What is sustainable development? Share your own definition through your business experience.

consuming less natural resources by protecting environment, reducing carbon emission life cycle. improving quality of life and using recycle materials  

The term 'sustainable' means 'enduring' and 'lasting' and 'to keep in being'

According to the World Bank, sustainable development is about people - better lives now and a healthy planet for future generations,sustainable development means that each generation should pass on at least as much "capital" as it inherits, the Pearce approach defines capital in broad terms, to include physical capital (machinery and infrastructure); intellectual capital (knowledge and technology) and environmental capital (which includes quality and the stock of natural resources).

The Brundtland Commission on Environment and Development defined sustainable development as: "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".

Thanks for the invitation. I'll quote the definition of the world commission on environment and development: It is:

"Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

— from the World Commission on Environment and Development’s(the Brundtland Commission) report Our Common Future (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987).

Primarily, the pharmaceutical industry impacts quality of life of billions people around the world by researching and developing lifesaving and life-enhancing medical products. While operating sustainable development is reflected in a commitment to supplying high-quality and safe products, while developing new and improved therapies to address unmet medical needs. On the other hand, Responsible conduct, sustainability thinking and a focus on operational excellence enables significant value to be delivered to stakeholders.

While there are a multitude of factors and approaches that contribute to pharmaceutical companies ongoing success for sustainable development , there are a few that stand out:

First: Values & Ethics Shared values should underpin a company’s approach to sustainability: customer focus, innovation, integrity, collaboration and superior performance all provide a strong and necessary foundation for developing a culture of operating ethically and responsibly.

An essential instrument for this is an organizational code of conduct. The code lets employees know what the company stands for and provides guidance to employees and contractors about what is expected of them within the workplace and when interacting with external stakeholders.

External benchmarking and employee feedback are important considerations in developing the code, which can provide additional guidance to employees in the form of scenarios, providing practical examples of how to apply the code in every-day situations

A commitment to transparency is a core sustainability principle that is best demonstrated by the disclosure of a company’s performance in the publication of an annual sustainability report. It is recommended that annual reports be published in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, as well as other transparency initiatives such as the Carbon Disclosure Project.

Second: Governance Equally important to sustainability are effective governance and management systems at all levels of the organization. These systems drive sound decision making and optimal operating conditions. This begins at the highest level, with a company’s Board of Directors and associated Board Committees that oversee operations and guide strategic direction.

For example, a Board’s Innovation and Development Committee would oversee the R&D program, guiding overall investment and the executive management team. Other R&D governance structures, such as product development stage-gates, executive committee reviews and biannual planning sessions, ensure that a company’s R&D efforts are fiscally and operationally efficient, enabling sustained economic growth by achieving a good balance between product enhancement initiatives and new product development.

Furthermore, risk management is overseen by the Audit and Risk Management (Board) Committee, which is supported by the Corporate Risk Management Committee. Implementation of the risk management framework includes assessment of risks directly linked to a company’s most material corporate sustainability issues.

In addition, good policy development, implementation and monitoring ensure all levels of the workforce are able to understand, identify and realize business priorities and commitments. For example, a Global Environment Policy and Statement on Climate Change help to further develop and improve the environmental management system. The implementation of new data collection and monitoring tools enables the use of natural resources and emissions to be measured, thereby enabling the establishment of projects that support commitment to minimizing impact on the environment.

Third: Product safety and quality Effective governance and robust management systems are vital for ensuring the safety and quality of products and their supply through the global network of markets in which a company operates. The Quality Organization is responsible for overseeing compliance and performance at each manufacturing site.

Operations should be optimally designed to ensure a business can dynamically respond to market conditions. Through technical excellence in manufacturing, operations can be sustainably grown to meet global market demands for products.

Fourth: Materiality  The establishment of an executive Corporate Responsibility Steering Committee assists in driving awareness, continuous improvement and the disclosure of sustainability performance. Ongoing review of operations, through materiality assessments and stakeholder engagement, assists in monitoring performance and informing approach. Identifying material issues most important to operations and stakeholders enable strengths and gaps to be better identified and corporate sustainability issues incrementally managed in the medium to longer-term.

The following are examples of key priority areas that can be identified through materiality assessment:

§  Product safety and quality, including anti-counterfeiting

§  Responsible marketing and promotion

§  Anti-bribery and anti-corruption

§  Ethical supply chain

§  Interactions with plasma donors and patient groups

§  Conduct of clinical trials

The Committee can also work with functional owners to explore opportunities for continuous improvement, if applicable, in these areas.

Fifth: Most important asset A company’s employees are its greatest asset, one that is best cultivated and nurtured by providing a positive working environment. With a highly skilled workforce, managing people responsibly is critical to success. This includes promoting safety, health and well-being in the workplace, striving to equip employees with the right skills to perform their roles, and recognizing them for their contributions to the business. Biennial global employee opinion surveys, which supplement other channels for employee feedback and dialogue, inform performance and identify operational areas of strength and improvement.

Sixth: Access to Medicines Targeting priority diseases in developing countries can create partnerships, yield new opportunities for growth and support the development of healthcare infrastructure. Financial and product-based support of organizations such as the World Federation of Hemophilia’s (WFH) Global Alliance for Progress (GAP) Program is an example of ways in which companies can help improve access to biological medicines. The GAP program aims to improve the diagnosis and treatment of bleeding disorders in developing countries.

Seventh: More to be done Building a sustainable pharmaceutical company is an ongoing process. It is important to continually review and adjust a company’s approach to ensure its efforts and resources are focused in the areas most important and valuable to its operations and stakeholders. This approach reinforces the very culture that helps deliver solid results for shareholders and positive outcomes for patients.

the challenge of meeting human needs for natural resources, industrial products, energy, food, transportation, shelter, and effective waste management while protecting and conserving environmental quality and the natural resources base essential for future development .  

it is a development how can give us and our next generation our needs...economically viable and environmentally acceptable socially equitable  

To me, sustainable development in a project based organization would be such an increase in assets of the company which it can maintain for a considerably long period. Whereas it might hold true to a certain extent as far as the equipment, plant and properties are concerned it is very difficult to maintain with respect to the human capital.

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