Sustainability

Preface

Over the past fifty years, the drumbeat calling for action on corporate environmental and social responsibility (by whatever name) has grown steadily louder. From early concerns about pollution and human rights abuses to more recent angst about impacts of the “throwaway society” and the unintended consequences of the industrial society, the calls for corporate action today rest in the C-suite and boardroom.

The simple reality is that a rapidly growing population—consuming more and more stuff—lives on a fixed planet with limits to nonrenewable resources. This may not seem like the situation in small towns surrounded by thousands of acres of land, clean air, and clean water (such as in Canada or many parts of the central United States). ...