The 2007 International Labour Conference report and conclusions on sustainable enterprises address several economic, social and environmental aspects which are to be taken into account in order for businesses to be sustainable. The main purpose of the present paper is to illustrate the environmental elements of a strategy towards the creation of sustainable enterprises by highlighting impacts on employment of different environmental instruments and policies.
The paper addresses both those environmental aspects which are linked to the impact of environmental policies, instruments and approaches on enterprises, as well as those which consist of the tools and behaviours which firms should adopt to mitigate their effects on the environment. Employment implications will be an underlying factor throughout the analysis. The environmental aspects considered will be structured according to the conceptual framework of the recently adopted ILO Sustainable Enterprise Strategic Programme. This strategic document represents the structure of the ILO Enterprise Department. It includes three pillars around which concrete activities are to be organized. These three pillars are:
- Enabling environments for enterprises and employment;
- Entrepreneurship and business development; and
- Sustainable and responsible workplaces.
The paper will explain what the different environmental aspects stand for, by referring to existing international literature and ILO project experiences. Besides theoretical arguments, international examples will also be presented to better illustrate concepts. Knowledge gaps are highlighted and topics for future research activities are identified.