchmark, together with details of the
development process, and the scientific
foundations upon which it was built.
The text is written to be accessible to a
general business audience: no academic
or technical knowledge about systems
science, sustainability practices, or other
specialist topics is assumed.
Documents included in Release 2.2
Methodology Guide
The scientific foundations and concepts
underpinning the Benchmark, together
with details of its key components and
how they were derived.
Break-Even Goal Action Guides
Guidance on how to transform business
operations, procurement practices, and
products in pursuit of future-fitness.
There is one Action Guide for each of the
23 Break-Even Goals.
Positive Pursuit Guide
The kinds of activities that any business
may undertake – above and beyond its
pursuit of Break‑Even – to speed up
society’s transition to future-fitness.
Implementation Guide
Supplementary guidance on how to
begin pursuing future-fitness and how to
assess, report on and assure progress.
All Release 2.2 documents are
available for download here.
Methodology
Guide
Implementation
Guide
Break-Even Goal
Action Guides
Positive Pursuit
Guide
Methodology Guide
Release 2.2 – April 2020 Page 3 of 84
Release 2 of the Future-Fit Business Benchmark
is dedicated to Bob Willard
Many thought leaders in the sustainability field can tell people what has to change. Bob is one of
the rare few who can actually help people figure out how to get it done. Without Bob’s ideas, early
work, boundless energy and ongoing support, the Future-Fit Business Benchmark would not exist.
1
Thank you, Bob – for everything!
The Future-Fit Team
Email us at info@futurefitbusiness.org
1
If you haven’t come across Bob’s work before, you should check out his website here.
Methodology Guide
Contents
Release 2.2 – April 2020 Page 4 of 84
Contents
About this document 2
Contents 4
1. Why Future-Fit? 6
2. Getting started 7
3. Where we are today: a systems view 8
3.1 Why systems thinking is critical 8
3.2 A systems view of value creation 11
3.3 A systems view of the world 13
3.4 The environmental context 15
3.5 The societal context 17
3.6 The economic context 18
3.7 Rethinking our place in the world 21
4. Where we need to go: a Future-Fit Society 22
4.1 Starting with the end in mind 22
4.2 The requirement for society 23
4.3 Properties of a Future-Fit Society 25
4.3.1 Energy is renewable and available to all 26
4.3.2 Water is responsibly sourced and available to all 26
4.3.3 Natural resources are managed to safeguard communities, animals and ecosystems 27
4.3.4 The environment is free from pollution 27
4.3.5 Waste does not exist 28
4.3.6 Our physical presence protects the health of ecosystems and communities 28
4.3.7 People have the capacity and opportunity to lead fulfilling lives 28
4.3.8 Social norms, global governance and economic growth drive the pursuit of future-fitness 29
4.4 The role of every social system 29
5. Actionable guidance for business 32
5.1 Toward Future-Fit Business 32
5.2 The requirement for business 33
5.3 The role and reach of business 34
5.4 Deriving the Break-Even Goals, Positive Pursuits, and Indicators 39
5.4.1 Break-Even Goals 39
Methodology Guide
Contents
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5.4.2 Break-Even Indicators 41
5.4.3 Positive Pursuits 42
5.4.4 Positive Indicators 43
6. Break-Even Goals 45
6.1 Energy 46
6.2 Water 46
6.3 Natural resources 47
6.4 Pollution 47
6.5 Waste 49
6.6 Physical presence 50
6.7 People 51
6.8 Drivers 54
7. Positive Pursuits 58
7.1 Energy 59
7.2 Water 60
7.3 Natural resources 60
7.4 Pollution 61
7.5 Waste 63
7.6 Physical presence 63
7.7 People 65
7.8 Drivers 67
Appendix 1: Properties of a Future-Fit Society 70
Appendix 2: Deriving the Break-Even Goals and Positive Pursuits 71
Appendix 3: Definitions 78
Appendix 4: References 80
Appendix 5: Acknowledgements 82
Appendix 6: Licensing 83
Methodology Guide
Why Future-Fit?
Release 2.2 – April 2020 Page 6 of 84
1. Why Future-Fit?
If you want to build a ship, don’t call people together to
collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but
teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
How can we ensure our
common future is one we want?
Our ability to connect with each other
and to manipulate the world around us
has never been greater. How must we
channel this potential to usher in a future
that allows people and planet to thrive?
The actions we take in the next
few years are critical. So, what
should steer those actions?
Which of our possible futures
would be preferable?
Imagine a future in which no company
undermines the wellbeing of people or
the planet, where business is considered
universally as a force for good. Where
the more profitable companies are, the
more they are celebrated – not just by
their shareholders, but by everyone –
because those companies clearly and
credibly articulate how each dollar they
earn creates value for society as a whole.
In this future, we live in harmony with
nature: today’s take-make-waste
approach has been supplanted by a
borrow-use-return approach. “Growth” is
synonymous not with higher GDP, but
with increasing trust, greater equity,
healthier lives, and richer ecosystems. In
their pursuit of growth, all companies
strive to ensure that every person
contributing to their success is afforded
the opportunity to learn, grow and lead
fulfilling lives.
In this future, society becomes ever more
socially just, economically inclusive, and
environmentally restorative, because all
key actors are working collaboratively,
consciously and continuously to the same
end: the removal of barriers to our
collective progress.
This is a vision of a Future-Fit
Society: one serviced by an
economy of Future-Fit
Businesses, each playing its
part to create the conditions
required for humanity to
flourish within the carrying
capacity of our finite planet.
This is no Utopia – people will sicken,
crimes will occur, accidents will happen –
but it is a compelling and plausible vision.
The Future-Fit Business
Benchmark is a free tool to help
companies pursue this vision.
Methodology Guide
Getting started
Release 2.2 – April 2020 Page 7 of 84
2. Getting started
If we don’t change direction soon,
we’ll end up where we’re going. Irwin Corey
The transition to a Future-Fit
Society will be long and arduous,
but as with any journey we need
only two things: a destination to
aim for, and the means to track
our progress along the way.
When it comes to guidance on social and
environmental issues, a vast array of
resources exists. Most focus on one issue
(e.g. emissions, human rights) or tasks
(e.g. reporting), or offer general advice
which is not specifically tailored to
business and which companies may
struggle to translate into action (e.g. the
UN Sustainable Development Goals).
The Benchmark complements such
resources, offering one thing companies
have been lacking: a clear, science-based
destination to aim for, and the means to
guide and monitor progress toward it.
At the core of the Benchmark are 23
Break-Even Goals, which together mark
the line in the sand that all companies
must strive to reach to ensure that they
are in no way slowing down society's
transition to future‑fitness. A set of
complementary indicators equips any
company to measure, manage and
explain its progress toward each
Break‑Even Goal.
Many companies aspire to do more than
cause no harm, by seeking to be a force
for good in the world. The Benchmark
supports such efforts, identifying 24
Positive Pursuits which characterize all of
the ways a business may act to speed up
society’s transition to future-fitness.
Using this document.
Chapter 3 describes where society finds
itself today and how we got here, and
applies systems thinking to explore what
has to change going forward.
Chapter 4 offers a shared destination to
aim for, by identifying what a Future-Fit
Society would actually look like.
Chapter 5 explains how these systems
concepts can be translated into a
practical business tool, to help individual
companies play their part in our
collective journey to future-fitness.
Finally, Chapters 6 and 7 introduce the
Break‑Even Goals and Positive Pursuits.
The Future-Fit Business Benchmark is a
public good, free for anyone to use. We
would be delighted to hear about your
experiences with the tool as we continue
to improve it. You can reach our team at
info@futurefitbusiness.org.
Methodology Guide
Where we are today: a systems view
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3. Where we are today:
a systems view
Vision without systems thinking ends up
painting lovely pictures of the future with no
deep understanding of the forces that must
be mastered to move from here to there. Peter Senge
3.1 Why systems thinking is critical
250 years ago, there were less
than a billion people on Earth.
Back then, Earth’s resources – and its
resilience in the face of our demand for
them – must have seemed limitless.
So it should come as no surprise that
classical economics – which dates from
that period – did not consider the fact
that we live in a finite, resource-
constrained world. That belief set the
tone for the way we have done business
for generations: producing, consuming
and disposing of ever more stuff, without
weighing the long-term consequences.
Now there are 7.5 billion people
on the planet, with 2 billion
more set to join us by 2050.
Industrialization and rapid growth have
taken their toll. Crop yields are suffering
from ever-more extreme weather events,
fuelled by climate change. Fresh water is
scarce in many areas. Some natural
resources that were once plentiful are
now harder and costlier to obtain. Trust
in institutions is falling while inequality is
rising. Recognizing the extent of these
crises (Figure 3.1), world governments
came together in 2015 to launch the UN
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
a call to action for everyone from nation
states to corporations (Figure 3.2).
Our economic system is broken.
Put simply, our economic system is
failing to meet the needs of hundreds of
millions of people around the world.
Furthermore, the way we do business is
degrading the planetary services upon
which we as a species depend: clean air,
fresh water, rich biodiversity, climate
stability, access to materials, and so on.
A systemic response is needed.
The so-called Triple Bottom Line
[1] of
People, Planet and Profit has never been
more relevant. But we need to take a
fresh look at what this really means. The
global challenges we face are hugely
complex and interdependent. In short,
they are systemic – and to tackle them
we must take a systems-based approach.
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Where we are today: a systems view
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Figure 3.1: This “Doughnut” represents the safe operating space for humanity: a social
foundation of wellbeing that no one should fall below, and an ecological ceiling of
planetary pressure that we should not go beyond. Source: Doughnut Economics. [2]
Business can thrive only if
society and nature also thrive.
Business can only thrive in a strong
society. Society, in turn, can only prosper
if its needs are being met by a healthy
natural environment. These
relationships, best described as nested
dependencies, are key to understanding
how our global economy operates.
We must embrace these systemic
interdependencies if we are to identify
exactly how – and how much – we must
change the way we do business. Only
then will we be able to achieve the SDGs
and set ourselves on a path to a
Future‑Fit Society: one which is socially
just, economically inclusive, and
environmentally restorative.
The task ahead is enormous.
Our economic system is intrinsically
flawed and taking us in the wrong
direction, fast. No amount of tinkering
around the edges will fix that.
We must instead equip and encourage all
economic actors to pursue rapid and
radical change in a coordinated way. And
that demands a fundamental rethink of
what it means to create value in the 21
st
Century. So that’s where we will start.
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Beyond the boundary
Boundary not quantified
Methodology Guide
Where we are today: a systems view
Release 2.2 – April 2020 Page 10 of 84
Figure 3.2: The UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Affordable and
Clean Energy
SDG NameSDG
No Poverty
Zero Hunger
Good Health and
Well-being
Quality Education
Decent Work and
Economic Growth
Industry, Innovation
and Infrastructure
Gender Equality
Clean Water and Sanitation
Reduced Inequalities
Sustainable Cities
and Communities
Responsible Consumption
and Production
Climate Action
Life Below Water
Life On Land
Peace, Justice and
Strong Institutions
Partnerships for the Goals
SDG Description
End poverty in all its forms everywhere
End hunger, achieve food security and improved
nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for
all at all ages
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and
promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Achieve gender equality and empower
all women and girls
Ensure availability and sustainable management
of water and sanitation for all
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable
and modern energy for all
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth,
full and productive employment and decent work for all
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and
sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation
Reduce inequality within and among countries
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe,
resilient and sustainable
Ensure sustainable consumption
and production patterns
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and
marine resources for sustainable development
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial
ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification,
and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable
development, provide access to justice for all and build effective,
accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize
the global partnership for sustainable development
Methodology Guide
Where we are today: a systems view
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3.2 A systems view of value creation
We all know we need to act.
Left unchecked, today’s global challenges
put in jeopardy Earth’s natural processes,
our social fabric, and economic activity
as a whole. This creates a huge moral
imperative for collective action.
A growing number of business leaders
know they must rethink things. Investors,
too, are starting to realize their portfolios
are exposed to risks which they are ill-
equipped to predict. So what’s stopping
the business world from mobilizing its
considerable resources to deliver rapid
and radical change?
There is no single answer. CEOs and
boards often feel compelled to focus on
short-term gains, not long-term value.
Many investors struggle to see beyond
the next quarter’s results. Governments
have been slow to adapt incentives and
regulations to respond to global
challenges. And with so many serious
issues competing for a company’s
attention it can be difficult to zero in on
what really matters.
All these factors are symptomatic of a
bigger problem within our economic
system: a myopic notion of what value
creation means, which fails to recognize
and reward the true game-changers.
Creating Shareholder Value
was fundamentally flawed.
Not so long ago, creating shareholder
value – potentially at the expense of
other stakeholders, including the
environment – was considered the sole
purpose of business. The more a
company was able to privatize gains and
socialize losses, the more successful it
would become.
In the 1970s, evidence started to mount
for the fact that such behaviour is not
sustainable on a finite planet with a
rapidly growing population. [3]
Corporate Social Responsibility
led only to incremental gains.
As awareness of this fact grew, the
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and
sustainability reporting agendas
emerged, as a way to hold companies to
account for any negative social or
environmental impacts they caused.
Unfortunately, while egregious practices
have been tempered in some parts of the
world – such as dumping toxic waste in
rivers – little has fundamentally changed.
At best, the dial has moved from
‘business as usual’ to ‘change as usual’.
Despite the efforts of organizations such
as the Global Reporting Initiative [4], no
two companies explain their social and
environmental commitments – and
progress toward them – in the same
concise, comparable way. Without the
right yardstick with which to calibrate
and compare performance, even the
most conscious investor or consumer
cannot spot which companies are doing
most to take society in the right direction.
The result is that even in sectors whose
business models exacerbate global
problems, most companies continue to
do roughly what they always did, albeit
while striving to be slightly ‘less bad’
year-on-year than their peers. But aiming
to be less bad is just not good enough.
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Creating Shared Value reframed
‘doing good’ as an opportunity.
A few years ago, the term Creating
Shared Value (CSV) was coined
[5], to
describe how companies can continue to
focus primarily on financial performance,
by identifying ways to make money
wherever their core business and societal
problems overlap.
Whereas CSR was often perceived as just
another cost of doing business, CSV casts
‘doing the right thing’ as an opportunity
for growth. And so, of course, it is an
opportunity – if we know what ‘doing the
right thing’ really means. Therein lies the
challenge.
Today’s companies operate in a world of
complex, interlinked systems – markets,
communities, ecosystems, etc. – in which
linear notions of cause and effect start to
evaporate. Any action in one area can
lead to undesirable consequences
elsewhere. A company embracing a CSV
approach might – in all good conscience
– seek to solve one problem, only to
create another. Are such trade-offs
acceptable? Possibly, but how can we be
sure if we don’t know what they are?
To understand the full extent of
a company’s impacts – good and
bad – we must think in terms of
Creating System Value.
No business decision is ever free of
potential trade-offs. But a systems-based
approach makes it possible to identify
otherwise unforeseen issues. This allows
negative trade-offs to be anticipated,
avoided, or at the very least addressed.
This kind of holistic decision-making must
become the norm if we are to avoid –
and eventually reverse – damage to our
natural systems and social fabric. This is
what we mean by Creating System Value
(Figure 3.3).
The Future-Fit Business Benchmark was
developed specifically to help companies
put this concept into practice. The first
step in this development was to examine
the systems contexts shaping business
today.
Figure 3.3: Rethinking value creation through a systems lens.
Shareholder Value
Financial returns are all
that matters: companies
privatize gains and
externalise losses
Shared Value
Business comes first: negative
impacts are often not sufficiently
internalised, or are justified
by ‘doing good’ elsewhere
System Value
Business addresses societal
needs in a holistic way,
while not hindering progress
toward a flourishing future
Environment
Society
Business
Environment
Business
Society
Society
Business
Environment
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3.3 A systems view of the world
What is a system?
A system can be defined as a set of
interrelated and interdependent parts
that operate collectively in pursuit of
some common purpose. [6]
The purpose of a system may not always
be obvious. What a system actually does
may not be what was originally intended,
or what people assume that it does.
Hence, to avoid any confusion relating to
the differences between actual and
intended behaviour, systems scientists
typically frame the purpose of a system
simply as “what it does”. [7]
How do systems operate?
Every system operates within a broader
context, because its existence both
depends upon and can affect other
systems around it.
To fulfil its purpose, a system transforms
one or more inputs into outputs. To
understand how this happens, we can
think of a system in terms of four levels,
each one influencing the next:
2
• Drivers: Forces on the system that
arise from the broader context,
which both influence what it can do
and combine to shape its purpose.
• Structure: The physical parts of the
system and how they are organized
so that they can perform the
processes needed to acquire inputs
and transform them into outputs.
2
There are many ways to describe how systems
operate. This section draws extensively on Donella
• Patterns of behaviour: How the
system acts over time. Such patterns
are often emergent: they result from
how the parts of the system interact,
and so they can’t be predicted by
observing each part in isolation.
• Outcomes: The changes – to both
the system itself and others around
it – which arise from its existence.
This includes the effects (intended
and otherwise) of consuming inputs
and producing outputs.
These four system levels are often
visualized as successive layers of an
iceberg, with Drivers at the bottom.
That’s because in real-world systems,
often only the top level – Outcomes – is
readily visible (see Figure 3.4).
We will return to this model later, to help
us identify a comprehensive set of
desirable and measurable outcomes that
a Future‑Fit Society will deliver.
