The application of Sustainable Development principles through the introduction of a CSR policy is often accompanied by what is called triple bottom line reporting which declares that it is necessary to account for not only financial results, but also for the social and environmental impact of the business, i.e. focus not only on Profit, but on People and Planet aspects as well. Some countries (e.g. France) have made such reporting mandatory. However the measurement of social and environmental performance is difficult and new measurement techniques need to be developed.

Advocacy for triple bottom line reforms is popular in Green Parties and in the United Nations circles.

While many people agree with the importance of social and environmental goals, there are also many who disagree with the ‘Triple Bottom Line’ as the way to achieve these goals. The main arguments against it may be summarized as:

Division of labor, which is characteristic of rich societies and a major contributor to their wealth, ensures that organizations contribute most to the welfare of society when they focus on what they do best. Business’s expertise is in satisfying the needs of society and generating a value-added surplus. Thus the ‘triple bottom line’ is diverting business attention away from its core competency. Just as charitable organizations like the Salvation Army would not be expected to pay a cash dividend, business should not be expected to take on concerns outside its core expertise.

Effectiveness. Concern for social and environmental matters is rare in poor societies (a hungry person would rather eat the whale than photograph it). As a society becomes richer its citizens develop an increasing desire for a clean environment and protected wildlife, and both the willingness and financial ability to contribute to this. The ‘Triple Bottom Line’ is said to be an example of the choices available to the citizens of a society made wealthy by businesses attending to business. Thus, Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand will ensure that business contributes most effectively to the improvement of all areas of society.

Nationalism. Some countries adopt a nationalistic approach with the view that they must look after their own citizens first.

Inertia. The difficulty of achieving global agreement on simultaneous policy may render such measures at best advisory. People would be unwilling to undergo a depression or recession in order to remediate lost ecosystems.

Many large companies now produce annual reports that cover Sustainable Development and CSR issues, and these reports are often externally audited. But there is no common template for the reporting and the evaluation methodology varies between companies. Critics often comment that some of these reports are just an ad and as an example note that Enron published a glossy «Corporate Responsibility Annual Report» and that tobacco corporations such as BAT also produce social reports.

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an attempt to standardize sustainability reporting and the AA1000 standard is an attempt to improve their legitimacy.