Social Business and Environmental Engagement for a New Economy

Nobel Prize Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus defined social business “as a business which is created solely for the purpose of solving a social or environmental problem, and it is a business from which owners do not take any dividend except to recoup their own investment.” By definition, environmental sensitivity and consciousnesses are essential components of the concept of Social Business, so Prof. Yunus’s theory sets Social Business as a new cornerstone for building a World of Three Zeros (Zero Poverty, Zero Carbon Emission, Zero Unemployment). In Prof. Yunus's theory, the environmental characterisation of Social Business is strong. It is closely connected to the particular role that, in the vision of Prof. Yunus, is entrusted to social business as a tool to achieve sustainable development economically, environmentally, and socially. From this point of view, social business can perform a critical function for local development, as it is particularly attentive and sensitive to the issues and needs of the territory to which it belongs. Numerous examples of social business demonstrate the efficiency of this tool for solving the problems of local communities and their territories. However, realising this function by social businesses also requires the redefinition of the legal and institutional system to allow this particular form of economic aggregation to perform its function fully.