This book presents important new research on applied eco-efficiency concepts throughout Europe. The aim of eco-efficiency is to achieve market-based measures of environmental protection, in order to enhance the prospects for sustainable development and achieve positive economic and ecological benefits. The distinguished authors discuss a number of themes surrounding eco-efficiency including the necessary conditions for technological dissemination and ecological modernization, and the role of government in enabling businesses and society to participate actively in this process. In particular, they highlight the application of existing European-based policies concerning material flows and energy. The authors also investigate some new concepts of sustainable development and provide a useful introduction to material flows analysis. In further chapters they study the emerging regulatory policies for eco-efficiency, and examine the issues of sustainable business and consumption strategies. Environmental and ecological economists, policymakers and political scientists will welcome this original and insightful book which aims to translate the theory of sustainable development into practical policy and business-related solutions.

This book outlines the principles of eco-efficiency and presents case studies of their application from a number of international companies, including 3M and the Dow Chemical Company. The term "eco-efficiency" describes business activities that create economic value while reducing ecological impact and resource use. This book outlines the principles of eco-efficiency and presents case studies of their application from a number of international companies, including 3M and the Dow Chemical Company. It also discusses the value of partnerships--with other companies, business associations, communities, regulators, and environmental and other nongovernmental groups. In the conclusion, the authors argue that business must become more eco-efficient and that governments need to change the conditions under which business operates, including tax and regulatory regimes, to make them more conducive to eco-efficiency.

Business-as-usual, it is widely accepted, will exceed the Earth's carrying capacity in an alarmingly short space of time. In simple terms, we need to learn to use the world's rapidly depleting resources in a significantly more efficient manner. Practical and readily adopted solutions are needed now. Eco-efficiency-or "produce more with less" – is achieved when goods and services satisfy human needs, increase the quality of life at competitive prices and when environmental impacts and resource intensity are decreased to a degree that keeps them within the limits of Earth's expected carrying capacity. Eco-efficiency – a term first proposed by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in 1992 – is a management approach that allows businesses to carry out environmental protection measures from a market-oriented point of view, with the aim of illustrating that ecology and the economy do not need to be a contradiction. Indeed, eco-efficiency has been portrayed as a win-win-for both business and the environment. This book, which developed out of two conferences on eco-efficiency held in Düsseldorf in 1998 and 2001, is edited by Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker and his team from the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, one of the world's leading research programmes on resource productivity. The aim is not simply to explain the past and present of eco-efficiency but to look forward to and encourage a future where the comprehensive take-up of the concept by business, government and consumers could lead to innovation on a grand scale and the possibility of a giant leap beyond towards overall sustainability. There have been considerable achievements to date. The Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which aims to list the most sustainable corporations for investors, includes companies such as BASF, Climatex, Henkel and Matushita/Panasonic (all represented in this book), who are implementing eco-efficiency measures. A number of political initiatives have also been formed. In December 2001, the German government suggested a National Sustainability Strategy to measure Germany's sustainable development. While this not yet an accepted political target or even law, it shows that politics is moving toward binding targets for increasing efficiency. Eco-Efficiency and Beyond collects together the leading thinkers on the topic and aims to illustrate not only that the concept should be part of every business strategy but that it is a key trigger for innovation. Innovation cuts through paradoxes. It is the creation of solutions to conflicting demands. Flying in a vacuum gave us rockets and satellites; switching electrons through insulators gave us Silicon Valley and the digital age. Sustainable development presents a similar field of paradoxical innovation forces: i.e. provide affordable products and services for the growing unmet needs of the world population while reducing environmental impacts. This book is the definitive collection on eco-efficiency and will be required reading for business, government, NGOs and academicians.

Demands for sustainability policies have set new challenges for business both on the individual firm level and on the level of organized business interests. This edited volume brings together economic, social, environmental, and cultural dimensions of sustainability that comprise different challenges for business processes and activities. The aim is to develop an overarching framework to the study of sustainability and business and to advance an interdisciplinary analytical perspective. The book establishes a balanced account that equally represents business as problem causers as well as problem solvers, and therefore responds to the urgent need to investigate the intersection between sustainability issues and business participation.

The second edition of Sustainable Business prepares future business leaders to tackle the most crucial social and environmental issues of our time. This engaging textbook provides students with a comprehensive, balanced introduction to integrating sustainable business policies into all core business functions and processes. The text employs a qualitative-based learning process to help students understand how leadership, finance, accounting, risk management, marketing, supply chain management, and operations can be adapted to meet the sustainability goals of the 21st century. Looking at sustainable business from the managerial viewpoint, the fully-updated new edition explains how and why business is evolving due to increased consumer and regulatory pressure for sustainable performance. Business topics are first introduced in the same manner as traditional MBA programs, and then examined through the lens of sustainably. The text incorporates real-life examples of social and environmental leadership to demonstrate the efficacy of good sustainable business decisions, and illustrates the negative ramifications of outdated, purely economic-driven managerial decision-making. Influential concepts based on interdisciplinary research in sustainability are discussed in detail, and practical insights address how to turn policy into practice in the workplace.

A new collection of realistic, proven best practices for implementing sustainability and making it stick… 4 authoritative books, in a convenient e-format, at a great price! 4 authoritative Books show how to transform business sustainability from idea to profitable reality: Understanding the value of sustainability is one thing: successfully implementing it in your business is another. Good intentions aren't enough: you need excellence in implementation. In this unique 4 eBook package, world-class experts focus on the nitty-gritty and the nuts-and-bolts of successful business sustainability: what it takes to make it work, build on success, and keep moving forward. In Creating a Sustainable Organization: Approaches for Enhancing Corporate Value through Sustainability, Peter A. Soyka helps you choose the right strategies, and then manage and measure them well. Bridging the worlds of the sustainability professional and the investor/analyst, Soyka reveals what the evidence says about linkages between sustainability and value… how to effectively manage sustainability throughout the business… how to manage key investor and stakeholder relationships, and much more. Next, in Return on Sustainability: How Business Can Increase Profitability and Address Climate Change in an Uncertain Economy , Kevin Wilhelm reviews today's best practices for capitalizing on the business opportunities presented by climate change. Wilhelm helps you make the business case by identifying key climate-related business risks that will require your company to act whether it wants to or not. He presents real-world case studies of firms ranging from Yakima to Lockheed Martin, demonstrating how enterprises have significantly improved business performance by improving climate performance -- and offering practical strategies, techniques, and lessons from their experiences. Then, in Making Sustainability Stick: The Blueprint for Successful Implementation, Wilhelm offers a complete, up-to-date blueprint for successfully and profitably integrating sustainability across your enterprise. Wilhelm organizes his plan into easy-to-digest chapters, with action steps backed up from his extensive real-life consulting experience and candid interviews with 40+ directors of Sustainability or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). He provides a step-by-step roadmap for realizing the benefits of sustainability by fully engaging employees… a checklist for implementation… powerful tips on regaining lost momentum… and specific resources and exercises for overcoming common obstacles. Finally, in Financial Times Briefings: Sustainable Business, Brian Clegg delivers concise, practical, and actionable advice for integrating sustainability throughout your business in ways that improve both the environment and your bottom line. Organized to deliver fast and realistic solutions, this FT Briefing presents targeted strategies, detailed tactics, real cases, crucial consensus-building techniques, effective metrics, proven executive interventions, and more. Whatever your role in executing on business sustainability, this collection will help you achieve outstanding results -- environmental and financial. From world-renowned business sustainability experts Peter A. Soyka, Kevin Wilhelm, and Brian Clegg