Idea in Brief
The Problem
Current efforts by business to address planetary challenges such as climate change are inadequate.
The Solution
Corporations should strive to become net positive, improving well-being for everyone they affect—every product, operation, and stakeholder, including future generations and the planet itself.
First Steps
No company is yet net positive. To get started, firms should think about stakeholders, not just shareholders; take full ownership of all company impacts; embrace partnerships and work with critics; and rethink their approach to lobbying and other forms of advocacy.
Society’s expectations of business have changed more in the past two years than in the previous 20. A pandemic, expanding and ever-more-expensive natural disasters, George Floyd’s murder, attacks on democracy, and more: All moved us past a tipping point. Both practically and morally, corporate leaders can no longer sit on the sidelines of major societal shifts or treat human and planetary issues as “someone else’s problem.” For their own good, companies must play an active role in solving our biggest shared challenges. The economy won’t thrive unless people and the planet are thriving.
