Abstract

Is it really worth the time and resources to make your company a recognised sustainability champion? And how on earth should you go about it? In this concise and practical book, Brendan May demonstrates why the companies that will be fit for purpose in 2020 are addressing sustainability now, and then outlines a strategy for how to do that. May draws on 15 years experience on the front line of sustainable business -- as Chief Executive of a business–NGO partnership, as an environmental campaigner and as advisor to multinational corporations on sustainability strategy and communications -- and outlines the emerging trends that will change the rules of the game forever. By the time you've finished this book you'll know who you need to know, what you need to know, and the dos and don'ts in the quest to make your business a true champion of sustainability.
“Brendan May cuts through the crap with insight, humour and frontline experience. Few come out unscathed but you will find yourself continuously nodding in agreement.” JOHN SAUVEN, Executive Director, Greenpeace UK "Sustainability will be crucial to the future success of any business. Here at last is a practical, commonsense approach to sustainability that all businesses can follow. This no nonsense guide explains how each business function has an important part to play in the development and implementation of a successful strategy. Most importantly it outlines how such involvement will deliver commercial benefit and real profitability.” RICHARD ELLIS, CSR Director, Alliance Boots Group "Brendan May doesn’t mince his words: “Sustainability,” he declares early in this short e-book, “is in fact the entire basis of all future commerce.” He’s right! The trouble is much of the discussion about business and sustainability gets lost in jargon and undermined by earnest worthiness. Neither of those criticisms can be levelled at May’s “How to make your company a recognised sustainability champion.” He cuts through the definitions’ jungle; and exposes the emperor’s new clothes. Don’t be deceived by the slight, tongue-in-cheek exaggeration with which he segments the NGO sector and debunks corporate sustainability as PR. As you would expect from someone with fifteen years experience of working with businesses on the substance of making sustainability the strategy of the company, there’s plenty of common-sense and strategic wisdom. Well worth an hour’s read – and plenty of follow-up usage." DAVID GRAYSON CBE is director of the Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility at the Cranfield School of Management in the UK, where he is also a professor of corporate responsibility by practice. "If you want your company to be a corporate champion of sustainability and make a profitable connection with the public's natural desire to save their planet, listen to Brendan May. He knows the mistakes and the triumphs - the companies who sing and the companies who suck, the NGOs you should not cross and those that can be ignored. Rarely does so much good advice come in such a short, readable package." CHARLES CLOVER, The Sunday Times “Succinct. Pithy. Pointed. But I’m not. Brendan May is one of the most direct and candid communicators of true sustainability. He does us all a service by putting down his Thoughts in this excellent and concise guide for those of us who want to be champions.” PROFESSOR MICHAEL MAINELLI, Executive Chairman, Z/Yen Group "A must-read guide for any company wanting to be known as a serious player in the sustainable business movement. Based on years of experience in both the NGO and corporate worlds, Brendan May's book is blunt, often funny, and crammed with useful tips." TONY JUNIPER, Senior Associate, Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership “It is a truism that money makes the world go round, but it is conversations that make the money go round. If you want to make the money go round sustainably then you need to be adept at the right conversations. Brendan May’s handy little guide to sustainable development in business is an excellent primer in how to make the sustainability conversation go round effectively both within companies and with external stakeholders. Brendan has condensed his experience of effective sustainable Development conversations into just the right read for those with too much to read already.” TOM BURKE, Founding Director to E3G and Environment Policy Advisor to Rio Tinto