Sustainable business practices

There is an undeniable gap between what consumers say they want and what they are actually putting in their baskets.

As interest in clean energy surges, used solar panels are going straight into landfill.

Companies tend to focus on their top-tier suppliers, but the real risks come lower down.

Companies that introduce sustainable offerings face a frustrating paradox: Most consumers report positive attitudes toward eco-friendly products and services,...

Retreat isn't just inadvisable; it's dangerous.

It might not actually work.

More and more manufacturing companies are talking about what's often called the circular economy--in which businesses can create supply chains that recover...

They must be woven into your strategy and differentiate your company.

Or risk being left behind.

For two decades progressive thinkers have argued that a more sustainable form of capitalism would arise if companies regularly measured and reported on...

A walk through recent research.

Our brains have trouble planning for the distant future.

It was supposed to be a radical rethinking of capitalism, but it's become a mere accounting tool.

Managers should make environmental investments for the same reason they make other investments: because they expect them to deliver positive returns or to reduce risks.

In most discussions I have with people about sustainable brands and product or service offerings, someone inevitably asks, “But will customers pay a premium for green products?” With the downturn in the economy, this question has been arising earlier in the conversation and is framed more as a statement: “But customers won’t pay a premium […]

Whether you’re a fan of a global cap on carbon emissions or not, it’s important to understand what the failure of the meeting in Copenhagen last month means (that a global agreement is going to be unlikely in the near term) and what it doesn’t mean (that your company will be off the hook for […]

Just five or six years ago, the term "green building" evoked visions of barefoot, tie-dyed, granola-munching denizens. There's been a large shift in perception....

It’s a trickier question than you might think.

Future Economy The Opportunity of Sustainability Paul Polman is the CEO of Unilever, home to brands including Dove and Lipton. Polman has set a goal of...

If you are the leader of a large organization (or only of yourself) who cares about improving the world, here’s a question you should consider: How will you participate in the global solution networks that are increasingly managing to address the world’s problems? A global solution network is a group of independent parties that have […]