Challenges for Corporate Leaders
Stefan Doering
Tuesday April 1 st , 2008

• 50% of the world’s wetlands have been lost in the last
100 years,
• 50% of the world’s forests have been chopped down,
• 70% of the world’s major marine fisheries have been depleted
• 100% of the world’s coral reefs are at risk, and
• 6.3 billion people on the planet, with another 3 billion in the next 40 years
BEST Coaches, Inc. www.beunreasonable.com

~Albert Einstein
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Stage 1 The company feels no obligation beyond profits.
Stage 2 The business manages its liabilities by obeying the law and all labor, environmental, health, and safety regulations.
Stage 3 the company moves from defense to offense. It realizes it can save expenses with proactive and incremental operational eco-efficiencies, cleaner processes, and better waste management. It is about incremental, continuous improvements in eco-efficiency.
Stage 4 The firm transforms itself. It re-brands itself as a company committed to sustainability and integrates sustainability with key business strategies. It is about discontinuous, leapfrogging breakthroughs. (i.e. DuPont, The Body Shop and Timberland.)
Stage 5 Driven by a passionate, values-based commitment to improving the wellbeing of the company, society and the environment, the company helps build a better world because it is the right thing to do. (i.e. Patagonia, Gaiam.com)
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a profitable business model for selling products and services using the company’s detailed plan of action for maintaining and restoring ecological and social balance in a consistent and unified way. It demonstrates the company’s commitment to “best practices.”
BEST Coaches, Inc. www.beunreasonable.com

BEST Coaches, Inc.
E-mail: stefan@beunreasonable.com
Phone: (646) 485-7688
Center For Environmental Research and
Education (CERC):
E-mail: shd2104@columbia.edu
Website: www.cerc.columbia.edu
BEST Coaches, Inc. www.beunreasonable.com

NEW: Top 5 Demanding Stakeholder* Groups
• Green consumers —22% of people in G7 countries are concerned about social and environmental issues.
• Activist shareholders —27.5% of shareholder resolutions for public companies in 2003 were on social/environmental issues.
• Civilsociety sector / NGO’s—43% people are or will soon actively challenge companies to take on greater social/environmental responsibility.
• Governments, national & international —EPA, Kyoto Protocol,
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
Certification, etc.
• Financial sector —70% of CEO’s surveyed at Davos in 2003 felt mainstream investors will have an increased interest in CSR in the future.
*- Stakeholders — those whom hold a stake in the company’s existence
BEST Coaches, Inc. www.beunreasonable.com

Top 5 big issues stakeholders are increasingly concerned about:
1.
Climate Change — 1) financial: damage from weather,
2) government: carbon taxes, and 3) company reputation
2.
Pollution and its effect on health —impact of the company’s manufacturing.
3.
Globalization Backlash —companies dealing across boarders.
4.
Energy Crunch —companies dealing with the planet running out of oil and gas
5.
Erosion of Trust in Institutions —business operating in the best interests of society.
BEST Coaches, Inc. www.beunreasonable.com

1. Climate Change
2. Energy
3. Water
4. Air Pollution
5. Chemicals, Toxics, and Heavy Metals
6. Waste Management
7. Ozone Layer Depletion
8. Biodiversity and Land Use
9. Forest and Fisheries
10. Deforestation
BEST Coaches, Inc. www.beunreasonable.com