John Elkington
Encyclopedia
John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. He is currently the Founding Partner & Executive Chairman of Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation movements. He is also co-founder of SustainAbility (1987, where he is a non-executive member of the Board) and of Environmental Data Services (ENDS, 1978).
John is a Fast Company blogger and a columnist for a number of publications, including chinadialogue (China), CSR Wire (USA), Director Magazine (UK), Monday Morning (Denmark) and Nikkei Ecology (Japan) as well as other media. John also writes a weekly column for the Guardian Sustainable Business website.
". In 2009, a CSR International survey of the Top 100 CSR leaders placed John fourth: after Al Gore, Barack Obama and the late Anita Roddick of the Body Shop, and alongside Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank.
His Who’s Who entry lists his recreations as: “playing with ideas, thinking around corners, conversations with unreasonable people, reading an Alpine range of books (history to science fiction) and US business and science magazines, risking life and limb as a London cyclist, catch-it-as-you-can photography, art and design, writing all hours, pre-1944 aircraft, New World wines, 20th century popular music–and Johann Strauss II.”
He has written or co-authored 17 books, including 1988’s million-selling Green Consumer Guide, 1997’s Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business , the book which brought his triple bottom line concept and agenda to a wider audience, and 2008’s The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World, co-authored with Volans co-founder Pamela Hartigan.
John is a Fast Company blogger and a columnist for a number of publications, including chinadialogue (China), CSR Wire (USA), Director Magazine (UK), Monday Morning (Denmark) and Nikkei Ecology (Japan) as well as other media. John also writes a weekly column for the Guardian Sustainable Business website.
Biography
John Elkington has been described by Business Week as "a dean of the corporate responsibility movement for three decades." His first involvement in the field: raising money for the newly formed World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in 1961, aged 11. In 1987 he founded SustainAbility, a think tank and consultancy that works with businesses through markets in the pursuit of economic, social and environmental sustainability. He originated the term "Triple Bottom LineTriple bottom line
The triple bottom line captures an expanded spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational success: economic, ecological, and social...
". In 2009, a CSR International survey of the Top 100 CSR leaders placed John fourth: after Al Gore, Barack Obama and the late Anita Roddick of the Body Shop, and alongside Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank.
His Who’s Who entry lists his recreations as: “playing with ideas, thinking around corners, conversations with unreasonable people, reading an Alpine range of books (history to science fiction) and US business and science magazines, risking life and limb as a London cyclist, catch-it-as-you-can photography, art and design, writing all hours, pre-1944 aircraft, New World wines, 20th century popular music–and Johann Strauss II.”
He has written or co-authored 17 books, including 1988’s million-selling Green Consumer Guide, 1997’s Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business , the book which brought his triple bottom line concept and agenda to a wider audience, and 2008’s The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World, co-authored with Volans co-founder Pamela Hartigan.
Books
Selected publications:- The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World by John Elkington, Pamela Hartigan (Authors), Klaus SchwabKlaus SchwabKlaus Martin Schwab is a German economist, best known as the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum. His wife and former secretary, Hilde, co-founded the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship with him...
(Foreword), (2008) - Making Sustainability Work: Best Practices in Managing and Measuring Corporate Social, Environmental and Economic Impacts by Marc J Epstein (Author), John Elkington (Foreword), Herman B Leonard (Foreword), (2008)
- The Sustainability Advantage: Seven Business Case Benefits of a Triple Bottom Line by Bob Willard (Author), John Elkington (Foreword), (2002)
- The Chrysalis Economy: How Citizen CEOs and Corporations Can Fuse Values and Value Creation (2001)
- Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business (1998)
- The Ecology of Tomorrow's World (Hardcover, 1980)
- The Green Capitalists: Industry's Search for Environmental Excellence by John Elkington with Tom Burke (1987)
- The Green Consumer: Revised Edition (A Tilden Press Book) by Joel MakowerJoel MakowerJoel Makower is an entrepreneur, writer, and strategist on sustainable business, clean technology, and green marketing. For more than twenty years, he has been a respected voice on these topics, through books, websites, blogs, articles, and speeches...
, John Elkington, and Julia HailesJulia HailesJulia Hailes , is an author who first came to prominence in 1988, when she wrote The Green Consumer Guide which sold a million copies worldwide. She subsequently wrote The New Green Consumer Guide published in 2007. She has authored or co-authored nine books...
(Paperback, 1993) - The Gene Factory (Hardcover, 1985)
- The Green Business Guide by John Elkington and Peter Knight (1991)
- Green Pages by John Elkington, Tom Burke (environmentalist)Tom Burke (environmentalist)Tom Burke is an Environmental Policy Adviser to Rio Tinto and a Visiting Professor at Imperial and University Colleges, London. He is Chairman of the Editorial Board of ENDS Magazine....
, and Julia HailesJulia HailesJulia Hailes , is an author who first came to prominence in 1988, when she wrote The Green Consumer Guide which sold a million copies worldwide. She subsequently wrote The New Green Consumer Guide published in 2007. She has authored or co-authored nine books...
