It’s a new area for everyone—but success factors are beginning to emerge alongside the warnings and war stories.

The increasing urgency of the sustainability agenda is both a threat and an opportunity for businesses. Leaders are facing tough decisions as they look to improve their environmental performance and demonstrate their positive contribution to the communities they work within.

What are companies doing to show that they mean business when it comes to sustainability? What successes are they having in reducing their environmental impact? Are they becoming better citizens? And are they making money from sustainability?

Economist Conferences have designed The Sustainability Challenge: addressing environmental and societal demands on business to address these issues—and more. The programme will include the findings of a major survey of over 1000 senior executives, drawn from a range of industries around the world and will allow you to debate progress in sustainability with leading figures from global businesses. You’ll learn what’s working—and what still needs work. And you’ll be able to share insights and experiences with peers from every sector, in a discreet, off-the-record setting and engage in high-level discussions with expert speakers.

The topics we’ll be exploring at the event include:
> How does sustainability impact organisations’ traditional boundaries of responsibility? What patterns of best practice are emerging in relation to customer, partner and regulatory relationships?
> Can sustainability be measured objectively? What techniques are businesses using to measure the effectiveness of their strategies? What goals are they setting for themselves?
> Are growth and sustainability compatible, or is business trapped in a zero-sum game? Does sustainability threaten competitiveness? Or does it create new forms of competitive edge?