Propelling beyond tomorrow —the future of CSR 2018 2019 48% 85% 48+52M 85+15M Eighty-five percent of executives say sustainability is influencing business growth strategy in 2019, compared to 48% who reported so in 2018.(55) “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs it’s easy to assume that the corporate world is moving in a of the present without compromising the ability of future direction that would indicate intentional CSR is gaining generations to meet their own needs.” (54) momentum in the minds and actions of CEOs. And the data shows that it seems it is! The quote above is the most widely accepted definition of sustainable development. It was delivered in 1987 by But if sustainable is not good enough—if sustainable Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland in doesn’t enable consumers and the planet to propel beyond the paper Our Common Future. Her involvement in this the immediate tomorrow—is the brand allowing future impassioned document enabled the international community generations to meet their own needs? As brands migrate to rally around one central definition of growth through a from doing less bad, to doing better faster, today’s conscious sustainable lens. The global community still looks to this consumers are closely monitoring the following inflection definition as their guiding principle. Thus, when brands points and are ready to vote with their dollars for the brands leverage the SDGs, ESG or any other form of sustainable that: initiatives, the roots stem from this definition. • Expediently adopt circularity across the entire business In 2019, it seems like every day brands are announcing new • Democratize sustainable options across the entire business sustainable products and initiatives. In this environment, • Embed CSR in all KPIs 82 83