(Paperback, 1988) - The Young Green Consumer's Guide by John Elkington, Julia HailesJulia HailesJulia Hailes , is an author who first came to prominence in 1988, when she wrote The Green Consumer Guide which sold a million copies worldwide. She subsequently wrote The New Green Consumer Guide published in 2007. She has authored or co-authored nine books...
, Douglas Hill, and Tony RossTony RossTony Ross is a British illustrator and author for children.He is most noted for his work with Francesca Simon on the Horrid Henry books, and has also illustrated the Harry The Poisonous Centipede and Dr. Xargle series of books...
(Paperback, 1990) - Thailand: Natural Resources Profile (Natural Resources of South-East Asia) by Anat Arbhabhirama, Dhira Phantumvanit, and John Elkington (Hardcover, 1988)
- The Green Consumer's Guide: From Shampoo to Champagne: High-Street Shopping for a Better Environment by John Elkington & Julia HailesJulia HailesJulia Hailes , is an author who first came to prominence in 1988, when she wrote The Green Consumer Guide which sold a million copies worldwide. She subsequently wrote The New Green Consumer Guide published in 2007. She has authored or co-authored nine books...
(Hardcover, 1989) - The Natural House Book by David Pearson and John Elkington (Paperback, 1992)
- Manual 2000 by John Elkington and Julia HailesJulia HailesJulia Hailes , is an author who first came to prominence in 1988, when she wrote The Green Consumer Guide which sold a million copies worldwide. She subsequently wrote The New Green Consumer Guide published in 2007. She has authored or co-authored nine books...
(Paperback, 1998) - Bio-Japan: The emerging Japanese challenge in biotechnology (Paperback, 1985)
- Sun Traps: The Renewable Energy Forecast (Pelican), (Paperback, 1984)
- A Year in the Greenhouse (Hardcover, 1991)
- Cleaning Up: US Waste Management Technology and Third World Development (World Resources InstituteWorld Resources InstituteThe World Resources Institute is an environmental think tank founded in 1982 based in Washington, D.C. in the United States.WRI is an independent, non-partisan and nonprofit organization with a staff of more than 100 scientists, economists, policy experts, business analysts, statistical analysts,...
Papers,) by John Elkington and Jonathan Shopley (Paperback, 1989) - The Gene Factory: Inside the Genetic and Biotechnology Business Revolution (Hardcover, 1985)
- The Green Consumer Supermarket Shopping Guide by Joel Makower, John Elkington, and Julia Hailes (Paperback, 1991)
- Holidays That Don't Cost the Earth by John Elkington and Julia HailesJulia HailesJulia Hailes , is an author who first came to prominence in 1988, when she wrote The Green Consumer Guide which sold a million copies worldwide. She subsequently wrote The New Green Consumer Guide published in 2007. She has authored or co-authored nine books...
(Paperback, 1992) - The Poisoned Womb: Human Reproduction in a Polluted World (1987)
- The Shrinking Planet: U.S. Information Technology and Sustainable Development (Wri Paper, No 3) by John Elkington and Jonathan Shopley (1988)
- Double Dividends? US Biotechnology and Third World Development (Wri Paper, No 2)" (Paperback, Nov 1986)
Boards
- Member of the Advisory Board of EcoVadis
- Member of the Recyclebank Sustainability Advisory Council
- Strategic Advisor to 2degrees, Bayer MaterialScience, Gaia Energy, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Instituto Ethos, Nestlé’s Creating Shared Value, One Earth Innovation, Polecat UK and a Cleantech Fund developed by zouk Ventures.
- Senior Advisor to the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
- Member of the WWF Council of Ambassadors
- Member of the Evian Group Brain Trust
- Newsweek Green Rankings Advisory Board
Awards
- 2008 Social Capitalist Award, Fast CompanyFast Company (magazine)Fast Company is a full-color business magazine that releases 10 issues per year and reports on topics including innovation, digital media, technology, change management, leadership, design, and social responsibility...
- 1989, UN Global 500 Roll of Honour for “outstanding environmental achievements”
Education
- Bryanston SchoolBryanston SchoolBryanston School is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Blandford, north Dorset, England, near the village of Bryanston. It was founded in 1928...
, 1966. - BA (Hons) in Sociology and Social Psychology, University of EssexUniversity of EssexThe University of Essex is a British campus university whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1965...
, 1970. - M. Phil. in Urban & Regional Planning, University College LondonUniversity College LondonUniversity College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
, 1974.
External links
- Q&A: John Elkington - "We're 40 years into a 70-year process", FastCompany.com
- Two Views of the Global Compact, BusinessWeekBusinessWeekBloomberg Businessweek, commonly and formerly known as BusinessWeek, is a weekly business magazine published by Bloomberg L.P. It is currently headquartered in New York City.- History :...
- Twenty Years After, JohnElkington.com (PDFPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
file) - Elkington's personal website and blog
- Volans website