Natural Capitalism: Making the Case for Sustainable Business

Hunter Lovins

L. Hunter Lovins is President and founder of the Natural Capitalism Solutions. NCS educates senior decision-makers in business, government and civil society to restore and enhance the natural and human capital while increasing prosperity and quality of life. In partnership with leading thinkers and implementers, NCS creates innovative, practical tools and strategies to enable companies, communities and countries to become more sustainable.

 

Jim Garrison

Jim Garrison is the chairman and president of the State of the World Forum, which he cofounded with Mikhail Gorbachev in 1995. The State of the World Forum (SWF) is often thought of as a "shadow UN," in that it is the largest forum of world leaders outside of the United Nations. From Margaret Thatcher to Ted Turner, from the Queen of Jordan to Desmond Tutu, from Jimmy Carter to George Bush Sr., all have been part of the extraordinary dialogue that is the State of the World Forum.

 

Written by Corey W. deVos
 

As you probably already know, making the required institutional changes that would help mitigate the effects of climate change is an exceptionally daunting task. It seems that we need to make so many changes in such a narrow amount of time, it's like turning an aircraft carrier around on a dime—there is simply so much societal momentum at our backs, pushing us down the same soot-covered road we've been on for decades. A great many people are beginning to see a cliff at the end of this road, a nearly bottomless plunge that we may never be able to crawl out of again if we step too far over the edge.
 

Recognizing our seemingly imminent peril has helped galvanize a great many people to begin trying to initiate the sort of change we need to see in the next few years. But it has not been easy. Human nature tends to struggle with long-term change, responding only to the problems that we are facing right now, and putting off our more abstract problems—no matter how urgent—until much later, when we begin to feel the effects. And by then, of course, it is often too late.
 

But here is the twisted irony—we are in this situation not because capitalism is inherently destructive, but because we are being bad capitalists. That is, there are ways to become environmentally sustainable without adding a massive burden to the budget sheets—we can, in fact, begin to clean up the environment at a profit! Highlighting these aspects of sustainability has allowed people like Hunter Lovins to find much greater success in working with large companies, helping to minimize waste and maximize efficiency, thereby maximizing profits in a very short period of time. We may be resistant to change in the abstract, but if there is a profit to be made, we will jump right on it. Talk about "going green...!!"
 

Of course, this flies in the face of the sort of bureaucratic resistance we have seen in governments and corporations when confronted with the great preponderance of scientists who say we need to respond to the pressures of climate change right now. In many cases, people are actually spreading lies (or at least half-truths) about the real-world implications of cutting carbon emissions, saying things like a 7% decrease would bankrupt even the largest and most profitable companies. No one seems to have told this to companies like DuPont, who self-initiated a plan to cut their carbon emissions by 65% by 2010—a goal they have already met, and which has saved them an average of 2.2 billon dollars per year. Walmart must have also missed class that day, since they have recently declared their bold ambitions to become 100% powered by renewable resources, to eliminate their carbon footprint, and to only sell environmentally sustainable products.
 

What is going on with these companies? It's not like we've seen a sudden flurry of eco-friendly mission statements, a new gamut of incentives from the governments, or packs of CEOs-gone-philanthropists roaming the streets and picking up litter. It's all just good business—common sense, really. Maximize the efficiency, minimize the waste, and pass the savings on to the shareholders. Including the people and the planet in a company's bottom line does not hinder its profitability; it actually enhances every aspect of its value—to shareholders, to employees, and to the world.
 

We live in very precarious times, and it is hard not to feel inundated by fear and anxiety when we think of problems so massive and so complex as climate change. It is as though the more we open our minds and our hearts, the more pain, perplexity, and plight we begin to see. But as overwhelming as it can be, there is more than enough cause to be hopeful—as Hunter reminds us, we are faced with a very practical set of problems, with very practical solutions. It's not like evolution has never steered itself to the brink before—the self-organizing system that it is, evolution triggers its own emergence by creating the right sets of problems at just the right time, forcing a species into an existential ultimatum: evolve or die.
 

We are already beginning to see hints of evolution occurring all around us, all over the world, as the human race continues to find new ways to thrive and adapt in a rapidly changing world. We see it in the work of pioneers like Hunter Lovins, Jim Garrison, Ken Wilber, and thousands of others around the world. We see it in countries like Brazil who are stepping up to the real challenges of our times, forging a new path for other industrialized nations of the world. And we see it in people like you, who are seeking new ways to relate to the planet, to each other, and to yourselves; ensuring that we all have a future on this precious little rock.
 

We hope you enjoy this fascinating discussion.

About the Book:

NATURAL CAPITALISM: CREATING THE NEXT INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
by Hunter Lovins, Amory Lovins, and Paul Hawken

For decades, environmentalists have been warning that human economic activity is exceeding the planet's limits. Of course we keep pushing those limits back with clever new technologies; yet living systems are undeniably in decline.
 

These trends need not be in conflict-in fact, there are fortunes to be made in reconciling them.
 

Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins, is the first book to explore the lucrative opportunities for businesses in an era of approaching environmental limits.
 

In this groundbreaking blueprint for a new economy, three leading business visionaries explain how the world is on the verge of a new industrial revolution-one that promises to transform our fundamental notions about commerce and its role in shaping our future. Natural Capitalism describes a future in which business and environmental interests increasingly overlap, and in which businesses can better satisfy their customers' needs, increase profits, and help solve environmental problems all at the same time.
 

Natural capital refers to the natural resources and ecosystem services that make possible all economic activity, indeed all life. These services are of immense economic value; some are literally priceless, since they have no known substitutes. Yet current business practices typically fail to take into account the value of these assets-which is rising with their scarcity. As a result, natural capital is being degraded and liquidated by the wasteful use of such resources as energy, materials, water, fiber, and topsoil.
 

The first of natural capitalism's four interlinked principles, therefore, is radically increased resource productivity. Implementing just this first principle can significantly improve a firm's bottom line, and can also help finance the other three. They are: redesigning industry on biological models with closed loops and zero waste; shifting from the sale of goods (for example, light bulbs) to the provision of services (illumination); and reinvesting in the natural capital that is the basis of future prosperity.
 

Citing hundreds of compelling stories from a wide array of sectors, Natural Capitalism shows how these four changes will enable businesses to act as if natural capital were being properly valued, without waiting for consensus on what that value should be. Even today, when natural capital is hardly accounted for on corporate balance sheets, these four principles are so profitable that firms adopting them can gain striking competitive advantage-as early adopters are already doing. These innovators are also discovering that by downsizing their unproductive tons, gallons, and kilowatt-hours they can keep more people, who will foster the innovation that drives future improvement.
 

Natural Capitalism's preface states: "Although [this] is a book abounding in solutions, it is not about 'fixes.' Nor is it a how-to manual. It is a portrayal of opportunities that if captured will lead to no less than a transformation of commerce and of all societal institutions. Natural capitalism maps the general direction of a journey that requires overturning long-held assumptions, even questioning what we value and how we are to live. Yet the early stages in the decades-long odyssey are turning out to release extraordinary benefits. Among these are what business innovator Peter Senge calls 'hidden reserves within the enterprise'—lost energy,' trapped in stale employee and customer relationships, that can be channeled into success for both today's shareholders and future generations. All three of us have witnessed this excitement and enhanced total factor productivity in many of the businesses we have counseled. It is real; it is replicable…"
 

The next Industrial Revolution has already started. Natural Capitalism will prepare you to be a part of it.