Sustainable Enterprise

The fundamental challenge for human institutions in the 21st century is to create and maintain a sustainable combination of economic, social, and natural environmental conditions in an increasingly global and commercial civilization.

This challenge is not now being met. The world economy so far is failing to meet even the basic needs of a large fraction of the human population, or to protect its natural resources and the ecosystems that produce them, even as it creates unprecedented wealth and amenities for a few. The reasons for these failures lie in both economic and political institutions.

An emerging literature in strategic business management proposes that the most promising solutions to these problems lie in entrepreneurial business innovation. The Sustainable Enterprise Model (SEM) asserts that businesses can create greater value, even for themselves, by a more balanced optimization of social, environmental and financial considerations than by a narrowly economic emphasis alone. This model raises important questions, challenges, and potentially opportunities for the international finance and investment community. If the world is to become more sustainable, financial and investment institutions must themselves become "sustainable enterprises."

This paper summarizes the Sustainable Enterprise Model and its implications, highlights unresolved issues and questions about it, and poses a series of recommendations for further discussion and action by the finance and investment community.

For the complete document, please see the attached PDF version.