Project Overview

Sustainable Business 2011 is the first independent indicator-based assessment of UK business sustainability performance. The report tracks 16 indicators to capture a snapshot of the state of UK business. Each indicator represents an important aspect of environmental, social or economic sustainability.

This report has been produced by environmental information specialist ENDS (Environment Data Services), in collaboration with Forum for the Future, which helped to develop the report concept and the indicators used to measure sustainability.

The results

The report finds that UK businesses have rapidly increased their capacity to engage with sustainability in the latest year for which data is available – mostly 2010. More companies are gaining environmental management certification and publishing sustainability reports, and the number of workers and graduates with sustainability skills and knowledge is rising.

However despite encouraging progress in many areas, the report finds that UK plc is nowhere near the path to achieving government targets for an 80% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. On the contrary, in the latest reported year industrial carbon emissions actually rose, as did industrial energy intensity, and the carbon intensity of UK grid electricity and off-road haulage.

The report also finds a move away from sustainability in indicators looking at wider economic and social issues. For example, spending on research and development, pay inequality, and social performance (on human rights and labour and supply chain standards) have all fallen over the past year.

Get involved

Take a look at David Bent's blog on 'guiding sustainable business through its teenage years'.

Forum for the Future’s Sustainable Business work is all about helping leading companies to succeed through sustainability. To find out more, contact David Bent at d.bent@forumforthefuture.org.

To learn more about the Sustainable Business 2011 report, contact Ruth Curran at r.curran@forumforthefuture.org

Get a copy of the report

The full report includes a detailed analysis of each of the 16 progress indicators.

If your organisation is part of the Forum for the Future Network email Kester Byass to request a free copy of the full report. 

The full report is also available to subscribers to the ENDS Report at http://www.endsreport.com/reports/sb2011.

A free sample of the report, including the foreword and main results table is available at http://www.endsreport.com/reports/sb2011.