No time for three bottom lines

By FRAN O'SULLIVAN assistant editor

Mighty River Power chief executive Doug Heffernan has broken ranks with the Business Council for Sustainable Development by rejecting its triple bottom line reporting mantra.

Heffernan says the concept confuses many corporates and needs challenging.

A Mighty River report issued today does just that by promoting a single bottom line, or "singular focus on long-term shareholder value", instead of the grab-bag of corporate do-gooding which gets rolled up with environmental and financial measures to form a triple bottom line.

Heffernan's challenge comes as the council prepares to hold a Leadership Forum in Auckland this evening to debate how to encourage sustainable development.

Heffernan said the council needed to lift its sights and launch a debate about the trade-offs necessary to secure New Zealand's growth prospects.

He was critical of the council's "tick-box approach" to corporate reporting and was sanguine at the prospect he could get kicked out for rejecting the party line.

The Mighty River report was presented to a range of politicians and Government officials including Energy Minister Pete Hodgson who is a keen supporter of sustainable development measures.

In its report, The Single Bottom Line - Sustainability and Mighty River Power 2003, the state-owned power generator says it draws a distinction between sustainability and corporate citizenship.

Sustainability is meeting present needs without compromising the ability to meet future needs. Whereas corporate citizenship lists the "good things" a company does in regard to the environment and the community.

Heffernan says each business has to approach sustainable development differently depending on the nature of their business but the focus had to be "maximising shareholder value" in the long term.