Figure 3.4: The iceberg system model.
Meadows’ characterization of a system, from her
2009 book, Thinking in Systems: A Primer. [6]
Patterns of
behaviour
Outcomes
Structure
Drivers
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But first we must consider the world in
terms of an interconnected network of
systems.
What are natural systems?
A natural system is one that exists in
nature, independent of any human
involvement. [8] At the highest level, the
Earth comprises four interdependent
natural systems: the atmosphere, the
lithosphere, the hydrosphere and the
biosphere. [9]
The biosphere – which encompasses all
living matter – can further be described
in terms of a huge and diverse range of
ecosystems. All living organisms are
themselves systems. For simplicity, from
this point on we often refer to this web
of natural systems as the environment.
What are social systems?
A social system is a patterned network of
interrelationships between individual
people, groups, and institutions, which
forms a coherent whole. [10]
Society as a whole is a multi-layered
network of interdependent social
systems (see Figure 3.5). In fact, when
talking about large-scale aspects of
society, we often use the term ‘system’
explicitly: legal system, transport system,
global economic system, and so on.
At a more granular level, social systems
range from cities and households to
universities and – of course – companies.
What a social system does – and thus the
outcomes it seeks to deliver – depends
on its role in society. An effective
government, for example, provides
services to its citizens by maintaining
critical infrastructure, such as education
and healthcare. A company produces
goods and services, the sale of which
delivers financial returns to its owners,
provides its workers with a source of
income, and supports the further
development of the business. One
intended output of a school is educated
individuals, each of whom is able to
apply their learning to contribute to the
activities of other social systems.
Society can be Future-Fit only if
every social system is Future-Fit.
Every social system depends upon and
can affect many others – and each must
play its part in society’s transition to
future-fitness. But what exactly does that
mean? How must any one social system
behave if we are to get on a shared
trajectory toward a socially just,
economically inclusive, and
environmentally restorative future?
To answer this, we need to examine the
three key contexts within which all social
systems operate: the environmental, the
societal and the economic.
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Figure 3.5: Society is a multi-layed network of interdependent social systems,
all of which are completely dependent on a healthy environment.
3.4 The environmental context
Earth fulfils three critical ecosystem functions for society.
First, Earth maintains critical
life-support systems.
All life relies on natural processes that
evolved over millions of years. Among
other things, these processes regulate air
and water quality and the climate,
enable crops to grow, provide storm
protection and maintain biodiversity.
Second, Earth provides our raw
materials and energy.
Apart from our "solar income" (energy
from sunlight) all of our resources come
from the Earth. Many natural resources,
such as fish and trees, are renewed over
time, thanks to the aforementioned life-
support systems. But if we use too much,
too quickly (e.g. deforestation, over-
fishing), we undermine nature’s capacity
to regenerate them.
Minerals extracted from the Earth’s crust
are finite resources. Once used, some are
gone for good (e.g. fossil fuels). Others
(e.g. metals) could in theory remain in
use forever if we recover them after use.
Environment
Society
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Third, Earth assimilates waste.
Waste is a characteristic unique to
human systems: in nature, all matter
(dead plants, animals) is absorbed and
digested by other organisms.
Two types of waste are causing big
problems. The first type is human-made
substances that don’t exist naturally, so
nature hasn’t evolved ways to break
them down harmlessly (e.g. plastics,
CFCs). The second type comprises
substances that do exist in nature, but
which we emit in quantities or in ways
that upset the natural equilibrium
(e.g. carbon dioxide in the air, nitrogen
compounds in the oceans).
Both types of waste can affect the
environment chemically or physically, for
example by introducing toxins into food-
chains, or by trapping heat in the
atmosphere. In so doing, they disrupt the
life-support systems we rely upon.
Social systems in this context.
Today’s social systems are profoundly
affecting all three ecosystem functions.
No social system can survive without
energy, fresh water, and a wide range of
goods derived from natural resources, all
of which have to be mined, farmed or
harvested from the wild. Such resources
are obtained and transformed in a wide
variety of ways, but almost all value
chains follow a linear take-make-waste
approach. At every step, our methods of
production and consumption typically
result in unintended by-products, which
are captured and treated as waste, or
which escape into nature as pollution.
Either way, the intrinsic value to society
of the original natural resources is lost.
All social systems also have a physical
presence, from fields and buildings to a
wide range of supporting physical
infrastructure. And our growing need for
space is putting ever-more pressure on
the natural world, limiting its capacity to
support our needs.
Caution: Natural Capital
Planetary resources we benefit from are sometimes described as natural capital. This
terminology can lead to the erroneous conclusion that we can replace nature’s services
with other types of capital (e.g. financial or manufactured). But many natural resources –
clean air, fertile soil – are essential to life, and have no substitutes. That said, the term
natural capital can be useful, if by capital we mean an asset that is capable of generating
wealth. We must not deplete natural capital, but we can live off its interest.
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3.5 The societal context
Inclusivity, resilience and trust are crucial to society’s success.
Everyone should have the
capacity and opportunity to
lead a fulfilling life.
3
Given that billions of people are living in
some form of poverty, it should be clear
that our economy is not fit for purpose.
Any social system’s ability to thrive, right
up to society as a whole, relies to a great
extent on the wellbeing of the people
that contribute to it. This does not mean
that people must be happy all the time.
Rather, it means that everyone should be
able to meet their basic needs (e.g. food,
shelter) and pursue higher needs (e.g. a
sense of meaning, creativity).
4
Both aspects are essential. A focus on
basic needs alone may enable people to
survive, but not to thrive and grow.
Equally, people can only pursue higher
needs if their basic needs are met.
To meet basic needs and pursue higher
needs, people require three things:
• The physical capacity to do so
(including physical/mental health);
• The mental capacity to do so
(including relevant skills and
competences);
• The opportunity to do so (via social
justice, economic inclusion, and
trusted relationships).
3
This understanding of wellbeing is aligned with
The Capability Approach pioneered by Economist
and Philosopher Amartya Sen. The emphasis here
is not on maximizing subjective wellbeing, but on
Some basic needs are so crucial to
people’s wellbeing that access to them is
considered a fundamental human right
(see Figure 3.6). [2] [11]
We are a social species.
Some higher needs – such as affection
and participation – can only be met in
conjunction with others. Society is
characterized not just by its individual
members, but by the ways we organize
ourselves into social systems and how
they interact with each other.
Figure 3.6: “Basic needs” refer
to what all individuals require.
ensuring people have the capability to achieve the
kind of lives they deem to be valuable. [20]
4
This distinction between basic and higher needs
is informed by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. [21]
People’s basic needs
Derived from the SDGs. Source: Doughnut Economics
Sufficient (nutritious) food
Sufficient income to meet the above needs
Education
Decent housing
Energy and cooking facilities
Clean water and sanitation
Networks of communication
Networks of social support
Healthcare
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This is the social fabric upon which we all
depend: society is only as strong as the
relationships between its component
parts. When our social fabric
deteriorates, so does our ability to thrive.
The quality and resilience of
our social fabric is critical.
So how do we avoid degrading our social
fabric? Leading science [12] tells us that
the health of society depends upon
several factors. Diversity and learning are
critical to resilience (the ability to adapt
to new circumstances and to withstand
crises), as is a capacity for self-
organization. Shared meaning and values
are also key. All of these factors are
critical, but another one appears to
underpin them all: trust.
Trust serves as society’s glue.
Trust is associated with low levels of
corruption, democratic stability, and
relative economic equality. Greater
equality correlates with a reduction in
many societal ills (e.g. suicide, drug
abuse, obesity, violence).
[13]
Society is huge and complex. Trust is
essential because everything works only
by coordinating action and devolving
responsibility. But there is no shortcut to
trust: to gain it, one must first be
perceived as trustworthy.
Social systems in this context.
Trustworthiness accrues only over time,
when people consistently do what they
say they will and strive to act in the best
interests of others. This means every
social system must contribute fairly to
shared infrastructure, must foster the
wellbeing of its participants and other
stakeholders, and must be open about
the extent of its negative impacts – and
its ambitions to improve them over time.
3.6 The economic context
What can a systems approach tell us about ‘growth’ and ‘value’?
Can – and should – economic
growth continue?
Ask politicians, investors or CEOs if
growth is ‘good’ and their yes will likely
be as emphatic as the no one might hear
from concerned environmentalists.
The reason for such polarization is not
that one respondent cares about society
while the other doesn’t, but rather that
they have different perspectives on what
growth actually means. To reconcile
these perspectives, we need to look at
growth through a system lens.
There are four types of
economic growth.
From a systems perspective, there are
four types of economic growth:
[14]
• Type 1 – Growth in biophysical
throughput: This is the amount of
raw materials we take out of (and
waste we put back into) the
environment. On a finite world,
indefinite growth of this type is not
possible.
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• Type 2 – Growth in production and
consumption: This is the amount of
goods and services flowing through
society, which is roughly what Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) measures.
This kind of growth isn’t intrinsically
bad. For example, as the population
grows, more food will have to be
produced and consumed.
• Type 3 – Growth in economic
welfare: This represents people’s
capacity and opportunity to lead a
fulfilling life – and in particular the
degree to which their basic needs
are met (Figure 3.6). There is a
strong relationship between this
type of growth and type 2 – but it is
not a simple one.
• Type 4 – Growth in natural
resources: This is concerned with the
amount of biomass (fish, wood, etc.)
which regenerates through natural
processes such as photosynthesis,
and the health of the ecosystem
functions (fresh water, fertile soil,
etc.) which enable that regeneration.
This type of growth increases the
raw materials available for our
consumption, and enriches the
natural systems we depend upon.
Growth of types 3 and 4 is unequivocally
'good', since it can contribute directly to
solving many of the global challenges
mentioned earlier, from social inequality
to food security. Given that we’re placing
far too great a demand on Earth’s natural
systems, type 1 growth is a problem (see
Figure 3.7).
As for type 2, growth in production may
make things worse (e.g. by causing
ecosystem destruction), and excess
consumption can be just as problematic
(e.g. when single-use products result in
large volumes of unrecyclable waste).
Our pursuit of growth is flawed.
Today the global economy focuses
almost exclusively on type 2 growth,
production and consumption, regardless
of how (and how much) it is linked to the
other three types. Why? Because money
changes hands when goods and services
are bought and sold – and our economic
system has evolved to treat financial
returns and value creation as one and the
same thing.
Figure 3.7: From a systems perspective there are four types of economic growth.
Type 1
Growth
Biophysical
throughput
Type 2
Growth
Production,
consumption
Type 3
Growth
Economic
welfare
Type 4
Growth
Natural
resources
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To understand why, we can use the
iceberg model introduced earlier (see
Figure 3.4). The pursuit of GDP is a key
driver of our economy, because every
major nation on Earth has sought to
maximize this metric since just after the
second world war. [15] This has shaped
the structures and patterns of behaviour
that social systems exhibit today.
One way this manifests is in how much
effort central banks and governments
expend in trying to ‘grow the economy’
by tweaking interest rates and other
factors at their disposal, constantly trying
to adjust borrowing and spending
patterns in pursuit of never-ending
growth. Another is when companies seek
out the cheapest legally-acceptable route
to getting something done. If that route
results in generating waste, over-
harvesting raw materials, using creative
approaches to pay less tax, or
outsourcing work to regions with less
progressive labour standards, so be it.
Such negative impacts occur not because
the people making the decisions are
blind to social and environmental
concerns, but because the economic
context within which they are operating
is not adequately driving the right kinds
of outcome.
Social systems in this context.
Numerous companies, cities and others
are leading by example to pursue Triple
Bottom Line results, but their successes
are often achieved despite the system
rather than because of it. Initiatives that
bring clear environmental or social gains
are often fully embraced only if they
bring clear financial gains, too. A
system’s drivers influence everything it
does and how it does it. As long as our
economic system pursues GDP (and thus
type 2 growth) alone, restorative
outcomes will remain the exception
rather than the norm. Type 2 growth is
desirable only if we can find ways to
decouple it from type 1, and insofar as it
contributes to growth of types 3 or 4 – by
raising welfare or regenerating natural
systems.
This is what ‘good growth’ means, and
we must reorient our economic system
to recognize and reward it. There is no
magic button we can press to enable this,
but a new growth paradigm can emerge
over time if social systems work in
concert – to transform social norms,
global governance, shared infrastructure,
and market mechanisms – so that ‘doing
the right thing’ becomes the path of least
resistance – and greatest reward – for all
economic actors.
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3.7 Rethinking our place in the world
We must transform degenerative outcomes into regenerative ones.
Every social system must play its
part in the transition ahead.
We have seen that society is a vast and
interconnected web of social systems.
Today the activities of these social
systems are contributing to a range of
degenerative outcomes: ones that are
systematically undermining the integrity
of the natural world and the social fabric
we rely on. If we are to get on a shared
path to success, we must transform
these degenerative outcomes into
regenerative ones.
Synthesizing what we have learned about
the environmental, societal and
economic contexts, Figure 3.8 offers a
way to characterize every social system’s
activities, in terms of eight focus areas.
Every impact a social system may have
on the world – intentionally or
unintentionally, positive or negative –
will fall within one of these areas.
In the next chapter we identify what an
appropriate regenerative outcome looks
like for each of these areas, to define the
Properties of a Future-Fit Society.
Figure 3.8: These eight focus areas
encompass how any social system
can affect the world around it.
Pollution
Focus Area
Energy
Waste
Natural
resources
Water
Physical
presence
People
Every social system – no
matter what its purpose –
requires energy and water,
and relies on natural
resources, even if only
indirectly via the use of
goods derived from them.
Every social system has
some form of physical
presence (e.g. buildings,
fields, roads).
Every social system typically
generates unintended
by-products as a result of
its activities. Some are
managed as waste, while
others escape as pollution.
Every social system relies
on people: individuals and
groups who participate in
its activities and who are
affected by its existence.
Description
Drivers
Every social system’s
structure, patterns of
behavior, and outcomes are
influenced by the contexts
within which it operates.
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4. Where we need to go:
a Future-Fit Society
And all I ask is a tall ship
and a star to steer her by. John Masefield
4.1 Starting with the end in mind
What must we all aim for?
In chapter 3 we looked at the world
through a systems lens to understand
where humanity finds itself today, how
we got here, and what has to change. We
also learned that society can be viewed
as a multi-layered network of
interdependent social systems.
To overcome our global challenges
(Figure 3.1), all social systems must act in
the best interests of society as a whole,
and operate in symbiosis with Earth’s
natural systems. Only then will it be
possible for our global economy to meet
humanity’s needs within planetary limits.
To get there requires both individual and
collective action. And to ensure such
action is effective, we need a shared
destination to aim for:
5
This wording mirrors John Ehrenfeld’s definition
of sustainability as the possibility that humans and
other life will flourish on Earth forever. [5]
A Future-Fit Society protects the
possibility that humans and other life
will flourish on Earth forever, by being
socially just, economically inclusive, and
environmentally restorative.
5
So far so good, but to guide, recognize
and reward the right kinds of behaviour
we need something more actionable.
What specific outcomes must we all
strive to deliver, to protect the possibility
of human flourishing? What must we do
with respect to energy or water use?
How must we manage natural resources?
And how should people be treated? Only
when we can answer these questions can
we find ways to signal how – and how
much – any one social system has to
change, and to identify who the true
leaders are.
Fortunately, 25+ years of research has
given us a solid foundation to build on.
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4.2 The requirement for society
Eight system conditions point
us toward a flourishing future.
Humanity can only hope to flourish if we
have a unifying and operational
definition of what it means for society to
“be sustainable”, coupled with a
systematic approach to planning and
action in pursuit of this state.
This realization prompted a group of
scientists in the early 1990s to begin
work on what has become known in
academia as the Framework for Strategic
Sustainable Development, or FSSD (see
below). Over the past quarter of a
century the FSSD has been continuously
refined through a combination of
scrutiny against empirical data, real-
world testing, and academic peer-review.
At its core are eight system conditions
that together identify how society must
operate if we are to safeguard the social
fabric and natural systems upon which
our future depends. These system
conditions are illustrated in Figure 4.1.
They can be thought of as the ‘rules of
the game’ to which we must all adhere.
They indicate what patterns of behaviour
are environmentally and socially
acceptable, in the sense that they avoid
causing degenerative outcomes.
Some of the ways in which these rules
apply are readily apparent. For example,
relying on energy from fossil fuels is a
problem if the greenhouse gases caused
by their combustion escape into the air.
This outcome breaches the first system
condition, because such emissions
contribute to a systematic increase in
nature of concentrations of substances
extracted from the Earth’s crust.
The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD)
In 1989 Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt led the creation of the FSSD, and also founded
The Natural Step, a non-profit whose mission is to promote and foster the use of the
FSSD at a community, company, city and even country level.
The FSSD comprises a five-level model, which – together with the use of backcasting –
serves both to define the required end state for society and to facilitate planning and
action toward it. The system conditions form the second of the five levels. In academic
texts these system conditions are referred to as Sustainability Principles, but the former
term is favoured by many in a business context. For an excellent academic overview
of the FSSD see [12].
The Future-Fit team is indebted to Karl-Henrik and The Natural Step – in particular the
Canadian and Swedish teams – without whose early support the Future-Fit Business
Benchmark would not exist.
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Figure 4.1: The eight system conditions identifying how society must operate.
These system conditions serve
as a guide for radical innovation.
