Economic, Environmental and Social Sustainability Report

Expectations for industries to manage resources in a sustainable manner raise the question of how industries can demonstrate their sustainability credentials. This thesis reviews the question of sustainability monitoring and reporting in relation to the Australian cotton industry. Principals of sustainability reporting in business and agriculture were reviewed.
A set of sustainability indicators has been developed and economic, environmental and social data compiled. A specific analysis of the cotton industry’s environmental management system, the Cotton Best Management Practices program was completed to investigate its potential to track and report farm management practice change over a 10 year period.