Triple bottom line reporting : a tool for measuring, communicating and facilitating change in local communities

![CDATA[Triple Bottom Line (TBL) is an emerging process that aims to report, assess and improve organisational performance in relation to sustainability. It is gaining recognition within local government as a means of reporting progress towards or away from sustainability and incorporating its principles into management practices. John Elkington coined the term Triple Bottom Line in 1980s to highlight the importance of accounting for the non-market and non-financial aspects of performance in corporations, including social performance. Elkington stated: "The triple bottom line focuses corporations not just on the economic value they add, but also on the environmental and social value they add – and destroy. At its narrowest, the term ‘triple bottom line’ is used as a framework for measuring and reporting corporate performance against economic, social and environmental parameters". A triple bottom line is not a quest for a new bottom-line ‘metric’ but rather an approach for performance assessment and management that stresses the interdependence of economic, environmental and social criteria. Triple bottom line is therefore best seen as a process that includes managing, measuring and publicly reporting multi-dimensional performance and integrating with management process. Primarily it is a platform for the discussion of these integrated issues within the council and the community. Triple Bottom Line is simply an analogy and process for the broader notion of sustainability reporting.]]