In 1992, in preparation for the Rio "Earth Summit" the then BCSD published the book Changing Course: A global business perspective on developments and the environment, which describes various new roles for business.
The 'Declaration' beginning the book asserts that:
"Business will play a vital role in the future health of the planet. As business leaders, we are committed to sustainable development, to meeting the needs of the present without compromising the welfare of future generations."
The WBCSD's reports on Corporate Social Responsibility in 1999, 2000 and 2002 continued to examine companies’ functions in society and to help them define their responsibilities.
The work on Accountability & Reporting, covered in the 2003 report Catalyzing Change: A short history of the WBCSD, looks into what elements of the business roles companies need to report and what the public needs to know.
In 2005, council founder Stephan Schmidheiny and founder member Erling Lorentzen sponsored the production of a history of the WBCSD. In looking over a decade of creativity and partnerships, Catalyzing Change: A short history of the WBCSD helps us plot future roles for business by understanding the foundation that already exists for that work.
Also in 2005, eight younger council members spent the year looking at some of the major issues affecting business and society now, but are expected to be much bigger challenges in the future. Their report, From Challenge to Opportunity: The role of business in tomorrow’s society, argues that businesses have the chance to become sounder and more successful by finding business approaches to coping with those issues.
Societal signals such as climate change, demographic shifts, globalization and poverty are risks to business that companies can address through business solutions, in partnership with governments, international bodies and NGOs.
The Business Role Focus Area, which grows out of this long tradition, explores what business can and should do and how business can build trust around its various roles.
Since its beginnings, much of the council’s work has focused on the many roles of business and on new and redefined roles that can support society’s search for sustainable progress.