People, Planet & Profit.

So a quick reminder if, like me, maths at school happened a long time ago.

A subset is a group which is wholly part of another, larger group. So Cocker Spaniels are a subset of Dogs, which are a subset of Animals. It can’t be said that Dogs are a subset of Cocker Spaniels because there are Dogs which are different breeds.

So now that reminder is out of the way – People, Planet and Profit. What is a subset of what?

The traditional business / economics / capitalist viewpoint is that Planet is subset of People which is a subset of Profit. This is shown by the fact that we speak as if we (humans) exist within the economy and that the planet is a set of resources for us to use. The concepts of “Can we afford net zero?” or “Natural Resources" (as if there are any other kind…) show this, as do recent headlines about a group of MPs setting up the ‘Net Zero Scrutiny Group’ with the perspective that “the price of reaching net zero is too great” and a McKinsey report stating that “The transformation of the global economy needed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 would be universal and significant, requiring $9.2 trillion in average annual spending on assets, $3.5 trillion more than today… … equivalent to half of global corporate profits” – there are a series of issues with that report but let’s leave that for now. Looking after the planet is positioned as a factor of whether it delivers a good ROI.

We are all familiar with discussions and news articles about whether we can afford to lift people out of poverty (71% of the world spend <$10 a day, if you are reading this chances are you’re in the 1% who spend more than $100 a day).

We believe we (humans) are part of the economy.

However an easy way to check what is really a subset of what is a thought experiment. If all of Group X ceased to exist would all of its subset Group Y cease to exist? So if all Cocker Spaniels ceased to exist would all Dogs disappear? Clearly No.

If all Dogs ceased to exist would all Cocker Spaniels disappear? Yes.

So Cocker Spaniels is a sub-set of Dogs not vice-versa.

So for People, Planet and Profit. 

If the economy (Profit) ceased to exist? Both Planet and People would survive.

If People ceased to exist, so would Profit but Planet would survive.

If Planet ceased to exist so would People and Profit.

Therefore People are a subset of Planet and Profit is a subset of People.

(Obvious when we consider money is a human construct).

So let’s ensure we always get our priorities in the right order. 

Planet, People, Profit



Keep KISSing Sustainability. Simon xx.