Sustainable Business

Chapter 1

Introduction

Going green, green business, and sustainable business are topics on everyone’s mind. But what does all this mean exactly? Sustainable Business: An Executive’s Primer answers that question and provides an introduction to the basics you need to know.

We begin with an understanding of the background of the concept of sustainability and how it applies to the business world. In 1987, the Brundtland Commission put forth a “global agenda for change” with the purpose of “furthering the common understanding and common spirit of responsibility so clearly needed in a divided world.”¹ The report outlined the following description of sustainable development:

1. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present ...