Why Corporation 2020?: The Case for a New Corporation in the Next Decade

By Pavan Sukhdev

In Why Corporation 2020?, Pavan Sukhdev examines the many critical planetary boundaries that we are approaching, from greenhouse gas emissions to the nitrogen cycle, freshwater and land use, and food security, and argues that sweeping changes are needed to reform the way we deal with the earth’s resources. Sukhdev makes an arresting case for including the private sector in these changes, arguing that a new corporate model is needed in the next decade to avert irreparable ecological harm.
 
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• Language: English
• Publisher: Island Press
• Release date: Jun 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781610914192

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Why

Corporation

2020?

The Case for a New Corporation

in the Next Decade

Pavan Sukhdev

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Washington | Covelo | London

Copyright © 2012 by Pavan Sukhdev

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher: Island Press, 1718 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20009.

ISLAND PRESS is a trademark of the Center for Resource Economics.

Island Press E-ssentials Program

Since 1984, Island Press has been working with innovative thinkers to stimulate, shape, and communicate essential ideas. As a nonprofit organization committed to advancing sustainability, we publish widely in the fields of ecosystem conservation and management, urban design and community development, energy, economics, environmental policy, and health. The Island Press E-ssentials Program is a series of electronic-only works that complement our book program. These timely examinations of important issues are intended to be readable in a couple of hours yet illuminate genuine complexity, and inspire readers to take action to foster a healthy planet. Learn more about Island Press E-ssentials at www.islandpress.org/essentials.

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There is an emerging consensus amongst thought-leaders in government and business that all is not well with the market-centric economic model that dominates today’s world. Although it has delivered wealth in most economies over the last half century and pulled millions out of poverty, it is recession-prone, leaves too many unemployed, widens the gap between the rich and the poor, creates ecological scarcities impacting water and food, and generates environmental risks such as climate change.

Planetary boundaries are now being approached (and in some domains, have been breached) across many critical axes including greenhouse gas emissions, the nitrogen cycle, freshwater use, land use and food security, ocean fisheries, and coral reefs. Within the next decade, significant changes are needed in the way we deal with Earth’s resources. The failure of inter-governmental efforts points to the need to recognize the vital role of the private sector in determining economic direction and resource use globally. The corporate world must be brought to the table as planetary stewards, and not value-neutral agents free-riding their way to global resource depletion.

The rationale for engaging with the private sector is compelling: corporations produce almost everything we consume, generating 60 percent