The good news is that the eight system
conditions offer clear guidance on what
to aim for. Although they define what
must not happen, this should be seen as
liberating rather than restrictive: as long
as they are not breached, anything is
possible. Hence the system conditions
foster radical innovation, by helping us
steer toward a flourishing future without
prescribing any specific course of action.
We must prevent future system
condition breaches…
Every social system today breaches one
or more of these system conditions
routinely. While individual breaches may
have a relatively small impact – not
measurable at a planetary or societal
level – their cumulative effects make
these breaches unsustainable. Hence
these system conditions represent the
environmental and social break-even
point for society as a whole.
Environment
Society
Limited extraction and safeguardingso thatconcentrations of
lithospheric substances do not increase systematically inthe
atmosphere, the oceans, the soil orother parts of nature
(e.g. fossil carbon,metals).
Conscious molecular design,limitedproduction and
safeguarding so that concentrationsof societally-produced
molecules and nuclides do notincrease systematically inthe
atmosphere, oceans, soil orelsewherein nature(e.g. NOx, CFCs).
The area and quality of soils,fresh water availability, biodiversity
and other aspects of biological productivity and resilience,are
not systematically degraded by mismanagement, displacement
or other physicalmanipulation (e.g. de-forestation,over-fishing).
This means that people are notexposed to social conditions that
systematicallyunderminetheirabilityto avoid injury andillness,
physically, mentally or emotionally(e.g. lack of access to basic
services, dangerous working conditions).
This means that people are notsystematically hindered from
participating in shaping the socialsystems they are part of
(e.g. through suppressionof free speech or neglect of opinions).
This means that people are notsystematically hindered from
learning and developing competence individually and together
(e.g. obstacles to education orinsufficient possibilities for
personal development).
This means that people are notsystematically exposed to
partial treatment (e.g. throughany form of discrimination,
or unfair selectionto job positions).
This means that people are notsystematically hindered from
creating individualmeaning and co-creating commonmeaning
(e.g. by suppression of cultural expression, orthrough obstacles
to co-creation of purposefulconditions).
degradation by
physical means
concentrations of
substances extracted
from the Earth's crust
concentrations of
substances produced
by society
health
influence
meaning-making
competence
impartiality
In a sustainable society,
nature is not subject
to systematically increasing…
In a sustainable society,
people are not subject to
structural obstacles to…
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…but we must also reverse the
effects of past breaches.
Unfortunately, we have been breaching
the system conditions for so long, and in
so many ways, that we now have to do
more than just avoid new breaches: we
must find ways to reverse the effects of
breaches that have already occurred.
From an environmental standpoint, this
means actively restoring the Earth’s
capacity to meet humanity’s needs – for
example by regenerating biodiverse
habitats, and neutralizing the effects of
past pollution.
From a social perspective, we must
overcome the structural obstacles to
social justice and economic inclusion
that still leave a large proportion of the
world’s population without the capacity
or opportunity to lead fulfilling lives.
4.3 Properties of a Future-Fit Society
The regenerative outcomes a
Future-Fit Society would deliver.
In chapter 3 we synthesized everything
we know about the environmental,
societal and economic contexts, to
identify eight focus areas that encompass
how all social systems may affect people
or the planet, for good or for ill.
By looking at each focus area through the
lens of the FSSD system conditions, we
can identify a comprehensive, topic-
specific set of regenerative outcomes
which we must all strive to deliver.
Appendix 1 summarizes how this
mapping was done. We can think of the
results of this as the eight Properties of a
Future-Fit Society (see Figure 4.2), each
of which is now described.
Figure 4.2: The seven core properties of a Future-Fit Society, plus an eighth enabling
property, which identifies the socioeconomic drivers required to pursue the others.
Social norms, global governance and economic growth
drive the pursuit of future-fitness
Our physical presence protects the
health of ecosystems and communities
People have the capacity and
opportunity to lead fulfilling lives
Natural resources are managed to safeguard
communities, animals and ecosystems
Energy is renewable
and available to all
Water is responsibly sourced
and available to all
Waste does
not exist
The environment is
free from pollution
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4.3.1 Energy is renewable and available to all
All human activities – growing and
cooking food, heating and lighting
buildings, moving goods and people from
one place to another – require energy.
Around 80% of the energy we consume
today is from non-renewable resources,
and in particular fossil fuels. When
burned, these fossil fuels emit carbon
dioxide, and this is one of the biggest
contributors to climate change and
ocean acidification.
The way we obtain fossil fuels is also a
problem. Techniques such as fracking
and strip-mining cause enormous
disruption to the environment.
Not only that, a large proportion of the
global population simply do not have
sufficient access to energy to meet their
daily needs. It is estimated that 20% of
the world’s population have no access to
electricity, and 2.7 billion people do not
have clean and safe energy for cooking.
In a Future-Fit Society, all energy is from
renewable sources – solar, wind,
geothermal and so forth – which support
clean growth and sustainable
development. And sufficient energy is
available to everyone, so that even the
most remote communities can meet their
daily needs.
4.3.2 Water is responsibly sourced
and available to all
Fresh water is crucial to people’s health,
for drinking, growing food, cooking and
sanitation. But many people today do not
have enough clean water to meet these
basic needs.
In fact, it is forecast that by 2025 two
thirds of the world's population will live
under conditions of water stress.
The responsible use of water is a
complex issue, and impacts must be
addressed at a local level, because
watersheds can be affected by the
removal of water from an area, the
introduction of additional water, timing
differences between withdrawals and
discharges, and changes in water quality
and other water characteristics such as
heat and pH levels.
In many parts of the world, we’re
consuming too much fresh water, and
wastewater we return to the
environment is often polluted.
So we’re reducing both the quantity and
the quality of water available to
communities and the ecosystems we
depend upon.
In a Future-Fit Society, all water is
responsibly sourced and available to all.
We don’t exacerbate water stress, and
the quality of any water returned to
nature is at least as high as when it was
withdrawn. And sufficient clean water is
available to everyone, so that even the
most remote communities can meet their
daily needs.
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4.3.3 Natural resources are managed to safeguard
communities, animals and ecosystems
Society relies on a vast array of natural
resources. This includes non-renewable
resources, such as mined metals and
minerals, and renewable resources such
as crops and the soils that support them,
animals, fish and forests.
Today, most natural resources are being
inadequately managed: animal suffering,
land degradation, and the abuse of local
communities are common. We’re using
renewable resources 1.7 times faster
than they are being regenerated. What’s
more, as the Earth’s most accessible
non-renewable resources are used up,
extraction methods often become
increasingly disruptive.
So pretty much all of the goods we rely
on – from food to phones – depend on
natural resources whose production
undermines people’s wellbeing or
degrades the environment.
In a Future-Fit Society, natural resources
are managed to safeguard communities,
animals and ecosystems. Crops are
grown on suitable land, and in ways that
maintain soil health. Animals are reared
or hunted in ways that minimize
suffering. All renewable resources are
managed to protect their future
availability. And all non-renewable
resources are extracted without
degrading surrounding ecosystems and
communities.
4.3.4 The environment is free from pollution
Almost all economic activities today –
sourcing raw materials, manufacturing
and using goods, transporting things
around the world – cause some degree of
pollution.
There is no longer any doubt that the
systematically increasing concentration
of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the
atmosphere is contributing to climate
change, and other problems such as
ocean acidification. All GHG emissions
resulting from fossil fuel combustion and
other human processes must be rapidly
eliminated if we are to avoid the most
catastrophic impacts of global warming.
Many other kinds of pollution harm
people’s health and disrupt natural
ecosystems. Examples include hazardous
fertilizers and pesticides, toxic chemicals,
and a wide range of synthetic substances
which do not break down quickly and
safely and so build up in nature.
In a Future-Fit Society, the environment is
free from pollution. The air is breathable
and free from noxious substances, soils
are healthy, and waters are clean. All
harmful emissions are avoided, and
society continuously strives to reverse the
damage done by past pollutants, to
restore environmental health.
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4.3.5 Waste does not exist
Almost all value chains today follow a
linear take-make-waste approach. At
every step, our methods of production
and consumption typically result in
material by-products, which are
discarded as waste. Many valuable
materials are incinerated or dumped in
ways that disrupt the environment.
Demand for virgin resources can be
mitigated if materials are repurposed,
rather than discarded. Repurposing also
eliminates the costs – financial,
environmental and human – that waste
disposal incurs.
In a Future-Fit Society, waste does not
exist. Today’s take-make-waste approach
to material use is supplanted by a
borrow-use-return approach. All by-
products of human activities – and goods
that reach the end of their useful life –
are transformed to serve other needs, in
ways that maximize their re-use value.
4.3.6 Our physical presence protects the health
of ecosystems and communities
Growing demand for land – as well as
activities such fishing and mining –
encroach on nature and have led to the
destruction of pristine ecosystems,
damage to culturally significant sites, and
the abuse of local people’s rights.
As a result, many ecosystems – from
rainforests to coral reefs – are on the
brink of collapse, and the resilience of
many communities is under threat.
In a Future-Fit Society, our physical
presence protects the health of
ecosystems and communities. Human
activities do not encroach on the natural
world, and society continuously strives to
regenerate damaged ecosystems – and
to restore community rights to land,
resources and areas of cultural
significance.
4.3.7 People have the capacity and opportunity
to lead fulfilling lives
Society’s ability to thrive relies to a great
extent on the wellbeing of the people
that contribute to it.
But today billions of people are living in
some form of poverty, lacking access to
basic services and economic opportunity.
What’s more, human rights abuses and
discrimination are widespread.
In a Future-Fit Society, people have the
capacity and opportunity to lead fulfilling
lives. This means everyone is able to
meet their basic needs – for nutrition,
education, healthcare, and so on – while
also being free to pursue higher needs –
such as a sense of meaning, belonging,
and creativity.
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4.3.8 Social norms, global governance and economic
growth drive the pursuit of future-fitness
The other seven properties of a Future-
Fit Society describe the outcomes that
such a society will deliver. In contrast,
this property is about putting in place the
conditions that will enable those
outcomes.
Social norms, global governance and how
we pursue economic growth are what
drive the behaviours of all social systems.
Today those drivers are misaligned, so
we remain on the same breakdown
trajectories that have led to the
existential problems we are now facing.
Examples of breakthrough technologies
and business models can be found
everywhere, but until society starts to
truly value and actively favour such
endeavours, it may prove impossible to
replicate their success at sufficient speed
and scale.
In a Future-Fit Society, social norms,
global governance and economic growth
drive the pursuit of future-fitness. Rapid
and radical progress becomes the rule
rather than the exception, because
society recognizes and rewards actions
that move us in the right direction.
4.4 The role of every social system
A Future-Fit Society lies within
our grasp if we work together.
The Properties of a Future-Fit Society
offer a shared destination to aim for. But
how can any specific social system be
sure it is helping – rather than hindering
– our collective progress? To answer that
question, we can start by considering the
full range of impacts any social system
may have across two independent
dimensions, as shown in Figure 4.3.
A social system’s impacts may
be either positive or negative.
Positive impacts are those which help to
bring society into closer alignment with
the aforementioned properties, and so
move us toward future-fitness. Negative
impacts are those which hold us back.
A social system’s impacts may
be either direct or indirect.
All social systems rely on the activities of
others – for example, to provide them
with essential goods and services – and
those activities might lead to a wide
range of impacts, both good and bad.
A social system cannot absolve itself of
responsibility for such impacts if its own
success depends on the activities which
cause them. We can class such impacts
as indirect, in contrast to the direct
impacts which one’s own activities cause.
It is important to note that there are two
degrees of accountability at play here: a
social system can control its own actions
– and thus its direct impacts – but it can
only influence the actions of others.
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Figure 4.3: A social system’s impacts may be considered across two dimensions:
positive versus negative, and direct versus indirect.
The break-even point for
extra‑financial performance.
As we learned in section 3.6, our
economic system has evolved to treat
financial returns and value creation as
one and the same thing. The transition to
a Future‑Fit Society requires a more
holistic approach: one in which all social
systems strive to create system value by
positively impacting all three dimensions
of the Triple Bottom Line.
This begs the question: what is the
minimum any social system must do to
remain viable? With respect to the
financial bottom line, the answer has
always been clear: every company,
investor, city or other economic actor
must at least be able to cover its ongoing
costs. Any surplus (or ‘profit’ in business
language) is welcomed, but the minimum
requirement is to break-even.
To guide the creation of system value
effectively, we must clearly identify what
it means to break‑even for the social and
environmental dimensions of the Triple
Bottom Line. This is about determining
what any social system must do – and
what it may do beyond that – to support
our collective journey to future-fitness.
What all social systems must do.
Any social system must do everything in
its power to eliminate negative impacts
that occur as a result of its existence.
This involves two things: modifying its
own activities to align with the FSSD
system conditions (Figure 4.1); and
avoiding any dependence on others who
are not committed to doing the same.
By doing this, every social system can
ensure it does not slow down society’s
progress. This is represented by the
bottom-left quadrant of Figure 4.3.
What any social system may do.
In addition, a social system may actively
seek to speed up society’s progress, by
helping others to avoid causing a
negative impact, by creating a positive
Any social system may
create positive
impact itself
by taking action
to foster wellbeing or
restore the environment
Any social system may
amplify the positive
impact of others
by helping them take action
to foster wellbeing or
restore the environment
Any social system may
reduce the negative
impact of others
by helping them avoid actions
that undermine wellbeing or
degrade the environment
Every social system must
eliminate its own
negative impact
by avoiding all actions
that undermine wellbeing or
degrade the environment
Direct
impact
Negative impact
Positive impact
Indirect
impact
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impact itself, or by amplifying a positive
impact created by others. Such actions
are represented by the other three
quadrants of Figure 4.3.
Pursuing future-fitness
in a holistic way.
Any social system can use this framing to
explore its overall contribution, for good
or ill, to realizing the Properties of a
Future-Fit Society. For example, what can
and should a city do, to ensure that
Energy is renewable and available to all?
And what can and should a household
do, to ensure that Waste does not exist?
If all social systems apply this approach,
to work both individually and in concert
in pursuit of future-fitness, the SDGs –
and all that they stand for – will be well
within our grasp (see Figure 4.4).
Figure 4.4: Reaching the SDGs is a step on the path to a Future-Fit Society.
Water is responsibly sourced
and available to all
Natural resources are managed
to safeguard ecosystems,
communities and animals
The environment is
free from pollution
Waste does not exist
Our physical presence
protects the health of
ecosystems and communities
People have the
capacity and opportunity
to lead fulfilling lives
Social norms, global governance
and economic growth drive the
pursuit of future-fitness
Energy is renewable
and available to all
Properties of a
Future-Fit Society
Alignment with the
Sustainable Development Goals
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5. Actionable guidance
for business
Objectives can be compared to a compass bearing by
which a ship navigates… Without a compass bearing,
a ship would neither find its port nor be able to
estimate the time required to get there. Peter Drucker
5.1 Toward Future-Fit Business
What should business do?
Many types of business – movie studios,
fashion houses and ice cream vendors, to
take a few examples – do not try to solve
society’s biggest challenges. This doesn’t
make them ‘bad’ or incompatible with a
Future-Fit Society: many might say life
would be dull without great films, fine
clothes, and the occasional treat.
Other companies have business models
which are more obviously aligned with
meeting societal needs – such as food or
pharmaceutical producers – but this
doesn’t mean they are inherently ‘good’.
Even if their products are beneficial, such
companies may rely on many activities
which exacerbate systemic problems.
What matters from a system perspective
is that every company does nothing to
undermine society’s transition:
A Future-Fit Business in no way
undermines – and ideally increases –
the possibility that humans and other
life will flourish on Earth forever.
Developing actionable guidance.
As discussed in the previous chapter, this
is about reaching a set of environmental
and social thresholds that constitute the
extra-financial break-even point for value
creation, across the Triple Bottom Line.
In this chapter we identify exactly what
this looks like in a business context.
Any tool must be both useful and usable,
and the Future-Fit Business Benchmark is
no exception. To translate the
requirements for society into actionable
guidance for companies, it was necessary
to answer two questions:
• The requirement for business:
What do business leaders and
investors need, if we are to equip
them to rise to the challenge?
• The role and reach of business:
What can – and what must – each
company do, within and beyond its
value web, to play its part in
reaching a Future-Fit Society?
Each of these areas is now addressed.
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5.2 The requirement for business
In theory, any company could take the
requirements for a Future-Fit Society
introduced in section 4.2 and deduce
how its business needs to change. In
practice, only the most progressive
companies are likely to invest the effort
required to figure out how to do this.
Furthermore, the chances are that left to
their own devices, any two companies –
even within the same industry – would
frame their ambitions and assess their
progress in completely different ways.
This is not ideal: we have a common
destination in mind – a Future-Fit Society
– so why not track commitments and
progress in the same way, too? In fact,
there are four good reasons to do so:
Peer pressure drives progress.
While every business should remain
focused on the destination, companies
will always seek to understand what
their competitors are doing – and may
be spurred into raising their own game
as a result. If everyone looks at progress
in a similar way, it’s easier for a company
to track how it is doing relative to its
peers in pursuit of the right end goals.
Investors want to identify
who the true leaders are.
The lack of comparability around
corporate environmental and social
targets makes it difficult for even the
most diligent investor to determine
which companies are doing most to
prepare for systemic risks and open up
6
Greenhouse gas emissions are the notable
exception: a kilogram of CO
2
emitted in one part
new opportunities for growth. A concise,
comparable, aggregable set of metrics,
which frame short-term actions in the
context of meaningful long-term
ambitions, would solve this problem.
