Sustainable Business - A Declaration of Leadership

My colleague and occasional co-conspirator Gil Friend, CEO of Natural Logic, spoke last night at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, a presentation intriguingly titled "Business and Sustainability: Risk, Fiduciary Responsibility, and the Laws of Nature." As would be expected of Gil, one of the true pioneers in this field, it was a cogent articulation of the state of the art, for both better and worse, of sustainability in the private sector.

Gil's talk (the audio of which will be archived eventually on the Commonwealth Club Web site) covered a broad spectrum of topics, including how the financial markets are starting to "get it" -- that is, incorporate companies' sustainability footprint and strategy into their overall assessments. He punched through some of the more common arguments inside companies against thinking and acting more sustainability ("We can't afford it," etc.) and told inspirational tales of how some companies are beginning to invent their way out of seemingly intractable challenges -- and are doing so profitably.

Gil closed by debuting a new "declaration of leadership" for sustainable business, reprinted below. Says Gil: "I hope you'll use this declaration to stimulate fruitful discussions about whether your company is taking the challenge and the opportunity seriously -- and creatively -- enough."

You can download the 50k PDF here. Gil encourages you to send him your feedback.

Sustainable Business - A Declaration of Leadership

Because:

the well being of our economy fundamentally depends on the services from nature that support it,

business activity has a profound impact on the ability of nature to sustainably provide those services,

we are committed, as business and community leaders, to the well being of both economic and ecological systems, of both humans and other living things,

we believe that these goals are compatible (and where they seem to be incompatible, we are committed to finding better ways to do business that make them compatible).

We envision our company, suppliers and customers, and our community doing business in ways that:

preserve, protect and ultimately enhance the living systems -- of this region, and the planet -- that sustain our business and the larger human economy

provide ever greater value in meeting the real needs of our customers, suppliers and communities

meet human needs in the most efficient and economical means possible, in order to include the greatest percentage of humanity.

To do this we will:

consider the requirements of the earth's living systems in all design and operating decisions

not take more from the earth than it can sustainably provide

not provide to the earth more than it can sustainably absorb

analyze the life cycle operating costs and impacts of our facilities, operations and products/services, as well as their initial costs

work to eliminate "waste" of all kinds from our operations, and to find safe, productive uses for any "non-product" that we are not yet able to eliminate

treat employees, customers, suppliers and stakeholders fairly, honestly and respectfully

take responsibility for the safety of our products/services in their intended use

take responsibility for the safety of our activities for employees and communities

take responsibility for the safe "end of life" recovery and reuse or recycling or our products

design our facilities, operations and products/services to be ever more efficient, ever less dependent on materials and activities that poison, degrade or encroach on living systems, and ever more supportive of these approaches

do all these in a way that supports our economic well-being, and the economic well-being of those who depend on us

We will measure our progress by the trends of our

resource productivity [unit of benefit provided per unit of resource used]

"non-product" output [amounts & toxicity of "unsalable" materials and chemicals]

net carbon emissions [production of climate changing greenhouse gasses]

ecological footprint [demand on earth's regenerative capacity]

profit, both near and long term

We will pursue these steps with a commitment to

future generations

continuous improvement

open dialogue with our customers, stockholders, suppliers, and communities

Comments

[kris]

where can we see a readable version of that graphic?

[Gil Friend]

The PDF of the Declaration is now available at http://www.natlogic.com/news/events/commonwealth.html

I hope to have the audio posted (it needs a bit of editing) some time next week; please check back to that same URL.

[Gil Friend]

We'll make poster-sized printed versions available soon as well. Please check back.