• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

  • About
    • Ambassador from the future
  • Past lives
    • Professional
      • Volans
      • SustainAbility
      • CounterCurrent
      • Boards & Advisory Boards
      • Awards & Listings
    • Personal
      • Family
      • Other Influences
      • Education
      • Photography
      • Music
      • Cycling
    • Website
  • Speaking
    • Media
    • Exhibitions
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Reports
    • Articles & Blogs
    • Contributions
    • Tweets
    • Unpublished Writing
  • Journal
  • Contact
  • Show Search
Hide Search

Cleaner Fish, Dirty Waters

John Elkington · 15 September 2023 · Leave a Comment

My favourite UN sculpture
Getting ready
Rachel Maia speaks
On my way back to hotel

I always forget how late even major Brazilian events are in kicking off. The second day of the UN Global Compact event for Brazilian business today started 30 minutes late, precisely when I was meant to speak – and time-keeping didn’t improve much thereafter. Great fun, even so.

Note to self, though: ensure you deliver what your title promises. My title was Cleaner Fish, Dirty Waters. The idea was that we spend too much time thinking about cleaning up individual companies, too little time cleaning up the markets into which we then re-release them. But then I said too little on markets.

Knew it myself, but it also attracted a comment from my friend Peter Senge – who it was wonderful to see again. On the upside, I attracted separate three invitations to speak in Brazil while at the event – and did three on-camera interviews for the Global Compact and for Exame, which should keep the messages rippling out.

Not entirely flattering of either Rachel or I, but …

Uncategorized

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

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.

Recent Comments

  • PATRICK DICK on Reminder of Glencot Years
  • Milton Marino Gómez Ortiz on Tickling Sharks
  • John Elkington on Green Swans A “Must-Read”

Journal Archive

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.

Contact

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

John Elkington

Copyright © 2025 John Elkington. All rights reserved. Log in