Collaboration requires a
shared vision and goals.
Effective partnerships will be critical if
any company – let alone society as a
whole – is to become Future-Fit. A
consistent set of goals can help all
organizations across a value web figure
out how to work together, to improve
their mutual future-fitness.
A holistic approach is needed
to avoid unforeseen trade-offs.
As described in section 4.4, there are
many ways in which a company can have
a positive impact, and any such efforts
should be encouraged. That said, no
attempt to ‘do good’ can justify a lack of
necessary progress elsewhere, because
positive and negative impacts almost
never cancel out.
6
A unified framing,
which encompasses all possible positive
and negative contributions to a
Future‑Fit Society, can help to ensure
that even the most focused company
does not lose sight of the big picture.
Whatever positive impacts a company
creates, it must become Future-Fit
before it can claim with any confidence
to be creating system value.
of the world can be ‘cancelled out’ by another
drawn down out of the atmosphere elsewhere.
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Equipping business leaders and
investors with what they need.
The above considerations informed the
pivotal phase in the Benchmark’s
development: translating the concepts
presented thus far into a set of
Break‑Even Goals, Positive Pursuits, and
complementary performance indicators
(see Figure 5.1).
The next section describes the
development methodology employed.
Figure 5.1: The anatomy of the Future-Fit Business Benchmark.
5.3 The role and reach of business
What every business must do,
and what any business may do.
The FSSD system conditions introduced
in section 4.2 offer a solid, science-based
foundation for identifying what every
company must do, as well as what any
company may do beyond that.
A business will reach extra-financial
break-even – and so become Future-Fit –
only when its existence in no way
contributes to breaches in the system
conditions, within and beyond its own
four walls.
In addition – and even before it becomes
Future-Fit itself – a business may pursue
positive outcomes that advance society’s
own progress to future-fitness, by acting
to overcome past system condition
breaches, or by helping others to avoid
future breaches.
The scope of business influence.
To understand what it means for a
business to not contribute to breaches in
the system conditions, we must be clear
on the extent of a company’s potential
to affect others.
what every business must do
The means to
guide, manage and
assess progress
toward each of the
Break-Even Goals
Performance
thresholds that define
the cause no harm
state all companies
must strive to reach
Break-Even
Indicators
Break-Even
Goals
what any business may do
How any company
can and should act
across its value web
to contribute to
society’s transition
to future-fitness
The means to
guide, manage and
assess the social and
environmental value
of Positive Pursuits
Activities
which seek to
advance society’s
adherence to the
System Conditions
Role & Reach
of Business
Positive
Indicators
Positive
Pursuits
Global
Challenges
Environmental and
socioeconomic issues
we must address if
we are to transition
to a flourishing
future for all
Requirement
for Society
System Conditions
defining the thresholds
within which society
must operate to
protect the possibility
of a flourishing future
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Every business is just one actor in a
complex and dynamic value web,
influencing and influenced by a wide
range of other social systems. We can
segment the value web into four areas:
• Suppliers: This encompasses
everyone involved in producing the
inputs that the company depends
upon, and anyone affected by those
activities – including workers and
communities throughout the
company’s supply chains.
• Operations: The activities of the
company itself, including the
communities and workers that
support them.
• Products: The revenue-generating
goods and services offered by a
company, and the individuals,
companies, or other actors who
benefit from or are affected by them.
• Society: Other organizations, physical
infrastructure, and shared societal
institutions which the company can
influence and/or be influenced by.
This value web segmentation serves as
the basis for determining two things.
First, the extent to which a company
should be held responsible for system
condition breaches. Second, the degree
to which a company may seek to have a
positive impact – and be recognized for
doing so – by reversing the effects of
past breaches, or helping others to avoid
future breaches.
These two complementary aspects to
pursuing future-fitness – responsibility
for eliminating negative impact, and
recognition for positive impact – are
summarized in Figure 5.2, and are
described in depth below.
Business responsibility
for negative impacts
across the value web
Few would take issue with the notion
that a company is responsible and wholly
accountable for impacts within its direct
control, such as those related to its day-
to-day operations and the design of its
products. However, from a systems
perspective, a business is also mutually
accountable for certain impacts outside
its direct control:
A company is mutually accountable for
any impact beyond its own four walls, to
the degree to which that impact is a
consequence of the company’s existence.
To identify the break-even point every
business must reach, this definition of
mutual accountability must be applied
across all four areas of the value web.
Break-even in relation to suppliers.
No business can be Future-Fit if its
success relies on using inputs which
themselves cause system condition
breaches. So mutual accountability here
is about not externalizing breaches back
through the company’s supply chains.
The exact requirements vary, as follows:
• Outsourced core functions: When a
company outsources any activity
that it would otherwise have to
undertake itself (e.g. customer
support, manufacturing, logistics) it
also outsources all negative impacts
associated with that activity. Hence
a company is mutually accountable
for avoiding or addressing all system
condition breaches caused by the
provision of its outsourced
functions.
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Figure 5.2: Mapping the Requirement for Society onto the Role and Reach of Business
to identify what business can and must do with respect to the system conditions.
• Product inputs: No company can
produce physical goods – or offer
services whose delivery involves the
consumption of such goods –
without relying on raw materials,
manufactured parts, etc. Hence
mutual accountability demands that
a company works to avoid or
address all cradle-to-gate impacts
caused by the provision of its
product inputs.
Not forcing
customers to
cause breaches
via its products
The business in no
way contributes
to breachingthe
system conditions
Not externalizing
breaches
through its
supply chains
Operations
Not causing
breaches
through its
own activities
Suppliers Products
Not underm ining
broader society’s
capacity to
avoid breaches
Society
Responsibility
for achieving
Break-Even
Activities across the value web
System Conditions
to enable flourishing
Requirement
for Society
Responsibilityand
recognition for action
Role of
Business
Activity and influence
across the value web
Reach of
Business
What any business may do
Positive Pursuits
Break-Even
What every business must do
+ +
Increasin g
ability of others to
reverse the effects
of past breaches
Enab ling
customers to
reverse the effects
of past breaches
Enab ling
suppliers to
reverse the effects
of past breaches
Operations
Reversing
the effects of past
breaches through
its own activities
Suppliers Products Society
The business acts to
reverse the effects
of past system
condition breaches
The business acts to
help others avoid
future system
condition breaches
Enab ling
customers to
avoid future
breaches
Enab ling
suppliers to
avoid future
breaches
N/A
Increasin g
ability of others
to avoid future
breaches
Recognition
for undertaking
Positive Pursuits
Activities across the value web
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• Ancillary goods and spend: This
encompasses three types of
purchase. First, services that a
company uses from time to time
(e.g. consultancy, taxis, flights and
hotels for business travel). Second,
general goods consumed in the
course of day-to-day operations
(e.g. office supplies, cleaning
products). Third, purchased or
leased capital assets that support
day-to-day activities (e.g. buildings,
IT equipment, machinery, furniture).
A company can generally source
such inputs on a like-for-like basis
from a range of suppliers, but its
influence over any one of them is
likely to be negligible. In this case,
mutual accountability extends to
selecting the best option available.
Today’s global supply chains can be
highly complex and opaque. Traceability
of business inputs – and their resulting
impacts – is thus a significant challenge.
However, ignorance is no defence, and a
company is wholly accountable for doing
all it can through its procurement
practices to continuously anticipate,
avoid and address supply chain hotspots,
until the above requirements are met.
Break-even in relation to
operations.
A company is wholly accountable for
eliminating negative environmental and
social impacts caused by its own
activities, and that extends to the actions
of its workers. It is not possible to
completely control the actions of
individual employees, but a company
must do all it can to anticipate and avoid
problems, and to address any issues
effectively when they do arise.
Break-even in relation to products.
A company must do all it can to ensure
that the goods and services it offers do
not harm people or the environment,
but it cannot be expected to exert
complete control over its customers’
actions. So a company is deemed to be
mutually accountable for unavoidable or
likely and foreseeable impacts resulting
from the use and (in the case of physical
goods) post-use processing of its products.
For example, if a company sells a car
powered by an internal combustion
engine, then – because the driver has no
choice in the matter – the company is
mutually accountable for the greenhouse
gases that the car emits during use. If a
company sells an electric car, then the
driver is free to use renewable sources of
electricity to charge the battery. In this
case the company is not mutually
accountable for any greenhouse gas
emissions that occur (during electricity
generation) if the customer uses a
carbon-emitting source of electricity.
Break-even in relation to society.
A company must behave ethically, and
must in no way – through either action
(such as lobbying against progressive
legislation) or inaction (such as failing to
pay sufficient taxes) undermine the
integrity of the societal institutions and
physical infrastructure we all rely on.
A company is also mutually accountable
for the impact of its financial assets.
Every organization is constrained in its
actions by its access to capital, and
companies have the power to provide
such access, in the form of investments
or loans. Business must do all it can to
ensure that it does not financially
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support any activity whose success
depends on breaches to the system
conditions (e.g. providing project finance
to build coal-fired power stations).
Business recognition for
positive impacts across
the value web
Recall that a company may pursue
positive outcomes either by acting to
overcome past breaches to the system
conditions, or by helping others to avoid
future breaches. Again, we look at all
four areas of the value web in turn.
Positive Pursuits in relation to
suppliers.
As explained above, a company cannot
be considered Future-Fit with respect to
its suppliers until it has effectively
avoided or addressed all negative
impacts that occur within its supply
chains.
Attaining this level of performance –
particularly for product inputs with
complex, multi-layered supply chains –
may take significant time and effort.
However, there is a big difference
between waiting for a supply chain to
improve, and actively intervening to
improve it. Hence any action a company
takes to enable a supplier to reach
break‑even constitutes a Positive Pursuit.
For example, a company sourcing an
agricultural input from a water-stressed
region may offer financial assistance
and/or expertise to help suppliers install
drip irrigation technology, thus radically
reducing the input’s water footprint.
A company may also pursue positive
outcomes by helping suppliers to reverse
past environmental impacts (e.g. by
restoring previously-felled forests), or
increasing economic opportunity among
underserved groups (e.g. by enabling
access to commodities markets for
smallholder farmers in remote areas).
Positive Pursuits in relation to
operations.
A company has complete control over its
own operational activities, so gradual
reduction of its own negative impacts
toward break-even do not count as a
Positive Pursuit.
However, a company may achieve
positive outcomes through its own
activities if it goes beyond break-even,
and begins to reverse environmental
impacts (e.g. by generating more
renewable energy than it needs, and
offering the surplus back to the grid), or
if it increases social inclusion by actively
seeking to employ people from
underserved groups.
Positive Pursuits in relation to
products.
A company may achieve a positive
outcome by enabling its customers to
eliminate their own negative impacts
(e.g. by vastly reducing their need for
fossil fuels or fresh water) – or even to
have a positive impact themselves.
Note, however, that it is difficult to
assess with any confidence – or
credibility – the positive impact a
product has, because the benefit
accruing from its use depends on the
other options available. Consider, for
example, a highly efficient but gasoline-
powered SUV. If a customer were to buy
such a vehicle to replace a more efficient
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compact car, the net change in green-
house gas emissions would be worse.
The case may be stronger when it comes
to products that completely eliminate a
negative impact – if the new SUV was
powered only by electricity, for example.
Even then, what if a customer could have
met their transport needs using more
energy-efficient public transit?
There are no easy answers – and even
the most well-meaning business may end
up being accused of greenwashing if its
claims of positive impact are overblown.
There are, however, two ways to
increase the chances that products really
will have a measurable positive impact.
The first is to offer goods or services
whose use actually reverses past
environmental impacts (e.g. technology
to clean up polluted rivers). The second
is to enable underserved groups to meet
their basic needs (e.g. by providing clean
energy or affordable healthcare to the
rural poor), thus overcoming barriers to
social inclusion and wellbeing.
Positive Pursuits in relation to
society.
As noted in section 3.6, there is no magic
button we can press to reorient our
economic system in pursuit of future-
fitness. But a new growth paradigm can
emerge if we work together to transform
social norms, global governance, shared
infrastructure, and market mechanisms.
Any company may actively contribute to
this shift, through the application of its
corporate and/or brand influence, its
core competencies and technical
know‑how, and how it chooses to invest
its financial capital.
5.4 Deriving the Break-Even Goals,
Positive Pursuits, and Indicators
5.4.1 Break-Even Goals
Break-Even Goals were formulated to
give business leaders a clear destination
to aim for, such that:
• Each goal is expressed as a single
sentence, whose meaning can be
grasped by business leaders,
investors and other key stakeholders
without lengthy explanation.
• Each goal represents the minimum
level of performance to aim for in
one part of the value web (e.g.
products, operations) and relates to
one issue (e.g. wages, waste).
• All goals together identify the social
and environmental break-even point
that every company must reach.
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To derive these goals, it was first
necessary to examine all of the ways in
which a company could breach the
system conditions – and thus slow down
progress toward realizing the Properties
of a Future-Fit Society (Figure 4.2).
The next step was to identify what
behaviours would have to be in place to
ensure that such breaches would not
occur. Finally, these behaviours were
translated into a set of clear, concise
Break-Even Goals. Figure 5.3 summarizes
this process, and details of the mapping
can be found in Appendix 2. The goals
themselves are presented in the next
chapter.
Figure 5.3: How the Future-Fit Break-Even Goals were derived.
Not forcing
customers to
cause breaches
via its products
The business in no
way contributes
to breaching the
system conditions
Not externalizing
breaches
through its
supply chains
Operations
Not causing
breaches
through its
own activities
Suppliers Products
Not underm ining
broader society’s
capacity to
avoid breaches
Society
Responsibility
for achieving
Break-Even
Activities across the value web
System Conditions
to enable flourishing
Requirement
for Society
Responsibility and
recognition for action
Role of
Business
Activity and influence
across the value web
Reach of
Business
+ +
What every business must do
Break-Even
Identify all activities
that may breach the
system conditions
through the company’s
own actions, or as a
result of its interaction
with and influence
over others across
the value web
Determine
how to do
business
in a way
that avoids
causing any
negative
impacts
Performance
thresholds that
define the state
all companies
must strive to
reach
Break-
Even Goals
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5.4.2 Break-Even Indicators
Business leaders need to monitor
performance and prioritize where action
is most needed. Furthermore, investors
and other stakeholders need to make
meaningful comparisons across
companies, to understand who is leading
the pursuit of future-fitness. Hence we
need a consistent way to assess progress
toward each Break-Even Goal.
Design criteria for indicators.
In developing the indicators, the
following design criteria were employed:
Calculable…
• All data required to compute an
indicator’s value should be within
the company's power to obtain,
even if some companies may not be
capturing it already.
• Each indicator should be calculable,
even if a company does not know
everything about its impacts (e.g. it
may not know the source of a
purchased material, or the emissions
of a particular site). So indicators
must accommodate knowledge gaps.
• Each indicator should encourage a
company to close its knowledge
gaps, and so it should never penalize
increased knowledge (e.g. finding
out that a particular product has a
negative impact should not improve
the company's score, but neither
should it be reduced).
Comparable…
• Each indicator should measure
performance consistently across any
company, regardless of its size,
sector or location.
Complete…
• The indicators should cover the full
scope of a company’s responsibility,
encompassing all relevant activities
undertaken by or on behalf of the
business, across the value web.
Concise…
• Each indicator should capture
performance in the context of
whichever entity is most relevant to
the goal (e.g. per product, or per
employee). This ensures that the
company is able to identify where
action is most needed.
• Each indicator should aggregate
per‑entity metrics into one value (or
as few as possible, if a single value
would not be meaningful) which
represents the company's overall
progress. Furthermore, the
performance of each entity should
be weighted in accordance with its
overall contribution to the business.
• At both the micro (per-entity) and
macro (company-wide) levels, it
should be possible to express
progress toward break-even as a
percentage.
Credible…
• Each indicator should build on
leading science, and accurately
capture the 'spirit' of the goal it
seeks to measure progress toward.
• Each indicator should draw on best-
available third-party resources, such
as independent industry standards,
insofar as they exist and align with
the required level of performance.
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Evolution of the Indicators
A first set of Break-Even Indicators was
presented in Release 1. Like the
Break‑Even Goals, these have been
refined with early adopters.
One major improvement is that each
goal is now supported by both progress
and context indicators. The intent is not
to burden companies with even more
things to measure, but rather to help
them put their progress in context, to
give a better sense for how well they are
optimizing resources, and how far away
they are from reaching break-even.
Consider, for example, the goal Water
use is environmentally responsible and
socially equitable. There are two aspects
to this, relating to both quantity and
quality. First, a company must reduce
and eventually eliminate its water
consumption from water-stressed
regions. Second, it must ensure that any
discharges do not degrade the quality of
the receiving water body or soil, and do
not cause harm in any other way. To
present the full picture, the goal is
accompanied by four indicators: two
progress indicators to capture fitness as
a percentage for both consumption and
discharge, and context indicators for
each to record the total amount of water
consumed and discharged respectively.
Note that in keeping with the Concise…
design criterion, additional indicators are
employed only if they help to inform
better business decisions.
For more information on the Break-Even
Indicators, see the Action Guides.
