The Sustainability Initiative

What is the Initiative?

By 2040, the world’s population is estimated to exceed 9 billion people. Some scientists believe this is also the point at which we will reach Earth’s carrying capacity – the maximum number of people that can be supported with available resources. Rapidly changing climate conditions already threaten access to these resources, disproportionately affecting low-income communities.

Sustainability is not just an environmental issue; it’s a human issue. How do we grow sustainably so that all humans flourish? 

The Sustainability Initiative provides a space for discussion around the environmental, social, and economic issues that businesses grapple with today. Our work explores the following interrelated questions:

• Externalities: Do we internalize the costs our actions impose on others in society?
• Consumption: Can we replenish natural resources at the same rate as we consume them?
• Justice: Are the means by which we produce and exchange resources ethical? To what extend do past injustices influence the distribution of access to resources?
• Equity: How much value do we place on equitable distribution of outcomes and/or equality of opportunity? How do we weigh tradeoffs between achieving equity and other sustainability objectives?
• Flourishing: What is necessary for human beings to flourish and have a good life? To what extent are our institutions organized to facilitate human flourishing?
• Public Finances: Are our outstanding obligations (to other countries and our citizens) consistent with our ability to meet those obligations?
• Efficiency: How do we organize our institutions, businesses, policy choices, and other aspects of the economy to maximize social well-being?

Led by the Institute for Business in Society and the Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Technology, it brings together the faculty thought leadership and student engagement opportunities around sustainability topics of interest to business leaders today.