JohnElkinton.com - timelines

Wave 3 (peak 1999-2002)

The third upwave really kicked off in the streets of Seattle in 1999, with the protests against the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This time around, the focus was on globalisation and on governance, both global and corporate - as predicted in Cannibals with Forks a couple of years earlier.

Much of our work during this period was dominated by the triple bottom line agenda. This period saw the publication of the latest in the line of consumer-oriented books written by Julia and I, The New Foods Guide (1999). This focused on genetically modified foods, functional foods (i.e. foods with health or medical effects) and 'new organic' foods - i.e. those produced and sold on a fairly substantial scale. This book has led to some fascinating work with Unilever on related issues.

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As the TBL work proceeded, however, I became increasingly concerned that balancing economic, social and environmental forms of value added was only part of the story. Increasingly, I found myself thinking longer term, about the transformations in our economies, value chains and companies that will be needed over the next 25-30 years.

The result: The Chrysalis Economy (2001). Among other things, the book distinguishes between different sorts of business model in terms of their sustainability. It talks of Corporate Locusts, Caterpillars, Butterflies and Honeybees (or Beehive-like clusters).

Meanwhile, to support its US business, SustainAbility formed its first overseas office in New York during 2001. Six months later, two of our directors, Seb Beloe and Virginia Terry, watched appalled as the events of 11 September unfolded before their very eyes. The US team continues to evolve under the direction of Jeff Erikson - and the office moved from New York to Washington, D.C. early in 2003.

Among the reports produced during this period were: Good News & Bad, which I wrote with Francesca Müller, with help from Yasmin Crowther (now with SustainAbility) and her colleagues at Ketchum; and Trust Us, the report of SustainAbility's second international benchmark survey of corporate sustainability reporting, co-authored with Nick Robinson and Judy Kuszewski.

At SustainAbility, I also drove a progress review process, looking back at the company's first 15 years. The report, called Reality Check, can be found on SustainAbility's website. In parallel, I steered the process which resulted in the revision of the company's Vision, Mission and Values, and which was part of a major rebranding, launched in late 2003.