5.4.3 Positive Pursuits
Positive Pursuits were formulated to
help business leaders actively contribute
to society’s future-fitness, such that:
• Each Positive Pursuit is expressed as
a single sentence, whose meaning
can be grasped by business leaders,
investors and other key stakeholders
without lengthy explanation.
• Each Positive Pursuit identifies a way
either to reverse the effects of
negative environmental or social
impacts that occurred in the past, or
to help others avoid having such
negative impacts in the future.
• Each Positive Pursuit relates to one
type of intended outcome which can
be delivered across the value web,
and so encompasses a range of
possible actions – from improving
supplier performance, to offering
beneficial products, to strengthening
the abilities of markets and
institutions to pursue future-fitness.
To derive these Positive Pursuits, it was
first necessary to examine how a
company could act to overcome past
breaches to the system conditions, or
help others to avoid future breaches –
and thus speed up progress toward
realizing the Properties of a Future-Fit
Society (Figure 4.2).
The next step was to group these
behaviours into a clear and concise set of
outcomes which a company may seek to
deliver. Figure 5.4 summarizes this
process, and details of the mapping can
be found in Appendix 2.
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Figure 5.4: How the Future-Fit Positive Pursuits were derived.
5.4.4 Positive Indicators
There are a potentially infinite number
of ways in which a company can
undertake a Positive Pursuit. For
example, ensuring More people are
healthy and safe from harm by reducing
the impact of diabetes among the
world’s poorest people might be tackled
by educating people on healthy eating
Increasing
ability of others to
reverse the effects
of past breaches
Enablin g
customers to
reverse the effects
of past breaches
Enablin g
suppliers to
reverse the effects
of past breaches
Operations
Reversing
the effects of past
breaches through
its own activities
Suppliers Products Society
The business acts to
reverse the effects
of past system
condition breaches
The business acts to
help others avoid
future system
condition breaches
Enablin g
customers to
avoid future
breaches
Enablin g
suppliers to
avoid future
breaches
N/A
Increasin g
ability of others
to avoid future
breaches
Recognition
for undertaking
Positive Pursuits
Activities across the value web
Identify what any business may do
to reduce the negative impact of others,
to create a positive impact itself, or
to amplify the positive impact of others,
so as to bring us closer to reaching the
Properties of a Future-Fit Society.
Outcomes
which advance
society’s
adherence to
the system
conditions
Positive
Pursuits
System Conditions
to enable flourishing
Requirement
for Society
Responsibility and
recognition for action
Role of
Business
Activity and influence
across the value web
Reach of
Business
What any business may do
Positive Pursuits
+ +
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choices, providing access to affordable
insulin, or training healthcare
professionals to spot and treat the
disease before symptoms escalate.
This diversity of approach means it can
be challenging to assess and report on
any two projects in a consistent and
comparable way. But striving to do so is
important, both to inform future project
decisions, and to present results to
investors and others in a meaningful way.
The need for a common way to describe
impact led to the formation of the
Impact Management Project (see box).
Future-Fit Foundation is a contributing
author to the IMP, and our approach to
assessing positive outcomes draws
significantly on their work. We are
committed to refining our guidance in
line with this cross-sector initiative, as it
continues to evolve. For further details
see the Positive Pursuit Guide.
Introducing the Impact Management Project (IMP)
Between 2016 and 2018, the IMP brought together over 2,000 practitioners from across
geographies and disciplines, to arrive at a consensus on how to talk about, manage and
measure impact – bridging the perspectives of business, non-profits, investment, social
science, grant-making, evaluation, policy, standards bodies and accounting. This diverse
group arrived at a shared definition of “impact”, and agreed on the types of data one
would expect to find in any good impact framework or report. [16]
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6. Break-Even Goals
Figure 6.1: The Future-Fit Break-Even Goals.
The environment
is free from pollution
Energy is renewable and
available to all
People have the capacity
and opportunity
to lead fulfilling lives
Social norms, global governance and
economic growth drive the pursuit of
future-fitness
Water is responsibly sourced
and available to all
Natural Resources are managed to safeguard
communities, animals and ecosystems
Our physical presence protects the
health of ecosystems and communities
Waste does not exist
Energy is from renewable sources
Water use is environmentally responsible and
socially equitable
Natural resources are managed to respect the
welfare of ecosystems, people and animals
Operational emissions do not harm people
or the environment
Operations emit no greenhouse gases
Products can be repurposed
Operational waste is eliminated
Products emit no greenhouse gases
Products do not harm people or the environment
Employees are paid at least a living wage
Employee health is safeguarded
Employees are not subject to discrimination
Employees are subject to fair employment terms
Community health is safeguarded
Operations do not encroach on ecosystems or
communities
Product communications are honest, ethical, and
promote responsible use
Procurement safeguards the pursuit of future-fitness
Employee concerns are actively solicited, impartially
judged and transparently addressed
Product concerns are actively solicited, impartially
judged and transparently addressed
Financial assets safeguard the pursuit of future-fitness
The right tax is paid in the right place at the right time
Business is conducted ethically
Lobbying and advocacy safeguard the pursuit of
future-fitness
In a Future-Fit Society…
Break-Even Goals that
every business must strive to reach
SDG alignment
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The 23 Break-Even Goals presented here are grouped according to the eight Properties of a
Future-Fit Society. For each goal a summary is given, together with a link to download the
goal’s Action Guide where detailed guidance on pursuing the goal can be found.
6.1 Energy
In a Future-Fit Society, energy is renewable and available to all.
BE01 Energy is from renewable sources
Oil, coal and gas are often obtained in
environmentally destructive ways, and
their use as fuels leads to greenhouse
gas emissions. Furthermore, these
resources are finite, and their value to
society extends far beyond combustion.
To be Future-Fit, a company must ensure
that all the energy it consumes – as
electricity, heat or fuel – is derived from
renewable energy sources. These include
solar, wind, wave and hydropower,
geothermal resources, and biomass.
Download Action Guide.
6.2 Water
In a Future-Fit Society, water is responsibly sourced
and available to all.
BE02 Water use is environmentally
responsible and socially equitable
Through excessive withdrawals of water,
discharge of polluted wastewater, or by
adversely affecting the characteristics of
any withdrawn water before returning it
to nature, a company may undermine
the quantity, quality, and availability of
water at a local level.
Companies must ensure that their use of
water doesn’t undermine the quantity
and quality of water available for people
and ecosystems that depend on the
watersheds concerned.
To be Future-Fit a company must:
a) minimize – and in water-stressed
regions eventually eliminate – its
consumption of water for industrial
and commercial purposes; and
b) ensure that any discharges do not
degrade the quality of the receiving
water bodies, the health of receiving
soils, or in any other way cause harm
to ecosystems or people.
Download Action Guide.
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6.3 Natural resources
In a Future-Fit Society, natural resources are managed
to safeguard communities, animals and ecosystems
BE03 Natural resources are managed to respect the
welfare of ecosystems, people and animals
As demand for natural resources
increases, so does the pressure placed
on the ecosystems, people and animals
that contribute to their delivery.
The emphasis here is on causing no harm
as a result of the company’s ownership
or management and extraction of
natural resources. This includes but is
not limited to:
• Harvesting renewable resources at
rates that do not reduce nature’s
capacity to regenerate them.
• Extracting non-renewable resources
in ways that do not systematically
damage surrounding ecosystems
and communities.
• Respecting the welfare of animals.
• Avoiding conflict and human rights
violations when mining valuable
minerals.
To be Future-Fit, a company must:
a) preserve the health of all natural
resources it owns or manages; and
b) protect the health of any ecosystems
and communities impacted by
harvesting and extraction activities.
Download Action Guide.
6.4 Pollution
In a Future-Fit Society, the environment is free from pollution.
BE05 Operational emissions do not
harm people or the environment
Company operations can cause the
release of a range of chemicals and
particles. The emission of substances
that are already abundant in nature, and
of substances that nature can break
down rapidly and without consequence,
are not a concern.
Some substances are known to be toxic
to people and organisms. Other
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substances may not seem immediately
harmful, but if nature cannot break them
down rapidly they may – through
gaseous, liquid or solid emissions –
systematically build up in the
environment to dangerous levels.
Substances of greatest concern include
those that are scarce in nature (e.g. trace
metals such as cadmium), those that are
persistent (e.g. CFCs), and those that are
emitted in large volumes (e.g. NOx). All
such potentially harmful substances
must be kept in tight closed loops, or not
used in the first place. The context of this
goal may vary from local (e.g. soil, rivers)
to global (e.g. air, oceans) depending on
the substance and mode of emission.
To be Future-Fit, a company must:
a) eliminate harmful gaseous emissions
(e.g. air pollutants, toxic fumes);
b) eliminate harmful solid emissions
(e.g. scarce metals, use of hazardous
fertilizers); and
c) eliminate harmful liquid emissions
(e.g. spills, chemical fluids).
Download Action Guide.
BE06 Operations emit no greenhouse gases
Nature can safely absorb some human-
made greenhouse gases (GHGs) every
year, but the Future-Fit imperative is for
companies to eliminate all operational
GHG emissions. That’s because we are
dangerously close to reaching
atmospheric GHG levels that will be
catastrophic for society, and any attempt
to divide up the remaining carbon
budget across companies is likely to be
too complex, contentious and/or time-
consuming to result in the scale and
speed of reduction that is now needed.
To be Future-Fit, a company must emit
net zero GHGs as a result of its own
operational activities and its energy
consumption. Net GHG emissions here
means total GHG emissions, less any
emissions that are permanently
sequestered or adequately offset.
Download Action Guide.
BE18 Products emit no greenhouse gases
As with the goal Operations emit no
greenhouse gases, the imperative is for
companies to eliminate all GHG
emissions caused by their products.
Products powered by electricity may
indirectly cause GHG emissions if the
electricity derives from fossil fuels, but
the products are not themselves forcing
that. The focus here is on products that
emit GHGs as a direct consequence of
their use.
To be Future-Fit, a company must ensure
that none of its products emit
greenhouse gases.
Download Action Guide.
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BE17 Products do not harm people
or the environment
Although many goods and services could
be used in ways that harm people or the
environment, the focus here is on three
areas: those which are intended to cause
harm; those whose use could reasonably
be expected to result in harm; and those
which instill or reinforce behaviours that
undermine society’s progress to future-
fitness.
A Future-Fit company ensures that any
goods and services it provides, when
used as intended, do not lead to
environmental degradation, ecosystem
disruption, or negative impacts on
people’s physical and mental wellbeing.
With respect to physical goods, this goal
encompasses sold and leased goods, as
well as any other items provided to
others in support of commercial
activities, but which the company does
not consider to be revenue-generating. It
covers both final end-user products, and
intermediate goods incorporated or
processed into final products by other
companies.
To be Future-Fit, a company must ensure
that the goods and services it provides to
others are not likely to cause harm to
people or the environment through their
use and (in the case of physical goods) at
their end of life.
Download Action Guide.
6.5 Waste
In a Future-Fit Society, waste does not exist.
BE07 Operational waste is eliminated
For the purposes of this goal, waste
means all materials generated as
by‑products of production and other
operational activities which the company
manages to contain, and which require
treatment, repurposing, or disposal.
This includes both hazardous and non-
hazardous manufacturing materials, as
well as non-production waste such as
office paper, food, and retired
equipment.
Organic waste may be composted and
returned to the soil, but any materials
that can be reused must be reclaimed.
To be Future-Fit, a company must:
a) eliminate all avoidable waste
generation; and
b) reuse, recycle or otherwise
repurpose any remaining waste.
Download Action Guide.
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BE19 Products can be repurposed
A Future-Fit company does all it can to
ensure that the physical goods it provides
to others can be responsibly repurposed
at the end of their useful lives.
This goal encompasses sold and leased
goods, as well as any other items
provided to others in support of
commercial activities, but which the
company does not consider to be
revenue-generating. It covers both final
end-user products, and intermediate
goods incorporated or processed into
final products by other companies.
To be Future-Fit, a company must:
a) ensure that whatever remains of the
goods it supplies can be separated at
the end of their useful life, to
maximize their post-use recovery
value; and
b) ensure that its customers have ready
access to recovery services capable
of extracting such value.
Download Action Guide.
6.6 Physical presence
In a Future-Fit Society, our physical presence protects the health
of ecosystems and communities.
BE08 Operations do not encroach
on ecosystems or communities
Growing demand for land is putting
pressure on ecosystems, communities
and plant and animal species. Companies
that do not adequately consider the
impacts of their physical presence may
cause irreversible degradation to natural
processes and resources that they and
others rely on, and may undermine the
wellbeing of local communities.
Negative impacts must be avoided by:
• Respecting the land rights of
communities (e.g. zero tolerance
of land grabbing).
• Protecting aquatic ecosystems from
degradation (e.g. avoiding coral reefs).
• Protecting areas of high biodiversity
value (e.g. no clearing of rainforest
for farmland).
• Not encroaching on areas of cultural
importance (e.g. oil pipelines
running through regions considered
sacred by Indigenous Peoples).
To be Future-Fit, a company must:
a) protect such areas where it is already
present; and
b) take steps to avoid or mitigate
negative outcomes when moving
into new areas.
Download Action Guide.
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6.7 People
In a Future-Fit Society, people have the capacity and opportunity
to lead fulfilling lives.
BE09 Community health is safeguarded
Every business depends on the goodwill,
health and resilience of the communities
in which it operates, and must ensure its
presence does nothing to undermine
their wellbeing.
Future-Fit companies take all steps
possible to ensure their presence does
not negatively impact surrounding
communities. The emphasis here is on
putting in place appropriate mechanisms
to pre-empt, identify, assess and manage
community concerns, so that potentially
serious issues and legitimate grievances
do not go unaddressed.
To be Future-Fit a company must:
a) seek to anticipate and avoid
concerns from communities
potentially affected by its activities;
b) impartially assess any concerns that
do arise; and
c) ensure it effectively and
transparently manages those
concerns.
Download Action Guide.
BE10 Employee health is safeguarded
Companies that do not adequately
address workplace health issues may
cause serious long-term negative health
problems for their employees.
Note that “health” here extends beyond
physical safety to mental and emotional
wellness, and must encompass stress
management and mitigation.
When it comes to physical safety,
companies should take steps to minimize
and mitigate the effects of accidents,
and strive continuously to reduce work-
related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities
to zero.
To be Future-Fit a company must:
a) ensure the safety of all workers;
b) foster physical health (e.g. through
proactive positions on exercise,
nutrition and smoking); and
c) foster mental wellbeing (e.g. zero
tolerance of bullying and
harassment).
Download Action Guide.
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BE11 Employees are paid at least a living wage
A company should ensure all its
employees and their families have the
means to afford health coverage, to eat
a nutritious diet and to be free of
concerns about meeting basic needs.
A living wage affords a decent standard
of living for workers and their families.
Living wage estimates vary by region and
guidance is offered by government
agencies, academics and/or NGOs. In
many regions, the living wage is higher
than the legal minimum wage or
poverty-line wage. Living wage
calculations should focus on employee
compensation with respect to standard
working hours: figures should exclude
overtime pay as well as productivity
bonuses and allowances, unless they are
guaranteed.
To be Future-Fit a company must pay all
its employees at least a living wage.
Download Action Guide.
BE12 Employees are subject to
fair employment terms
Employees who work reasonable hours,
who feel secure in their employment,
and who are afforded adequate time off
are more likely to thrive physically,
emotionally, and mentally – in and
outside work.
This means that employees must have
the right of association (e.g. the right to
join – or refrain from joining – a union),
the right to reasonable working hours,
the right to leisure (e.g. holiday
entitlements and overtime pay) and the
right to parental leave.
To be Future-Fit a company must:
a) ensure the company does not use
child labour;
b) ensure employees’ freedom of
association;
c) structure contracts to include fair
working hours; and
d) accommodate appropriate periods of
leave from work.
Download Action Guide.
BE13 Employees are not subject
to discrimination
Everyone is entitled to equitable
treatment and equal opportunity,
irrespective of personal characteristics
such as age, gender, sexual orientation,
ethnicity, country of origin, or disability.
Discrimination in the workplace may
take many forms, and discriminatory
behaviour can be perpetuated – or at
least go unnoticed and unchallenged –
by established norms and practices
within organizations.
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To be Future-Fit, a company must be
proactive in investigating and monitoring
key practices – such as recruitment, pay
structures, hiring, performance
assessment and promotions – to ensure
that no discrimination occurs, however
unintentional it may be.
Download Action Guide.
BE14 Employee concerns are
actively solicited, impartially judged
and transparently addressed
Companies depend on the commitment
and motivation of their employees, so it
is good business sense to engage them
as much as possible. The intent of this
goal is to set a minimum threshold of
acceptable performance in this regard,
which means ensuring that the company
does nothing to undermine its
employees’ wellbeing.
No company can be completely free of
employee concerns, but it must take all
steps possible to minimize concerns, and
to deal effectively and appropriately with
any concerns that arise.
To be Future-Fit, a company must put in
place appropriate mechanisms to
identify and manage employee concerns,
so that potentially serious issues and
legitimate grievances do not go
unaddressed.
Download Action Guide.
BE15 Product communications are honest,
ethical, and promote responsible use
Some goods and services may cause
harm to people or ecosystems, either
because of the way they are designed, or
because there is a chance that users
could misuse them or dispose of them
incorrectly. The company must make
potential users aware of such risks, to
empower them to make well-informed
decisions regarding the purchase, use
and (in the case of physical goods)
post-use processing of its products.
