Introduction

Recently, the nature of firms has changed from traditional to sustainable, along with multi- attribute optimizers (profit, people and planet), thus generating financial, social and environmental returns (Emerson, 2003; Soppe, 2004). Sustainable investment funds are allocated to firms according to their attitude towards the environment and their implementation of social sustainability. An increasing number of corporate clients are interested in sustainable financial products. Sustainable building and sustainable energy are two rapidly growing markets. The new energy infrastructure requires the investment of large sums of money. Following multilateral funds for sustainability, such as Global Environment Facility (GEF), Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund (REEF), SDG (Solar Development Group) and Prototype Carbon Fund (PCF) were established to address global environmental issues in developing countries (Jeucken, 2001).

The decline of the housing, equity, and debt markets prompted the need for accrued regulation, transparency and proper governance. Therefore, the debt sector, as well as the sector of socially responsible investment, and that of venture capital have all begun to pressure businesses to factor social, environmental, corporate governance and climate issues into their financial statements, policies, disclosures, credit assessments and lending guidelines. The proper guides for best practices for financial institutions that are dealing with the environment are Equator Principles and the United Nations (UN) Principles for Responsible Investment. Borrowers who want loans from these signatories need to classify and reveal all risks associated with social and environmental performance; they should also provide an alleviation strategy for the management of these risks. The UN Principles for Responsible Investment is another voluntary set of guidelines that provides investors with a range of options for honoring their fiduciary obligations, as well as being aware of the Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) issues of the companies of their choice (Wilhelm 2013).

The chapter's objective is to highlight the role of sustainability in business management and pinpoint key factors that determine business success or failure in a sustainable environment. There is a close relation between sustainability and business success. Moreover, problems encountered by companies are important, whether they are economic, social or environmental, and they are crucial for establishing a competitive advantage.

In order to verify the hypotheses and to display the fulfillment of the research's objectives, the following research methods were used: a critical analysis of the literature (related works), observations, case studies and logical reasoning.