A framework to support multiple perspectives in eco-efficiency decisions

Increasingly, it is recognised that human activity is causing our environment to degrade, and that there is a very real danger of doing irreversible damage to natural systems of which we have only a partial understanding. Neither living in, nor doing business in a future world with a degraded environment is desirable, and individuals and businesses alike are increasingly seeking ways to operate on a more sustainable basis. Sustainability was defined by WCED [1] as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” – but how can this aspiration be translated into specific decisions and actions? This paper describes some of the difficulties that must be overcome in the creation of a decision-support framework for eco-efficiency decisions, in order to ensure that we are targeting the right problems