In addition, a company must ensure it
markets its products honestly and
responsibly by avoiding all misleading
claims regarding product benefits, and
by only targeting appropriate customer
groups (e.g. not marketing cigarettes or
alcohol directly to children).
These requirements cover both final
products designed for end users, and
interim goods which are incorporated or
processed into final products by other
companies.
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To be Future-Fit, a company must:
a) ensure users are informed about any
negative impacts of its products;
b) ensure users are not subject to false
or misleading claims about the
benefits of its products; and
c) ensure products are marketed only
to those capable of making informed
purchasing decisions.
Download Action Guide.
BE16 Product concerns are
actively solicited, impartially judged
and transparently addressed
Other product goals address the ethical
marketing of the company’s goods and
services, whether they have the
potential to cause harm, and how to
ensure that goods can be repurposed at
the end of their useful life. By living up to
all of these goals, a company can
minimize the number of concerns its
customers have. However, it is still
important that customers are able to
voice legitimate concerns – and to have
those concerns fairly addressed – if they
feel that a company has fallen short of
meeting its obligations.
These requirements cover both final
products designed for end users, and
interim goods which are incorporated or
processed into final products by other
companies.
To be Future-Fit, a company must
therefore put in place effective policies
and procedures to actively solicit,
impartially judge and transparently
address customer concerns relating to
the environmental and social impact of
the goods or services it delivers.
Download Action Guide.
6.8 Drivers
In a Future-Fit Society, social norms, global governance and
economic growth drive the pursuit of future-fitness.
BE04 Procurement safeguards
the pursuit of future-fitness
Every company relies to some extent
upon goods and services procured from
other organizations, which are
collectively referred to as suppliers.
Common examples include energy,
water, computers, transport, machinery,
furniture, accounting services, and
materials required to make products.
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All companies are mutually accountable
for the environmental and social impacts
caused by the production and delivery of
the goods and services they depend
upon. Only when a company has
effectively avoided or addressed such
negative impacts can it consider itself to
be Future-Fit.
This goal requires a company to
implement policies and procedures that
continuously seek to increase the future-
fitness of its purchases, with a particular
emphasis on anticipating, avoiding and
addressing issue-specific supply chain
hotspots.
To be Future-Fit, a company must:
a) have policies and processes in place
that enable it and its employees to
anticipate where negative supply
chain impacts are likely to occur;
b) avoid them where possible; and
c) take measurable steps to address
concerns that arise.
Download Action Guide.
BE20 Business is conducted ethically
All Future-Fit Break-Even Goals can and
should be interpreted as matters of
business ethics that apply to any
company. This goal, in contrast, focuses
on the proactive identification and pre-
emptive prevention of any specific issues
which could – due to the unique nature
of a company’s business – lead to ethical
breaches.
The kinds of ethical breach that might
occur will vary widely across companies,
depending on their size, structure,
sector, business model, geographical
presence, and so on. A Future-Fit
company is not one that is immune to
ethical concerns and challenges. Rather,
it is one that puts in place effective
internal control mechanisms to reduce
the likelihood of breaches, to encourage
people (employees and third parties) to
raise the alarm when one does occur,
and to respond effectively to them.
Examples of potential issues include:
• Anti-competitive practices
(e.g. unfair supplier treatment,
price fixing).
• Dis-information (e.g. misrepresenting
or failing to disclose information
which could influence stakeholder
decisions or wellbeing).
• Abuse of trust (e.g. inappropriate
use of personal data).
• Wilful ignorance (e.g. neglecting to
investigate supply chains in which
human rights abuses are suspected).
To be Future-Fit, a company must:
a) identify high-risk areas for ethical
issues within the business;
b) adopt a public commitment to
ethical conduct; and
c) establish internal controls to ensure
it lives up to that commitment.
Download Action Guide.
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BE21 The right tax is paid in
the right place at the right time
Governments require tax revenue to
fund critical services upon which society
and business depends. Companies have
an obligation to their shareholders to be
diligent in their approach to tax
payments. This goal recognizes the fact
that through taxation any company must
also contribute to the infrastructure it
utilizes and relies upon for its success
(e.g. transport networks, legal system,
healthcare, education, public utilities)
and even its existence, meaning that
these outcomes are not at odds with
each other.
To be Future-Fit, a company must:
a) commit publicly to a responsible tax
policy;
b) adopt a transparent approach to tax
reporting; and
c) not deliberately seek ways to obey
the letter but not the spirit of
regional tax laws.
Download Action Guide.
BE22 Lobbying and advocacy safeguard the
pursuit of future-fitness
Companies often seek to influence the
markets within which they operate, by
pressuring and persuading those with
the power to change them.
This goal recognizes that any attempt to
influence market dynamics in favour of
the business must not in any way
contribute to hindering progress toward
future-fitness, in or beyond the
company. For example, a Future-Fit
company would never knowingly fund
any organization that protests against
more stringent toxic emissions laws.
The requirement here is not to
proactively lobby or advocate in favour
of Future-Fit outcomes, but rather to
ensure that the company does not use
its influence to undermine such
outcomes. This includes any direct effort
by the company to sway public opinion
(e.g. consumer campaigns), and also
extends to cover contributions
(e.g. membership fees or donations) to
any third party which may influence on
the company’s behalf.
To be Future-Fit, a company must:
a) implement internal controls to
ensure that the organization does
not lobby or advocate against
Future-Fit outcomes; and
b) disclose details of the contributions
it makes to third-party influencers.
Download Action Guide.
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Break-Even Goals
Release 2.2 – April 2020 Page 57 of 84
BE23 Financial assets safeguard
the pursuit of future-fitness
Many companies own or control financial
assets (equity investments, debt
instruments, cash deposits with banks)
as part of their core business, as a
strategic business objective or simply as
a method of utilizing spare cash until it is
needed for other purposes.
Purchasing and trading financial assets
linked to an underlying organization
supplies capital for the investee to
continue – or expand – its activities. Any
positive or negative outcomes caused by
the investee may be sustained or
increased by the capital provided, and so
the investor is mutually accountable for
them.
To be Future-Fit, a company using its
capital to finance the activities of others
must strive to safeguard the pursuit of
future-fitness, by identifying and
mitigating any negative impacts resulting
from those activities.
Download Action Guide.
Methodology Guide
Positive Pursuits
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7. Positive Pursuits
Figure 7.1: The Future-Fit Positive Pursuits.
The environment
is free from pollution
Energy is renewable and
available to all
People have the capacity
and opportunity
to lead fulfilling lives
Social norms, global governance and
economic growth drive the pursuit of
future-fitness
Water is responsibly sourced
and available to all
Natural Resources are managed to safeguard
communities, animals and ecosystems
Our physical presence
protects the health of
ecosystems and communities
Waste does not exist
Others depend less on non-renewable energy
More people have access to energy
Social norms increasingly support
the pursuit of future-fitness
Others contribute less to water stress
More people have access to clean water
Others depend less on inadequately-managed
natural resources
Harmful emissions are removed from
the environment
Others generate fewer harmful emissions
Others generate fewer greenhouse gas emissions
Greenhouse gases are removed from
the atmosphere
Ecosystems are restored
Others cause less ecosystem degradation
Areas of high social or cultural value are restored
Others cause less damage to areas of high social
or cultural value
Waste is reclaimed and repurposed
Others generate less waste
People’s capabilities are strengthened
Individual freedoms are upheld for more people
More people are healthy and safe from harm
More people have access to economic opportunity
Social cohesion is strengthened
Governance is strengthened
in pursuit of future-fitness
Market mechanisms are strengthened
in pursuit of future-fitness
Infrastructure is strengthened
in pursuit of future-fitness
In a Future-Fit Society…
Positive Pursuits that any business
may undertake
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
SDG
SDG alignment
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SDG
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SDG
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SDG
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SDG
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SDG
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SDG
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SDG
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SDG
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The 24 Positive Pursuits presented here are grouped according to the eight Properties of a
Future-Fit Society. For each Positive Pursuit a summary is given. Further details, including
examples and how to assess outcomes, can be found in the Positive Pursuit Guide.
7.1 Energy
In a Future-Fit Society, energy is renewable and available to all.
PP01 Others depend less on non-renewable energy
Every company must eliminate its own
dependence on non-renewable energy,
to live up to the Break-Even Goals. Here
we consider actions that go beyond this.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• More renewable energy is available
to replace non-renewable
alternatives; or
• Others are able to meet their needs
using less energy.
PP02 More people have access to energy
Many companies contribute goods and
services to the global energy system, but
that does not necessarily mean they are
speeding up society’s progress to future-
fitness: the key issue here is access.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• Previously underserved people gain
reliable and affordable access to
both clean cooking facilities and
electricity.
7
Note: In a Future-Fit Society, everyone will have access to renewable energy. However, if
energy is provided to people who previously had none, then a major barrier to their
wellbeing is being removed, even if that energy is derived from non-renewable sources.
This is an important outcome which should be recognized – while acknowledging that it is
a less-than-perfect interim step toward full access to renewable energy. Also note that if a
company generates more GHG emissions as a result of providing such access to energy, or
causes its customers to do so, those side-effects will be captured as negative contributions
to the Break-Even Goals focused on operational and product GHG emissions respectively.
7
There is no single universally-agreed
understanding of what ‘access to energy’ means.
The description used here draws on the
International Energy Agency’s methodology for
defining energy access. [23]
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7.2 Water
In a Future-Fit Society, water is responsibly sourced
and available to all.
PP03 Others contribute less to water stress
Every company must eliminate its own
contribution to water stress, to live up to
the Break-Even Goals. Here we consider
actions that go beyond this.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• More clean water is made available
without exacerbating water stress;
or
• Others are able to meet their needs
using less water.
PP04 More people have access to clean water
Many companies contribute goods and
services to the global water system, but
that does not necessarily mean they are
speeding up society’s progress to future-
fitness: the key issue here is access.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• Previously underserved people gain
access to clean and reliable
freshwater.
8
7.3 Natural resources
In a Future-Fit Society, natural resources are managed
to safeguard communities, animals and ecosystems
PP05 Others depend less on
inadequately-managed natural resources
Every company must ensure that any
natural resources it obtains itself are
managed responsibly, to live up to the
8
A commonly used definition of ‘access to water’
is having a source of clean, reliable water within
one kilometer of a person’s dwelling. [22]
Break-Even Goals. Here we consider
actions that go beyond this.
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This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• More responsibly-managed natural
resources are produced, to increase
the amount available to others;
• A natural resource which was being
produced in a disruptive way is
transformed to be responsibly-
managed;
• Fewer goods and services are
derived from endangered or
threatened flora and fauna; or
• Less natural resource is required to
serve the same needs.
Note: Unlike energy and water, natural resources in their raw form are not a basic need,
since a relatively small proportion of people require direct access to them. For this reason,
there is not a Positive Pursuit category which refers specifically to natural resource access.
However, it is important to keep in mind that all socioeconomic actors rely on goods and
services which are ultimately derived from natural resources. So if a company were to offer
a new product which embeds only responsibly-managed natural resources – to displace
market alternatives which embed inadequately-managed ones – the outcome would be
covered by this Positive Pursuit (in this case “Others” would be the customers of the
improved product).
7.4 Pollution
In a Future-Fit Society, the environment is free from pollution.
PP06 Others generate fewer
greenhouse gas emissions
Every company must eliminate its own
greenhouse gas emissions, and any
caused by its products as a consequence
of their use, to live up to the Break-Even
Goals. Here we consider actions that go
beyond this.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• An activity is modified to deliver the
same results with lower greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions;
• An activity is substituted by another
which leads to no GHG emissions; or
• GHGs are intercepted before
emission, and either used or stored
in a way that prevents later
emission.
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PP07 Greenhouse gases are removed
from the atmosphere
Greenhouse gases are continuously
removed from the atmosphere through
natural processes of carbon sequestration
and storage. In particular, photosynthesis
in trees, plants and algae absorbs carbon
dioxide from the air and converts it into
other carbon compounds. These end up
in biomass – such as tree trunks,
branches and roots – and soils, which
serve as natural carbon sinks.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• Natural carbon sinks are planted,
grown or otherwise created;
• Existing natural carbon sinks are
enhanced to absorb and store more
carbon; or
• GHGs are removed from the
atmosphere by technical means, and
either used or stored in a way that
prevents future emission.
PP08 Others generate fewer harmful emissions
Every company must eliminate its own
harmful emissions, to live up to the
Break-Even Goals. Here we consider
actions that go beyond this.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• An activity is modified to deliver the
same results with fewer harmful
emissions; or
• An activity is substituted by another
which leads to no harmful emissions;
or
• Harmful substances are intercepted
before emission into the
environment, and either used or
stored in a way that prevents later
emission.
PP09 Harmful emissions are removed
from the environment
Some harmful substances – such as
scarce metals – may be physically
removed from the environment. Others
may not be easily removed, but their
disruptive effects may be neutralized.
For example, a benign chemical may be
used to disperse spilled oil and render it
harmless.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• Substances which degrade air
quality, water quality, or soil health
are removed or neutralized; or
• Substances which can otherwise
disrupt the health of people,
organisms and ecosystems are
removed or neutralized.
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7.5 Waste
In a Future-Fit Society, waste does not exist.
PP10 Others generate less waste
Every company must eliminate its own
waste, and make sure that any goods it
provides to others can be repurposed
after use, to live up to the Break-Even
Goals. Here we consider actions that go
beyond this.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• An existing need is met in a new or
modified way, resulting in fewer by-
products; or
• Materials that would otherwise have
been discarded are reused, recycled
or (if biogenic and with all other
options exhausted) burned for
energy.
PP11 Waste is reclaimed and repurposed
In many cases, environmental
degradation can be reduced or even
reversed by ‘re‑extracting’ and reusing
previously discarded materials, that have
been left to build up in nature, in place
of virgin natural resources.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• Previously generated waste is
removed from the environment –
such as landfills or oceans – and
repurposed as a production input.
7.6 Physical presence
In a Future-Fit Society, our physical presence protects the health
of ecosystems and communities.
PP12 Others cause less ecosystem degradation
Every company must avoid encroaching
on ecosystems, to live up to the Break-
Even Goals. Here we consider actions
that go beyond this.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• Ecosystems are protected from
further encroachment; or
• Activities that lead to ecosystem
degradation are avoided.
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PP13 Ecosystems are restored
Ecosystems which have been damaged
by human presence do not have to
remain degraded. Through certain
activities, they can gradually be restored
to their previous state, or a well-
functioning approximation thereof.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• Ecosystems are actively restored –
for example by replanting native
trees, repairing natural flood
defences, and re-introducing native
species to speed up recovery; or
• Ecosystems are allowed to
regenerate naturally – for example
by protecting degraded areas from
further human interference.
PP14 Others cause less damage to
areas of high social or cultural value
Every company must avoid encroaching
on areas of high social or cultural value,
to live up to the Break-Even Goals. Here
we consider actions that go beyond this.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• Areas of social or cultural
importance are protected; or
• Land grabbing practices are avoided
by establishing people’s traditional
or customary rights to use, manage
and control land, fisheries and
forests.
PP15 Areas of high social or cultural value
are restored
Cultural heritage has increasingly been
seen as an instrument for peace and
reconciliation. Its restoration can help
rebuild societies and overcome a sense
of loss in the wake of conflict.
Furthermore, in recent years, a legal
precedent has been established where
land has been returned to those with
traditional or customary rights.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• Areas of cultural or social value are
reconstructed or rebuilt; or
• Land which has been acquired in a
contentious way is returned to those
with traditional or customary rights
to it.
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7.7 People
In a Future-Fit Society, people have the capacity and opportunity
to lead fulfilling lives.
PP16 More people are healthy and safe from harm
Every company must safeguard the
health of its employees, customers, and
communities, to live up to the Break-
Even Goals. Here we consider actions
that go beyond this.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• Premature deaths and illnesses are
prevented;
• Exploitation and abuse is prevented;
• Mental health issues are prevented;
• Slavery and forced labour is prevented;
• More people gain access to
nutritious food, and an end to
malnutrition;
• More people gain access to clean
water and sanitation;
• More people gain access to
adequate housing; or
• More people gain access to
healthcare, including reproductive
healthcare services.
PP17 People’s capabilities are strengthened
People should have access to the
relevant knowledge, technology and
services that will allow them to respond
to day-to-day challenges and
opportunities to the best of their ability.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• More people gain access to
education and vocational training;
• More people gain access to
information needed to make more
informed decisions, for example
with respect to reproductive
choices;
• More people gain access to
information and communication
technologies;
• More people gain access to
productivity-enhancing technologies,
such as farming implements or
manufacturing equipment;
• More people gain access to social
security, insurance and finance, as a
means to build resilience to
unforeseen shocks; or
• More people gain access to
transport networks, to bring more
opportunities within their reach.
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PP18 More people have access to
economic opportunity
Every company must ensure its own
employees are subject to fair employment
terms and paid a living wage, to live up
to the Break-Even Goals. Here we
consider actions that go beyond this.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• More people have access to
livelihood opportunities which live
up to the definition of Decent
Work
9
;
• Access to markets and value chains
is available to people who were
previously unable to participate;
• The right to benefit economically
from local resources, including land,
is upheld for more communities.
PP19 Individual freedoms are upheld
for more people
Every company must ensure its own
employees are not subject to
discrimination of any kind, to live up to
the Break-Even Goals. Here we consider
actions that go beyond this.
