Sustainability has become an important issue on the business agenda for several reasons. Surveys show that over 90% of CEOs see sustainability as important to business success. Additionally, increasing public awareness of issues like climate change, pollution and human rights has put pressure on businesses to address sustainability. A number of political milestones and business events, from the Limits to Growth report to the Kyoto Protocol, have also brought sustainability to the forefront. While businesses initially resisted addressing sustainability issues, most now see benefits to integrating sustainability into their core strategies and operations for competitive advantage and long-term success.

1. Sustainability on the Business Agenda How did it get there? 152.704 Adam G. Jones 20 July 2010

2. Proof it IS on the agenda Currently

6. Why wasn’t sustainability on the agenda before?

9. Milestones Milestones Milestones

16. “ Business is removing its veto.” (Peter Goldmark, former CEO of International Herald Tribune)

19. This is not a bad thing / There are benefits to this

22. “ Pursuing a mission of sustainable development can make our firms more competitive, more resilient to shocks, nimbler in a fast-changing world and more likely to attract and hold customers and the best employees. It can make them more at ease with regulators, banks, insurers and financial markets. Sustainable development policies will be profitable, but our rationale is not based solely on financial returns. ... In the long term, companies that do not reflect these people's best vision and values in their actions will wither in the marketplace.” (World Business Council for Sustainable Development 2007)