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John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

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The Triple Bottom Line

John Elkington · 3 September 2009 · Leave a Comment

False modesty aside, there are a fair few things I feel I have contributed over the years, but the triple bottom line continues to amaze me with its stamina.  It’s more or less exactly 15 years since I came up with the term, after perhaps 18 months of wrestling off-and-on – with the help of Andrea Spencer-Cooke – in an attempt to explain the core sustainability challenge to business audiences.  The term has popped up repeatedly at conferences I have spoken at this year, most recently at the Oslo Sustainability Summit, where I spoke on Tuesday.  Now The Economist is on the case.

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Introduction

I began this blog with an entry reporting on a visit to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, on 30 September 2003. The blog element of the website has gone through several iterations since, with much of the older material still available.

Like so many things in my life, blog entries blur the boundaries between the personal and the professional. As explained on this site’s Home Page, the website and the blog are part platform for ongoing projects, part autobiography, and part accountability mechanism.

In addition, my blogs have appeared on many sites such as: Chinadialogue, CSRWire, Fast Company, GreenBiz, Guardian Sustainable Business, and the Harvard Business Review.

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About

John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. He is currently Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation movements.

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john@johnelkington.com  |  +44 203 701 7550 | Twitter: @volansjohn

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