Thursday, 28 August 2014 00:00
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The dean of Corporate Sustainability and the father of the Triple Bottom Line, John Elkington, will be in Colombo next week, as he addresses an exclusive public forum on Tuesday 2 September titled ‘Tomorrow’s Bottom Line and the Power of Unreasonable People’.
John Elkington
Elkington will visit Sri Lanka on an invitation from premier telecom service provider, Dialog Axiata, where he will also address a CEO Forum on Monday at the Dialog Future World at Darley Road Colombo. Often referred to as the “Father of Sustainability” – Elkington will discuss his new theory ‘Breakthrough Capitalism’.
In a recent article in the UK, John describes the ‘Breakthrough’ initiative as a call for business to get involved in shaping the world fit for a population of nine billion by 2050: “It’s part of a longer journey – and an opportunity to sketch a roadmap for our future,” he says.
Breakthrough Capitalism is a much broader and evolutionary theory than the original Triple Bottom Line formulation, based on the projection that the next 15-20 years will see more change in markets and business than we have seen in the past 50 – or even 100.
The public forum at 9 a.m. on 2 September will take place again at the Dialog Future World at Darley Road, and registrations for the event are at the British Council in Colombo.
This is the first time the respected authority on Sustainability is visiting Sri Lanka, and it poses a unique opportunity for Sri Lankan corporates to take advantage of his visionary thinking on inclusive business and sustainability. Dialog Axiata, a leader of the corporate responsibility movement in Sri Lanka invited Elkington to Sri Lanka to share his ‘breakthrough’ thinking with the organisation and the sustainability community in the country.
Corporate Sri Lanka has the opportunity to shape and even lead in the transition, as John Elkington himself takes the stage in Colombo next week. Incidentally, he will launch his new book The Breakthrough Challenge: 10 Ways to Link Today’s Profits With Tomorrow’s Bottom Line – co-authored with former PUMA CEO, Jochen Zeitz –in September.
A 2009 CSR International survey of the Top 100 CSR Leaders placed Elkington fourth after Al Gore, Barack Obama, the late Anita Roddick and alongside Mohammed Yunus. Elkington is based at Volans – a think-tank and consultancy in London, UK – working with corporates, government and the investment community to drive market-based solutions to “the future’s greatest challenges”.
In 2013, John was inducted into the Sustainability Hall of Fame by The International Society of Sustainability Professionals in honour of his “extraordinary contribution” to the field through research, publication, teaching and innovation.
Tuesday’s public forum is presented by Dialog in collaboration with the British Council. The Daily FT is the Official Newspaper of the event.
