The Business Case for Sustainable Development: Making a Difference towards the Earth Summit 2002 and Beyond

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)¹ was launched during the run-up to the 1992 United Nations Summit on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. During the preparations for the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, the WBCSD has restated its vision of the relationships between responsible companies and the goal of sustainable human progress. The vision attempts to provoke a thoughtful and positive debate both inside and outside the business community. To begin with, sustainable development is best achieved through open, competitive, and rightly framed international markets. Moreover, business must be committed to working with employees, their families, and the local community and society at large to improve the quality of life. Part of this will involve increased stakeholder dialogues on the part of business. It will also involve business accepting responsibility for informing consumers about the social and environmental effects of their choices. Finally, it must be acknowledged that poverty is one of the single largest barriers to sustainability. The business case for poverty reduction is straightforward: business cannot succeed in societies that fail. Smart companies, applying sound business thinking, are already beginning to see the benefits of pursuing poverty reduction. The potential for market expansion indicates that the best is yet to come, and that the market can be made to work for all.