Energy costs are high, finite supplies of raw materials exist, clean water is difficult to preserve, and waste production is rising. To sustain our current lifestyles, our planet must produce as much in the next forty years as it has in the previous eight thousand years combined, even with intensifying environmental constraints. By 2050, the planet’s population will increase by twenty-three percent, and an increase in average household income will result in doubled worldwide consumption. Additionally, consumers dictate that businesses provide progressively more sustainable goods and services. For businesses to meet quantitatively greater and qualitatively more stringent consumer demands, entrepreneurial and innovative strategies are not just laudable, but necessary in the pursuit to drive globally sustainable products, services, technologies, and solutions. A commitment to sustainability in all pursuits, and especially in business, will likely be the defining issue of my generation. Global businesses are not only ethically responsible for supporting sustainability, but they are also the preeminent institutions powerful enough to effectively advocate for, and push forward the agenda of establishing a greener economy. Business and society can mutually benefit by overcoming sustainability challenges together.