People’s individual freedoms must be
respected, so that everyone can express
themselves and participate in social,
political and economic life without fear
of discrimination.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• Freedom of thought, conscience,
religion, opinion, expression and
association is upheld for more
people;
• More people are free from
discrimination;
• The right to bodily integrity
10
is
upheld for more people; or
• The right to privacy is upheld for
more people.
PP20 Social cohesion is strengthened
For everyone to have the opportunity to
pursue higher needs, people must be
9
“Decent Work” is defined by the International
Labour Organization as work that is “productive,
delivers a fair income with security and social
protection, safeguards the basic rights, offers
equality of opportunity and treatment, prospects
able to form, participate in and rely on
social groups. Such social cohesion is
for personal development and the chance for
recognition and to have your voice heard”. [24]
10
Right to bodily integrity emphasizes a person’s
right to autonomy over their own body and is
stipulated in the EU Charter of Fundamental
Rights. [25]
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crucial to building trust and respect
among individuals, communities and
institutions.
Social cohesion depends on strong bonds
within communities and strong bridges
between communities. The emphasis of
this Positive Pursuit is therefore not on
safeguarding individual wellbeing, but on
fostering common ground and closing
opportunity gaps between individuals.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• Social divides are overcome – such
as language barriers and prejudices;
• Economic divides are overcome –
such as a lack of affordability or
education; or
• Physical barriers are overcome –
such as a lack of access to
appropriate shared spaces.
7.8 Drivers
In a Future-Fit Society, social norms, global governance and
economic growth drive the pursuit of future-fitness.
PP21 Infrastructure is strengthened
in pursuit of future-fitness
Most human activities depend on various
kinds of infrastructure, which together
serve as an essential foundation for
achieving an efficient, inclusive and
resilient society.
Infrastructural gaps and shortcomings
are one of the primary reasons why
millions of people today lack access to
basic services such as energy, clean
water, sanitation, connectivity and
mobility.
Existing infrastructure is often highly
inefficient and may even impede
progress toward future-fitness. The
infrastructure investment choices society
makes over the coming years will
effectively lock-in our transition pathway
– for good or bad.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• Infrastructure gaps are closed, to
provide access to basic services for
underserved people;
• Existing infrastructure is upgraded to
improve efficiency;
• Existing infrastructure is altered to
reduce its negative operational
impacts; or
• Infrastructure is created or upgraded
to enhance resiliency.
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PP22 Governance is strengthened
in pursuit of future-fitness
The concept of governance can be
considered at many levels: international,
national, local and corporate. It relates
to the way decisions are made and how
those decisions are implemented –
through regulation, policies, processes
and so on.
This Positive Pursuit focuses on how a
company might influence governance
structures beyond its own organisation –
such as those within governments or
public institutions – to support the
systemic pursuit of future-fitness.
11
Trust in governance is associated with
low levels of corruption, democratic
stability and relative economic equality,
but there is no shortcut to trust.
Institutions can only accrue trust over
time if they are transparent in their
decisions, consistently do what they say
they will, and continuously strive to act
in the best interests of those they serve.
The relationship between trust and good
governance is circular: each fosters the
other.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• Governance at an international,
national or local level is made to be
more accountable, participatory,
responsive, responsible and
transparent.
PP23 Market mechanisms are strengthened
in pursuit of future-fitness
Every company can take steps to
improve its own future-fitness, but some
barriers are exceedingly difficult to
overcome by any one business alone,
because they exist at a market level.
Such barriers may hinder the efforts of
even the most committed company, but
any action to remove one could
11
Corporate governance is an important
determinant for how companies act and respond
to change. In fact, good governance structures are
central to a company’s capacity to bring social
and environmental considerations into the core of
potentially enable not just the company
but also its peers and other market
actors to make much-needed progress.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• Market barriers to the pursuit of
Future-Fit outcomes are removed.
how it does business. This is reflected by the fact
that a wide range of governance criteria can be
found embedded throughout the Break-Even
Goals.
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PP24 Social norms increasingly support
the pursuit of future-fitness
Social norms are the formal and informal
rules that govern behaviour in groups
and across society. They are what groups
of people believe to be normal or
appropriate, and they operate at different
levels: individuals, industries, countries,
communities, and internationally.
A Future-Fit Society encourages diversity
of thought and culture, as well as
individual expression. In such a society,
everyone is free to define and pursue a
life of personal fulfilment as part of the
broader community, because social
norms are fully aligned in support of this
pursuit.
In order to transition to a Future-Fit
Society, many of today’s entrenched
social norms need to be challenged.
This Positive Pursuit applies if – as a
result of the company’s action:
• Social norms which are misaligned
with a Future-Fit Society are
successfully challenged.
It should be noted, however, that
changes in social norms can rarely – if
ever – be traced back to a single cause,
not least because multiple factors are
usually at play.
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Appendix 1: Properties
of a Future-Fit Society
Social, political and economic institutions are aligned to drive,
recognize and reward the pursuit of other Future-Fit outcomes
(e.g. no institutional corruption and no misaligned market incentives)
Drivers
Freshwater is clean and available
to everyone, everywhere, at all
times (e.g. no one lacks access
to clean water for drinking and
sanitation)
Freshwater sources are not
systematically depleted at a
faster rate than they can
regenerate (e.g. no human
over-consumption)
Water quality is not degraded
through the release of harmful
substances (e.g. no release
of inadequately-treated
waste water)
Energy is generated, stored
and directed such that all
needs are met at all times in
ways that safeguard people’s
health (e.g. no one relies on
kerosene lamps for lighting)
Energy is derived in ways
that do not degrade the
environment (e.g. no reliance
on destructive processes such
as fracking and deep-sea drilling
to obtain fossil fuels)
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to health, competence,
influence, impartiality
and meaning-making
…degradation by
physical means
…concentrations of
substances produced by
society or extracted from
the Earth’s crust
Nature is not subject to systematically increasing…
In a socially just, economically inclusive
and environmentally restorative future…
Water
Resources are obtained and
managed in ways that respect
and benefit local communities,
and the regenerative capacity
of renewable resources is
safeguarded to ensure their
long-term availability
(e.g. no over-fishing)
Natural
resources
Cultivation of plant-based
resources does not degrade
ecosystems (e.g. no conversion
of pristine forests for farming)
Agricultural inputs
and by-products do not
build up in nature
(e.g. no fertilizer run-off)
Animals are reared or hunted in
ways that minimize suffering and
safeguard ecosystems (e.g. over-
fishing or battery cage chickens)
By-products of animal rearing
do not build up in nature
(e.g. no net GHG emissions from
intensive livestock farming)
Resources are mined in ways
that do not cause lasting
ecosystem degradation
(e.g. no opencast mining)
Resources, and by-products of
their extraction, do not build
up in nature (e.g. no chemical
leakage into waterways)
Emissions into air, water and soil
do not degrade people's health
(e.g. no air pollution in cities)
Potentially harmful substances are not emitted into and
do not build up in air, water and soil (e.g. no pollutants from
combustion engines, chemical spills or industrial processes)
Pollution
Materials are not disposed of
in ways that degrade people’s
health (e.g. no harmful e-waste)
Materials are not disposed of in ways that
physically or chemically disrupt the environment
(e.g. no build-up of ocean plastic)
Waste
People do not encroach on
the natural world in ways that
undermine the health, integrity
or biodiversity of ecosystems
(e.g. no conversion of wetlands)
See Pollution and Waste
Physical
presence
People
Energy generation and use
occurs without the emission
of substances that build up in
nature (e.g. no greenhouse
gases due to the combustion
of fossil fuels)
Focus
areas
Energy
People do not encroach
on areas of social, cultural
or economic significance to
local communities
(e.g. no land grabbing)
Ecosystem services support
people’s ability to meet basic
needs (e.g. natural buffers
such as wetlands protect
against climate risks)
See Pollution and Waste
People have the physical and
mental capacity and opportunity
to meet basic needs and pursue
higher needs (e.g. no poverty
or discrimination)
Properties of
a Future-Fit
Society
Energy is renewable
and available to all
The environment is
free from pollution
Waste does not exist
Our physical presence
protects the health
of ecosystems and
communities
People have the
capacity and
opportunity to lead
fulfilling lives
Social norms, global
governance and
economic growth
drive the pursuit of
future-fitness
Water is
responsibly sourced
and available to all
Natural resources
are managed to
safeguard ecosystems,
communities and
animals
Methodology Guide
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Appendix 2: Deriving
the Break-Even Goals
and Positive Pursuits
Table A1.1: This table shows how the system conditions were mapped against activities
across a company’s entire value web. Each column is addressed in subsequent tables.
Methodology Guide
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Release 2.2 – April 2020 Page 72 of 84
Table A1.2: Deriving Break-Even Goals for Business Inputs & Operations – Environment.
Operations emit no
greenhouse gases
Operational emissions
do not harm people or
the environment
Reduce to net zero all GHG emissions
to stop contributing to climate
change and ocean acidification.
Eliminate emissions of any substance
(gaseous, liquid and solid) whose
presence is harmful to ecosystems
or non-human life.
Energy is from
renewable sources
Use energy from renewable sources
to eliminate the need to burn fossil
fuels which cause GHG emissions.
Operational waste
is eliminated
Eliminate waste materials to
avoid the need for landfill or other
kinds of disposal such as incineration.
Operations do not
encroach on ecosystems
or communities
Avoid negative impacts in areas of
significant biodiversity or ecological
value (such as pristine ecosystems),
and where already physically present
in such areas eliminate any negative
impacts the business has previously
contributed to.
Natural resources are
managed to respect the
welfare of ecosystems,
people and animals
Obtain (harvest, fish, hunt, rear,
grow, mine) natural resources
needed for production without
physically degrading ecosystems.
Nature is not subject to
systematically increasing
concentrations of
substances extracted
from the Earth's crust
Relying on processes that emit
mined materials which are known to
be harmful (e.g. mercury run-off from
mining, air pollutants such as lead
and carbon monoxide).
Relying on processes that contribute
to a systematic build-up in the
environment of mined materials
(e.g. GHGs)
Nature is not subject to
systematically increasing
concentrations of
substances
produced by society
Relying on processes that emit
substances produced by society
which are known to be harmful
(e.g. chemicals into waste water).
Relying on processes that contribute
to a systematic build-up in the
environment of substances produced
by society (e.g. waste to
landfill, synthetic fertilizers).
Nature is not subject to
systematically increasing
degradation by physical
means
Intentionally altering the
environment to serve business needs
(e.g. converting forest to farmland,
building factories in biodiverse areas,
diverting local watercourses).
Unintentionally interfering with the
environment as a result of physical
activity (e.g. ships passing near coral
reefs, introducing invasive species).
Physically disrupting the
environment through the extraction
of natural resources to meet business
needs for water, energy or materials
(e.g. destructive processes such as
open-cut mining and bottom trawling
fishing-nets, over-harvesting
renewable resources and depleting
natural stocks).
Water use is
environmentally
responsible and
socially equitable
Eliminate withdrawal of water from
water-stressed areas so as not to
undermine the availability of water
required by local ecosystems.
Use energy from renewable
sources to eliminate the need for
the increasingly disruptive
extraction of fossil fuels
(e.g. fracking, Arctic drilling).
Procurement
safeguards the pursuit
of future-fitness
Work to ensure that all procured
goods and services are produced in
line with the above requirements
Relying on procured goods and
services that are produced in ways
that involve the above activities
All of the above
Break-Even
Goals to avoid
breaches
Activities that avoid
system condition
breaches
Activities that may
breach the system
conditions
System
Conditions
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Table A1.3: Deriving Break-Even for Business Inputs & Operations – Communities.
Nature is not subject to
systematically increasing
concentrations of
substances extracted
from the Earth's crust
Relying on operational processes
that emit harmful minedmaterials
(e.g. mercuryrun-off from mining, air
pollutants such as lead and carbon
monoxide polluting the local
environment).
Nature is not subject to
systematically increasing
concentrations of
substances
produced by society
Relying on operational processes
that emit harmful substances
produced by society (e.g. chemicals
polluting local waterways).
Nature is not subject to
systematically increasing
degradation by physical
means
Intentionally altering the local
environment to serve business needs
(e.g. not respecting landand resource
rights of local communities, building
factories in areas of cultural
significance to indigenous peoples).
Extracting natural resources from
the environment in ways that
undermine the physical safetyof
local communities (e.g. sourcing
minerals from regions of conflict).
Operational emissions
do not harm people or
the environment
Eliminate emissions of anysubstance
(gaseous, liquid and solid) whose
presence is harmful tocommunities
or to the ecosystems and other
non-human life they depend upon.
Operations do not
encroach on ecosystems
or communities
Avoid negative impacts in areas
of significant cultural or religious
importance, and respect the land
rights of local communities.
Natural resources are
managed to respect the
welfare of ecosystems,
people and animals
Eliminate the use of resources
that may fuel conflict.
Water use is
environmentally
responsible and
socially equitable
Eliminate the withdrawal of water
from water-stressed areas so as not
to undermine the availabilityof
water required by local communities
to protect their wellbeing and
livelihoods.
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to meaning-making
Relying on operational processes
that undermine the needs or cultural
norms of local communities
(e.g. expanding operations in ways
that interfere with local customs
and livelihoods).
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to health
Extracting natural resources from
the environment in ways that under
mine the ability of local communities
to meet their own needs
(e.g. depletion of water aquifers).
Break-Even
Goals to avoid
breaches
Activities that avoid
system condition
breaches
Activities that may
breach the system
conditions
System
Conditions
Implementing processes and policies
to ensure that communityconcerns
are anticipated, actively solicited and
where possible avoided - in particular
when any changes to operational
activities are planned - and that
legitimate concerns are effectively
identified and transparently
addressed.
Community health
is safeguarded
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to influence
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to impartiality
Failing to adequately and proactively
engage communities onanychanges
to operational activities that may
affect them, soas to prevent
avoidable negative impacts
(e.g. extending facilities intoareas
of cultural significance).
Failing to adequately address
community concerns relating to
operational activities (e.g. no formal
processes for follow-up, incentives
that do not encourage open
investigationand corrective action).
Procurement
safeguards the pursuit
of future-fitness
Work to ensure that all procured
goods and services are produced in
line with the above requirements
Relying on procured goods and
services that are produced inways
that involve the above activities
All of the above
Failing to adequately empower
communities affected by operational
activities to raise concerns
(e.g. through inadequate or hard-to-
access grievance mechanisms).
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to meaning-making
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Table A1.4: Deriving Break-Even Goals for Business Inputs & Operations – Employees.
Creating cultural environments
that degrade employee health
(e.g. inattention to bullying and
harassment concerns, no employee
involvement on issues that affect
them, poor stress management).
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to health
Creating physical environments
which degrade employee health
(e.g. factories where necessary
safety procedures are not in place,
exposure to second-hand smoke).
Creating contractual relationships
that degrade employee health
(e.g. unreasonable work hours,
paying less than living wages,
not permitting unionization).
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to impartiality
Creating physical environments
that hinder impartial treatment of
employees (e.g. sites inaccessible
to people with physical disabilities).
Creating contractual relationships
that hinder impartial treatment of
employees (e.g. unequal pay for
equal work).
Creating cultural environments
that hinder impartial treatment
of employees (e.g. no policies
regarding workplace discrimination).
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to competence
Creating contractual relationships
that reduce the possibility for
employees to pursue personal
development (e.g. employment
terms that limit financial freedom
or spare time).
Creating cultural environments that
reduce the possibility for employees
to pursue personal development
(e.g. work-induced stress limiting
mental capacity to pursue activities
beyond work).
Employee health
is safeguarded
Employees are
subject to fair
employment terms
Implement the necessary measures
to reduce preventable accidents to
zero. Restrict smoking on premises,
ensure healthy food options are
available to employees and
implement policies and procedures
to deal effectively with physical and
mental health issues.
Employees are paid
at least a living wage
Ensure all employees have formal,
written employment terms that
secure their right to unionize, right
to maternity/paternity, reasonable
working hours and paid leave.
Employees are
not subject to
discrimination
Ensure physical facilities do
not present unnecessary barriers
to access.
Ensure all employees are paid a living
wage to provide them with the
resources needed to pursue personal
development outside work.
Ensure all employees are paid at
least a living wage to provide them
with the income needed to meet the
basic needs of their families.
Ensure all employees have formal
contract terms that secure
reasonable working hours and paid
holiday leave, to free up time to
pursue personal development.
Implement policies and procedures
to identify stressed or overworked
employees and take necessary
measures to address problems
and safeguard the mental health of
employees to ensure they are able
to pursue personal development.
Put in place policies and processes
to ensure that hiring, remuneration,
advancement and other
opportunities treat everyone of the
same ability equally. Monitor
performance consistently.
Break-Even
Goals to avoid
breaches
Activities that avoid
system condition
breaches
Activities that may
breach the system
conditions
System
Conditions
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to influence
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to impartiality
Failing to adequately empower all
employees to raise concerns
(e.g. inadequate or hard-to-access
grievance mechanisms).
Failing to adequately address
employee concerns (e.g. no formal
processes for follow-up, incentives
that do not encourage open
investigation and corrective action).
Employee concerns
are actively solicited,
impartially judged and
transparently addressed
Implement a concerns mechanism
which safeguards complainants from
repercussions, ensure its existence
is communicated effectively to
employees, and put in place policies
and processes to effectively identify
and transparently address
legitimate concerns.
