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Walking the Talk: The Business Case for Sustainable Development

For the first time, leading industrialists are arguing that not only is sustainable development good for business, the solving of environmental and social problems is essential for future growth

Drawing on a wealth of specially written case studies and personal interviews from business leaders operating around the world, Walking the Talk clearly demonstrates that the vanguard who have operationalized leading-edge environmental and social initiatives are benefiting in a myriad of ways that benefit the bottom line — and the planet. The book demonstrates that the time for rhetoric is over. The business of business has changed.

Look inside!

Ordering information

English
Walking the Talk: The Business Case for Sustainable Development
Charles O. Holliday Jr.; Stephan Schmidheiny; Sir Philip Watts, KCMG
August 2002 / 288 p./ 29.95 US$ / £ 21.95
ISBN 1-874719-50-0
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French
De la parole aux actes
Charles O. Holliday Jr.; Stephan Schmidheiny; Sir Philip Watts, KCMG
juin 2003 / 312pgs / 33€
Victoires Editions
ISBN 2-908056-61-5
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Portuguese
Cumprindo o Prometido - Casos de Sucesso de Desenvolvimento Sustentável
Charles O. Holliday Jr.; Stephan Schmidheiny; Sir Philip Watts, KCMG
August 2002 / 402pp / R$49.90
Editora Campus Ltda
ISBN 85-352-1134-9
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Walking the Talk argues that a global partnership - between governments, business and civil society — is essential, if accelerating moves toward globalization are to maximize opportunities for all, especially the world’s poor. Far more eco-efficient and socially equitable modes of development must be pursued in order to allow poorer nations to raise their standards of living.

To achieve these aims, markets must be mobilized in favor of sustainability, leveraging the power of innovation and global markets for the benefits of everyone. Business cannot succeed in failing societies.

Whether small, medium or large, all businesses must innovate and change to meet the social and environmental challenges of the coming years. Walking the Talk provides a broad set of proven roadmaps to success as well as real-life inspiration for business to embrace the real challenge — building a global economy that works for all the world’s people.

Endorsements

Changing course was the message of the book published by Stephan Schmidheiny for the Earth Summit in 1992. Ten years on, Stephan Schmidheiny, Chad Holliday and Sir Philip Watts KCMG demonstrate how a number of leading companies have started to ‘walk the talk’.

I hope that the concrete examples provided in this book will catalyze the necessary change of course in the millions of companies that still continue with business as usual. I also hope that this publication will encourage business leaders to work with governments to adopt the necessary regulatory and economic frameworks that will enable market forces to drive a life-cycle economy and a more equitable world. Congratulations for this important undertaking.”
Dr Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Program

“In the global era not only commerce, but also information and civil society are global.

In Walking the Talk these forward-thinking business leaders make a powerful case that in the global era an enterprise’s license to operate depends on strategies that respond to broad societal values: protecting the environment, respecting human rights, promoting development that meets human needs, sharing information, and embracing scrutiny and input from civil society.”
Jonathan Lash, President, World Resources Institute

“Ten years after Rio,we approach the next Earth Summit in Johannesburg. Much has been accomplished in the corporate sector over the past decade. Ten years ago, the agenda was about‘changing course’, ‘eco-efficiency’, and ‘market failures’. Today,it is about ‘sustainable growth’, ‘the bottom of the pyramid’, and ‘walking the talk’.

Ten years from now we will look back and be amazed at how far the business sector has pushed the sustainable development agenda forward.”
Professor Stuart Hart, Director, Center for Sustainable Enterprise, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina

“For me, the appearance of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) was one of the most important unofficial outcomes of the Rio Summit in 1992.

It signalled the beginning of a period where it became clear that governments alone cannot achieve sustainability, and preconceptions about business being all about profit and NGOs all about ethics and voluntarism disintegrated. Walking the Talk demonstrates that we are all sitting in the same planetary boat.”
Dr Claude Martin, Director General, WWF International

About the authors

Charles O.Holliday, Jr is Chairman and CEO of DuPont. Holliday is an industrial engineer by training who, in his 30-year DuPont career, has touched virtually every aspect of the business - from fibers and chemicals to agricultural products and biotechnology. Holliday is a former chairman of the WBCSD.


Stephan Schmidheiny is Chairman of Anova Holding AG. A Swiss industrialist, Schmidheiny founded the Business Council for Sustainable Development after he was named Principal Advisor for Business and Industry to the secretary general of the 1992 ‘Earth Summit’ in Rio. He was the principal author of Changing Course and is now the honorary chairman of the WBCSD.


Sir Philip Watts KCMG was Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of The Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies and Chairman of the Shell Transport and Trading Company until March 2004.


Author Stephan Schmidheiny, Chad Holliday, Sir Philip Watts KCMG
Publication Date 1 Aug 2002
Document Type Publications
Issue/Topic Business Role/CSR
Region (Global)
Company DuPont
Royal Dutch Shell plc.
Source WBCSD
 

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