2007 marks two anniversaries of great significance to SustainAbility.
It is two decades since John Elkington and co-founder Julia Hailes first set up SustainAbility in the kitchen of the Elkington family home in south-west London. It is also two decades since the Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, defined sustainable development as the commitment to act in a way that respects the needs of future generations – a determination that has guided SustainAbility’s work throughout our existence.
Today SustainAbility comprises some thirty people, who work globally from offices based in London, Washington and Zurich. Our many publications have been translated around the world. Terms that we have coined – such as ‘green consumer’ and ‘triple bottom line’ - have entered common parlance in business and beyond. We have a roster of multinational clients drawn from the industry sectors that we believe will have the greatest impact on shaping a sustainable future. We are proud of our achievements to date, but we are under no illusions that what has been accomplished is sufficient.
In the last two decades, the world has seen unprecedented rates of globalisation accelerate the flows of people, ideas, technology, finance and trade around the planet. More people on earth now live in cities than in rural areas. The emerging economies of China, India, Brazil and elsewhere are increasingly influential on the world stage and in its markets. There is greater prosperity for many, but also far greater inequality – even in the most affluent societies. Poverty, debt, hunger and disease persist, fuelling anger and protest. We live in a world of great instability, where international institutions have largely failed, and where many decision-makers have only just woken up to the impinging realities of climate change.
We are thrilled to be celebrating the 20th anniversaries of SustainAbility and Brundtland, and also impatient, determined and energetic in our desire to move more powerfully to build sustainability thinking and vision into the mainstream. Our anniversary year will be marked by a series of initiatives and events that serve this end:
Raising Our Game is our flagship 20th anniversary Research & Advocacy Report, scheduled for publication late this spring. The report forecasts critical trends in the future of globalisation and sustainable development and anticipates the extraordinary dilemmas and opportunities that lie ahead for business. Drawing on expert opinion and analysis, the report is intended for business leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs committed to finding market solutions to the challenges facing society.
World leading innovators will partner with SustainAbility during 2007 to host a workshop for a select group of leading business thinkers and entrepreneurs. The event will take the findings of Raising Our Game and seek to catalyse the creative solutions that could shape future markets.
Originally founded as a social enterprise, SustainAbility comes full circle with the publication of John Elkington’s new book on social entrepreneurs – ‘The Power of Unreasonable People’ - due to be published by Harvard Business Press in 2008. The book complements our ongoing work on social entrepreneurship and its implications for mainstream business, undertaken in partnership with The Skoll Foundation.
Through a series of provocative interviews and articles we will review the sustainability agenda over the last two decades, forecast emerging issues and trends and take a hard look at our own performance and impact.
To find out more about our 20th anniversary and how your organisation could partner or support any of our initiatives this year, please contact Ori Chandler
More details on a formal anniversary celebration will be announced later in the year.
