'UNDERSTANDING RISK AND SUSTAINABILITY - THE FUTUREFOR RISK MANAGERS?'

摘要

The way people define risk has significant repercussions for the way risks are identifiedrnand the way they are managed. Risk professionals see risk as a combination of the consequences of anrnevent and the likelihood of an event with those consequences occurring (technical risk). However, asrnSandman has pointed out, society's view of risk equates with hazard plus outrage (sociological risk).rnIn other words we concentrate on calculating the risk, identifying the controls in place, determiningrnthe residual risk, and assessing on that basis if we will accept the risk or not. The community'srnresponse, however, equates to the level of outrage the event produces.rnSustainability, likewise, has many definitions and encompasses anything from social justice issues andrnthe environment to how an organisation can continue to survive a globally competitive environment.rnOf recent times organisations have been looking at triple or quadruple bottom line reporting and havernstarted identifying sustainability as a risk (both threat and opportunity) they must manage tornincreasingly greater levels in the future. The nature of sustainability risk is seen as new and emerging,rndifferent to the risks that organisations and risk managers have traditionally faced, and one that willrnrequire different solutions than those that caused it to become an issue in the first place.rnWhile this may be true it is the contention of this paper that risk and sustainability are two sides of thernone coin and are therefore inextricably linked. One cannot be understood without the other.rnA holistic model is put forward that clearly identifies the link and demonstrates how an understandingrnof both risk and sustainability will be essential for future decision making.