OUR SUSTAINBILITY TENETS
At SCRP, we view sustainability not as a theme or checklist—but as a strategic concern within organizational steersmanship, traditionally labelled “governance.” Governance, however, is often misinterpreted as mere oversight or compliance. In truth, it is a subset of a broader construct—Enterprise Risk Management (ERM)—which functions as the organization’s supersystem of detection, judgment, and response in deploying resources to engage the market and external influences.
This supersystem—much like a living organism—operates on two principles: allostasis (adaptive change) and homeostasis (resilient stability). Allostasis enables the organization to adapt structurally and culturally to environmental shifts. Homeostasis ensures that it maintains internal stability in the face of shocks. Sustainability, therefore, is not a reporting domain—it is a test of whether governance systems can detect, absorb, and respond through the ERM engine.
The 10 SCRP Tenets embody this philosophy. They reframe sustainability not as a checklist, but as a test of system intelligence:
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Tenets 1–3 reject sustainability as a checklist trend. It has always been a risk concern—detectable through governance, which operates under ERM as a steersmanship supersystem.
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Tenets 4–6 position risk management as a science that works through cultural systems and innovation to generate feedback, response, and treatment.
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Tenets 7–9 establish quantification as a fiduciary responsibility—practical, reasonable, and legally expected where viable.
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Tenet 10 asserts that most frameworks are sophisticated checklists. Only those designed with control loops and systems logic can truly govern.
To SCRP, sustainability is not an output—it is a consequence of system design. These tenets represent that design philosophy.
Tenet 1
Standards are signal for system-level change.
Global standars, including sustainability, reflect changing realities. They should trigger system-level innovation—not more checklists.
Tenet 2
Sustainability was always a source of risk.
A functioning governance system should detect any risk propagation, regardless of label. Long checklists simply expose the absence of an internal system for sensing materiality.
Tenet 3
ERM isn’t under governance—it’s what governance runs on.
Every strategic choice is a calculated risk. Risk management is the cognitive engine of true and sustainable governance.
Tenet 4
Risk is a science.
Risk management is built on probability, not colour codes. Reclaim it from ritual—anchor it in scientific models that simulate sustainability and evolve toward equilibrium.
Tenet 5
Culture sustains all sustainability.
Way of life drives how people work, buy, and trust. Ignore it, and 'sustainability' is empty.
Tenet 6
Innovation is how risk gets treated.
Risk management isn’t about fear—it’s about resolving threats and seizing potential through structured, sustainable, and innovation-led responses.
Tenet 7
Measure forward the same way you measure backward.
We measure the past with ratio scales—the future, rooted in sustainability, deserves the same. Replace vague ordinal rankings with scalable, directional, and time-based estimates.
Tenet 8
Quantification isn’t hard or expensive—it’s just smart necessity.
IFRS S1 and S2 expect it. Simulations rely on it. Even rough quantification outperform endless 'high or low' debates that cost more in time and clarity.
Tenet 9
Where Quantification Is Viable, Duty Demands It.
Boards are expected to apply the best available methods. Overlooking viable quantification can undermine legal diligence— and signals weak governance sustainability.
Tenet 10
A framework is only valid if it self-corrects.
Sustainable governance requires adaptive systems—not static frameworks built to tick boxes. Without feedback loops grounded in cybernetics, structure becomes mere theatre.
