Sustainability: the business perspective

Abstract

There is growing recognition across business that the reductionist ‘mind set’ founded on unlimited economic growth impervious to the social and environmental impacts of commercial activities will not resolve the converging environmental, social and economic crises now faced by the global community. Ever greater numbers of Boards and CEOs are grappling with a notion of sustainability and attempting to define precisely what it means for their business.

The primary aim of this unit is to capture this transition and define what businesses are doing to adopt a more sustainable approach. Looking at a number of case studies, the unit will attempt to demonstrate how individual businesses are attempting to align their activities to address global sustainability challenges such as climate change and carbon reduction, energy and water scarcity and poverty reduction.