Sustainability Business Practices is about meeting the needs of today, without adversely impacting on the needs of tomorrow. As a term it can be applied across a range of areas, such as the environment, society and the economy. Broadly speaking, sustainable business development involves the application of sustainability principles to business & governments operations alike. Sustainability in this sense can mean a variety of things – ecological sustainability, social sustainability or even sustained economic growth. As such, the sustainable business movement is a component of the broader movement toward greater corporate social responsibility.
SRI or Social Responsible Investing takes into account the impact that companies have on society and the planet, and recognizes that we can factor these concerns into our investment choices. Now our decisions as investors, which used to be determined solely on corporate financial performance – perhaps based on short-term and short-sighted goals – can now be based on the whole of a company's standing, including their impact on the environment.
With this growth, opportunities for us as individuals to get into green investing and SRI abound. There are the usual suspects like stocks and bonds, mutual funds and venture capital. For example, hundreds of various funds exist for investors looking to put their money where their mouth is, and support companies who share their values.
Source: Sustainablescale org