Procurement
safeguards the pursuit
of future-fitness
Work to ensure that all procured
goods and services are produced in
line with the above requirements
Relying on procured goods and
services that are produced in ways
that involve the above activities
All of the above
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Table A1.5: Deriving Break-Even Goals for Products – Environment & Customers.
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to competence
Nature is not subject to
systematically increasing
concentrations of
substances extracted
from the Earth's crust
Nature is not subject to
systematically increasing
concentrations of
substances
produced by society
Selling products that emit harmful
substances when used and/or
processed at their end of life
(e.g. heavy metals, toxic elements
such as beryllium used in
unrecyclable electronics, microbeads
in personal care products).
Selling products that contribute to a
environmental build-up of
substances when used and/or
processed at their end-of-life (e.g.
vehicles with combustion engines,
leaded aviation fuels, volatile
organic compounds in aerosols,
plastics that build up in oceans).
Selling products that emit harmful
substances if incorrectly used and/or
processed at their end of life (e.g.
fluorescent bulbs or nickel-cadmium
batteries ending up in landfill).
Nature is not subject to
systematically increasing
degradation by physical
means
Selling products that physically
damage the environment when
used as intended or as a likely
consequence of use (e.g. bombs,
bottom-trawling fish-nets).
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to health
Products emit no
greenhouse gases
Products do not
harm people or the
environment
Reduce to zero all GHG emissions
that are an unavoidable consequence
of product use.
Eliminate substances in products that
may harm ecosystems when used or
disposed of, due to their chemical
characteristics or because they
accumulate in the environment.
Product communications
are honest, ethical, and
promote responsible use
Be fully transparent about
product composition and likely
consequences of use, and inform
customers about correct
methods of product use and
end-of-life disposal.
Products can be
repurposed
Eliminate the sale of products that
are likely to physically degrade the
environment when used.
Eliminate the sale of products that
are likely to physically harm people
or that contain substances known
to be harmful to human health.
Design products to be safely
disassembled without the release
of harmful substances and for
components to be reused or
recycled. Ensure customers have
access to the necessary repurposing
channels to avoid products ending
up as waste.
Implement a concerns mechanism
whose existence is communicated
effectively to customers, and put in
place policies and processes to
effectively identify and transparently
address legitimate concerns.
Product concerns
are actively solicited,
impartially judged and
transparently addressed
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to influence
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to impartiality
Relying on operational processes
that do not empower all customers
to raise concerns (e.g. inadequate
or hard-to-access grievance
mechanisms).
Relying on operational processes that
do not adequately address customer
concerns (e.g. no formal processes
for follow-up, incentives that do
not encourage open investigation
and corrective action).
Selling products that foster
behaviours which may undermine
society’s progress toward future-
fitness (e.g. tourism in pristine
ecosystems, news services editorially
biased against established science).
Selling products that negatively
impact customer health when used
as intended or as a likely
consequence of use (e.g. tobacco,
endocrine disrupters in cosmetics).
Eliminate the sale of products
which could reasonably be expected
to instil or reinforce behaviours that
would undermine society’s progress
toward future-fitness.
Break-Even
Goals to avoid
breaches
Activities that avoid
system condition
breaches
Activities that may
breach the system
conditions
System
Conditions
Methodology Guide
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Table A1.6: Deriving Break-Even Goals for Citizenship – Society as a Whole.
Financiallysupporting companies,
institutions or infrastructure where a
likely, foreseeable and ongoing
consequence of the recipient’s
success wouldbe to cause or prolong
a breach to one or more system
conditions (e.g. providing project
financing for coal-firedpower
stations, or investing ina business
whose products cause harm as an
unavoidable consequence of their
use, such as cigarette companies).
Supporting campaigns, advocacy
groups, or political actors – through
financial investments, donations or
other influence – where a likely,
foreseeable andongoing
consequence of the recipient’s
success wouldbe to cause or prolong
a breach to one or more system
conditions (e.g. lobbying to oppose
minimum wage increases, or
supporting a political party that is
actively seeking to roll back
greenhouse gas emissiontargets).
Undermining the health of the
socio-economic system by unfairly
reducing the company’s financial
contributions to it (e.g. using tax
schemes to avoid paying taxes that
reflect genuine commercial activity).
Undermining societal trust inthe
socio-economic system by
engaging inunethical practices
(e.g. misrepresenting or failing to
disclose information whichcould
influence the decisions or
wellbeing of stakeholders).
Influencing market dynamics by
engaging inunethical practices
(e.g. anti-competitive or corrupt
practices such as price fixing
cartels, unfair treatment of
suppliers and bribery).
The right tax is paid
in the right place at
the right time
Lobbying and advocacy
safeguardthe pursuit of
future-fitness
Commit to policies that ensure the
company does not financiallysupport
or otherwise seekto influence
individuals, institutions or infra-
structure in ways that could hinder
society’s progress to future-fitness.
Business is
conducted ethically
Publicly commit to policies that
seek to ensure transactions are
structured to reflect genuine
commercial activity, and that
guarantee any connections to low-tax
regions are only for the purposes
of trade within those jurisdictions.
Publicly disclose all efforts to
influence societal institutions
and/or individuals – including via
contributions, donations or
investments inkind to political
actors, lobbyists, advocacy
organisations andother third parties.
Disclose relevant tax details (where
appropriate on a country-by-
country basis) to enable society at
large to understand the company’s
tax practices.
Ensure the proactive identification,
disclosure and prioritization of any
business model-specific issues that
could lead to breaches in the
system conditions, and put in place
mechanisms toenable the company
and its employees to avoid, identify
and mitigate anysuch breaches.
Put in place policies and
processes to enable the company
and its employees to anticipate,
avoid, and address corrupt or
anti-competitive practices.
Nature is not subject to
systematically increasing
concentrations of
substances extracted
from the Earth's crust
Nature is not subject to
systematically increasing
concentrations of
substances
produced by society
Nature is not subject to
systematically increasing
degradation by physical
means
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to influence
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to meaning-making
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to health
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to impartiality
People are not subject
to structural obstacles
to competence
Commit to policies that aim toensure
the company does not hold financial
assets whose success could
reasonablybe expected to
undermine society’s progress
toward future-fitness.
Financial assets
safeguardthe pursuit
of future-fitness
Break-Even
Goals to avoid
breaches
Activities that avoid
system condition
breaches
Activities that may
breach the system
conditions
System
Conditions
Methodology Guide
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Release 2.2 – April 2020 Page 77 of 84
Table A1.7: Deriving Positive Pursuits.
Positive Pursuits
Others depend less on
inadequately-managed natural resources
Harmful emissions are removed
from the environment
Individual freedoms are upheld
for more people
Infrastructure is strengthened
in pursuit of future-fitness
Market mechanisms are strengthened
in pursuit of future-fitness
Others generate less waste
Waste is reclaimed and repurposed
People’s capabilities are strengthened
Social norms increasingly support
the pursuit of future-fitness
More people have access
to economic opportunity
Areas of high social or cultural value
are restored
Others cause less ecosystem degradation
More people are healthy
and safe from harm
Others cause less damage to
areas of high social or cultural value
Ecosystems are restored
More people have access to energy
Others contribute less to water stress
More people have access to clean water
Others generate fewer
harmful emissions
Activities which advance our transition
to a Future-Fit Society: one that in no
way breaches the System Conditions
Properties of a
Future-Fit
Society
People have the
capacity and
opportunity to lead
fulfilling lives
Reverse past breaches resulting from the emission
of harmful substances
Reverse past breaches resulting from the
generation of waste
Help others avoid future breaches as a result of
waste generation
Reverse past breaches resulting from ecosystem or
community encroachment
Ensure people have the physical capacity to meet
basic needs, and to pursue higher needs
Ensure people have the opportunity to pursue
higher needs through individual expression and
sense of belonging
Ensure people have the mental capacity to meet
basic needs, and to pursue higher needs
Ensure people have the opportunity to meet basic
needs through economic inclusion and social justice
Help others avoid future breaches as a result of
energy extraction, generation, distribution and use
Reverse past breaches resulting from energy
extraction, generation, distribution and use
Help others avoid future breaches as a result of
freshwater extraction, distribution and use
Help others avoid future breaches as a result of the
emission of harmful substances
Reverse past breaches resulting from freshwater
extraction, distribution and use
Help others avoid future breaches as a result of natural
resource extraction, harvesting, hunting and fishing
Reverse past breaches resulting from natural
resource extraction, harvesting, hunting and fishing
Energy is renewable
and available to all
Water is responsibly
sourced
and available to all
Natural resources are
managed to safeguard
ecosystems, communities
and animals
The environment is
free from pollution
Waste does not exist
Our physical presence
protects the health of
ecosystems and
communities
Align incentives and strengthen the capacity of
social, political and economic institutions to
support the pursuit of future-fitness
Social norms, global
governance and
economic growth
drive the pursuit of
future-fitness
Greenhouse gases are removed
from the atmosphere
Others generate fewer
greenhouse gas emissions
Help others avoid future breaches as a result of
ecosystem or community encroachment
Governance is strengthened
in pursuit of future-fitness
Others depend less on
non-renewable energy
Social cohesion is strengthened
Methodology Guide
Appendix 3: Definitions
Release 2.2 – April 2020 Page 78 of 84
Appendix 3:
Definitions
Terminology used across the Release 2.2
documents.
Community
We use Global Reporting Initiative’s
definition of a (local) community:
Community: Persons or groups of
persons living and/or working in any
areas that are economically, socially or
environmentally impacted (positively
or negatively) by an organization’s
operations.
Employee
For break-even goals relating to
employee wellbeing, it is necessary to
determine which types of worker should
be included. This is not always as
straightforward as it may seem: see the
Implementation Guide document for
detailed guidance on how to do this.
Mutual Accountability
A company is wholly accountable for
impacts within its direct control, such as
those related to its operational activities
and the design of its products. However,
a business is mutually accountable for
certain impacts outside its direct control,
defined as follows:
A company is mutually accountable for
any impact beyond its own four walls, to
the degree to which that impact is a
consequence of the company’s existence.
See section 5.3 for further information.
Operations
We define a company’s operations as
follows:
A company’s operations encompass any
and all activities that the company
undertakes itself.
When it comes to environmental and
social performance, what exactly
constitutes the boundary of a company is
debated. See the Implementation Guide
for more information.
Methodology Guide
Appendix 3: Definitions
Release 2.2 – April 2020 Page 79 of 84
Products
We define products as follows:
Products are the revenue-generating
goods and services offered by a
company, together with any other items
provided to others in support of its
commercial activities (e.g. packaging and
marketing materials).
Product Inputs
We define a product input as follows:
A product input is any substance which is
necessarily consumed in the creation of
goods and the delivery of services. This
includes:
1. Ingredients or components required
to manufacture a physical good,
which either end up embedded in it
or are used up (e.g. a catalyst)
during its production.
2. Consumable substances which are
required to provide a service
(e.g. detergents and paints used by
a commercial decorator).
Project
We define a project as follows:
A project is a non-revenue generating
activity. These range from single
targeted interventions through to
ongoing programs of work, either led or
supported by the company.
Subsidiary
We follow the OECD in defining a
subsidiary as follows:
A subsidiary is a company controlled by
another company. Control occurs when
the controlling company owns more than
50 per cent of the common shares.
When the parent owns 100 percent of
the common shares, the subsidiary is said
to be wholly owned. When the subsidiary
operates in a different country, it is
called a foreign subsidiary. The
controlling company is called a holding
company or parent. A subsidiary is a
corporation with its own charter and is
not a division of the controlling company.
Suppliers
We define a supplier as follows:
Any organization whose activities in
some way contribute to a company’s
ability to generate value, even if the
company has no direct contractual
relationship with that organization, is
considered to be a supplier to the
company.
And we define a direct supplier as
follows:
Any supplier with whom a contractual
relationship exists and which the
company pays directly is referred to as a
direct supplier.
Depending on industry and geography,
what we define here as a direct supplier
may be referred to as a tier 1 supplier or
a vendor. A company’s supply chains can
theoretically be mapped by identifying
its direct suppliers, then their direct
suppliers, and so on.
Methodology Guide
Appendix 4: References
Release 2.2 – April 2020 Page 80 of 84
Appendix 4:
References
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Gabriola, BC: New Society Publishers, 1998, p. 407.
[2]
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[3]
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[4]
Global Reporting Initiative, "Global Reporting Initiative," 2017. [Online]. Available:
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[5]
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[6]
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[7]
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[10]
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[11]
United Nations, "Universal Declaration of Human Rights," 10 December 1948.
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[12]
G. I. Broman and K.-H. Robert, "A framework for strategic sustainable development,"
Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 140, pp. 17-31, 1 January 2017.
[13]
K. Pickett and R. Wilkinson, The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost
Always Do Better, New York, NY: Bloomsbury Press, 2009.
Methodology Guide
Appendix 4: References
Release 2.2 – April 2020 Page 81 of 84
[14]
P. Ekins, Environmental Sustainability and Economic Growth, London: Routledge,
2000.
[15]
Foreign Policy, "GDP: a brief history," 3 January 2011. [Online]. Available:
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[16]
T. I. M. Project, "Building global consensus on how to measure and manage impact,"
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Methodology Guide
Appendix 5: Acknowledgements
Release 2.2 – April 2020 Page 82 of 84
Appendix 5:
Acknowledgements
Future-Fit Foundation is indebted to a wide range
of individuals and organizations for their support,
encouragement and critical feedback.
For their support and
input on Release 2, 2.1
and 2.2 we would
particularly like to
acknowledge the
following individuals...
In alphabetical order:
Careen Abb, Carol Adams, Marjella Alma,
Sue Almond, Helle Bank Jorgensen, Clara
Barby, James Barsimantov, Matt Beck,
Hans-Ulrich Beck, Seb Beloe, Ingun
Berget, Stephanie Bertels, Shonil
Bhagwat, Carl-Johan Björklund, Ida
Bjursten, Richard Blume, Karin Bodin,
Anna Borgeryd, Göran Broman, Alice
Chapple, Amy Clarke, Paul Coverdale,
Phil Cumming, Chris Davis, Ben Dixon,
Rylan Dobson, Aldyen Donnelly, Bruce
Duguid, Bob Eccles, John Elkington,
Claire Fargeot, Amanda Feldman, Jane
Firth, Luke Fletcher, Anne Gadegaard,
Michael Gillenwater, Johan Gjærum,
Richard Gomes, Filip Gregor, Amy Hall,
Leslie Harroun, Louisa Harris, Graham
Head, Gianna Heintges, Emily Holden,
Ingrid Holmes, Bart Houlahan, Andy
Howard, David Hughes, Adam Jackson,
Michael Jantzi, Ola Jönsson, Daniel Joy,
Gary Kendall, Leon Kamhi, Brett Knowles,
Andrew Krause, Sam Lakha, Martin
Lambert, Luna Lee, Ernst Ligteringen,
Simon Locke, Charmian Love, Rachel
Madeiros-Mhende, Huw Maggs, Martin
Martinoff, Colin Melvin, Harald
Melwisch, Merlina Missimer, Matthias
Müller, Alistair Munro, David Newstead,
Richard Northcote, Didrik Nygaard, Cora
Olsen, Jessica Osikominu, Dan Osusky,
Chad Park, Andrew Parry, Lucy Player,
Kate Raworth, Samantha Rich, Renaud
Richard, Karl-Henrik Robèrt, Andrew
Rzepa, Helen Sahi, Rachel Sandby-
Thomas, Louise Scholey, Mike Senior,
KoAnn Skrzyniarz, Lorraine Smith,
Susanne Stormer, Jeff Sutton, Patrick
Thomas, Solitaire Townsend, Dawn
Turner, Kate Upshon, Antony Upward,
Ronel van der Merwe, Nadine Viel
Lamare, Dimitar Vlahov, Danielle Walker
Palmour, Faith Ward, Bob Willard,
Maxine Wille, Alan Willis, Chris Wolf and
Sam Woodward.
Methodology Guide
Appendix 6: Licensing
Release 2.2 – April 2020 Page 83 of 84
Appendix 6:
Licensing
The Future-Fit Business Benchmark is free to use,
share and modify with a few conditions.
Using the Future-Fit Business Benchmark
To accelerate progress toward a
prosperous future for all, we want to
make it as easy as possible for people to
use and build on our work.
To that end, the Future-Fit Business
Benchmark is published under a Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
International license.
This means you are free to:
• Share – Copy and redistribute the
material in any medium or format.
• Adapt – Remix, transform, and build
upon the material for any purpose,
even commercially.
These freedoms apply as long as you
adhere to the following terms:
• Attribution – You must give
appropriate credit, with a link to
futurefitbusiness.org and to this
license, indicating if changes have
been made. You may do so in any
reasonable manner, but not in any
way that suggests endorsement by
Future-Fit Foundation.
• ShareAlike – If you remix, transform,
or build upon the material, you must
distribute your contributions under
the same license as the original.
• No additional restrictions – You may
not apply technological measures or
legal terms that legally restrict
others from doing anything this
license permits.
Partnering with Future-Fit Foundation
Future-Fit Foundation is working toward
providing various forms of accreditation
– including the right to use Future-Fit
logos, and to identify us as a partner –
for advisors, assurers, software
developers and anyone else wishing to
incorporate our work into their own
products and services. Contact us to find
out more.
