Leadership voices

Some business leaders have made a case for becoming ecologically and socially sustainable:

Legitimacy: "Business...must take the lead in directing the Earth away from collapse and toward sustainability and restoration" — Ray C. Anderson, Chairman of Interface, the US carpet manufacturer.

Morality: "Institutions that operate so as to capitalise all gain in the interests of the few, while socialising all loss to the detriment of the many, are ethically, socially and operationally unsound... This must change." — Dee Hock, Founder, President and CEO Emeritus of Visa International, the credit card organization.

Prudence: "Far from being a soft issue grounded in emotion and ethics, sustainable development involves cold, rational business logic." — Robert B. Shapiro, Chairman of Monsanto, the US multinational.

Reputation: "The gap between rhetoric and reality is increasing. I would tell multinationals they have to watch out...they are much more vulnerable, because they have to be accountable to the public everyday." — Thilo Bode, Executive Director of Greenpeace.

Opportunity: "The sustainability agenda is developing faster than almost any other part of the business agenda." — Livio D. DeSimone, Chairman and CEO of 3M Corporation, the US manufacturing conglomerate.

Performance: Explaining his company's forays into renewable energy and enhanced support for the communities where it does business: "These efforts have nothing to do with charity, and everything to do with our long-term self interests...our shareholders want performance today, and tomorrow, and the day after." — Sir John Browne, CEO of British Petroleum/Amoco.

Personal Meaning: "When my grandchildren first saw the big snapping turtle in the pond where I used to play and fish as a boy, they glowed with the same wonder and awe as I did. Without sustainable development, (the world's) going to be a less satisfactory place for my grandchildren to live in. For me, these are the stakes." — Samuel C. Johnson, Chairman of S.C. Johnson & Son, the US household cleaning, insect-control and personal-care products maker.