I would like to talk about the Shrivastava article and for our

presentation today I would focus on the ESD model and the

various strategies firms can incorporate to help achieve ecological
sustainability.
In 1987,the Brundtland Commission Report popularized
Ecologically sustainable development (ESD) as a way to
deal with ecological and economic problems.
Basically ecologically sustainable development means that
development should take place in such a way that it not only
fulfills the need of the current generation but also is able to
fulfill the needs of the future generations. It encourages
economic growth but in ecologically sustainable manner
Above-mentioned development can be achieved by making
an attempt to implement four of these interrelated strategies.
1. Managing the impacts of populations on ecosystemsa) In developing countries population explosion slows down
sustainable development.
b) In industrialized nations the excessive energy and resource
poses a threat to sustainable development.
c) HENCE corporations shouldnt promote consumerism and
consumption but rather they should encourage appropriate
use of products along with efficient production and
promotion strategies.
2. Ensuring worldwide food security- The ESD model states
that people should deal with the imbalance of food
distribution.
a) Developing countries should provide economic,
technological assistance to small farmers and pastoralist
rural families along with protection to make them

economically independent and sustainable.

b) Besides this the industrialized nations should transfer
surplus food stocks and not depend completely on
pesticides and fertilizers to increase agricultural
productivity as this leads to soil erosion and degradation.
c) Hence corporations with their power of marketing policies
and sustainable pricing strategies can help reduce global
food insecurity.
3) Managing ecosystem resources-This strategy focuses
on the long-term preservation of the endangered eco
systems. It talks about conserving the non-renewable
resources by utilizing them at a rate at which they can
regenerate themselves. Having said this it talks about
the ecosystem-resource preservation strategies
corporations can implement to boost sustainable
development and conserve ecosystems.
4) Creating sustainable economies-The last strategy
stresses on the importance of having sustainable
economies and developing regulations and public
policies so as to have ecology-sensitive industrialization
and urbanization. Reducing the global rate of energy
consumption and dependence on fossil fuel can help in
achieving sustainable economies.

CRTITIC OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

ESD model has been criticized for being western-centric
and focusing development and progress on the basis of
western definitions.
It increases the dependency of developing nations on
industrialized nations by tying the needs of the developing
nations to the developed nations.

Four mechanisms through which companies can contribute to

ecological sustainability:
(a) Total quality environmental management (TQEM),
Just like how TQM involves improvements in every state of
design and production in the same way TQEM aims at
optimizing the ecological performance of the entire corporate
system majorly through life cycle analysis (LCA)
Eg.Teijin Limited (Polyester recycling):Japan-based fibre
manufacturer, uses the ECO-CIRCLE closed-loop recycling
system, which employs chemical-recycling technology to
reprocess used polyester products bound for landfills or
incineration. These can be restored into the raw material with
no quality decline to produce new polyester material.
b) Ecologically sustainable competitive strategies,
Competitive strategies are means by which companies gain
market- place advantages over their rivals. These strategies include
the least cost strategy, differentiation strategy and niche strategy.
By applying sustainability principles, ecologically sustainable
strategies may be conceptualized.
c) Technology-for-nature swaps:
Developing nations rich bio diversity and lack of
funds/capability to exploit it vs. industrialized nations want for
natural resources
Eg. A debt-for-nature swap agreement was signed in 2008 between
the Government of Madagascar and the Government of France,
allocating roughly $20 million (13 million Euros) to preserve
Madagascars rich biodiversity,
d) Reduction of the impact that populations have on
ecosystems.

To deal with the impact of population explosion socioeconomic

improvement of rural populations is required. That is public
education and mass distribution of birth control information and
aids. One of the ways by which Corporations can do this by
building production facilities in rural areas.

CONCLUSION
Businesses have the potential to become the conveners, i.e. the
ones that bring people together. By using a brand to enable
customers to inform and discuss among themselves the impact of
waste on natural resources increases the likelihood of individuals
making a difference. Although not perfectly sustainable, because
the journey never ends, M&S has taken efficient and effective
measures to contribute to sustainability.