Sustainable Business ― Key Issues

Sustainable Business: Key Issues is the first comprehensive introductory-level textbook to address the interface between environmental challenges and business solutions to provide an overview of the basic concepts of sustainability, sustainable business, and business ethics. The book introduces students to the background and key issues of sustainability and suggests ways in which these concepts can be applied in business practice. Though the book takes a business perspective, it is interdisciplinary in its nature and draws on knowledge from socio-economic, political, and environmental studies, thereby providing a practical and critical understanding of sustainability in the changing paradigm of global business. It goes beyond the conventional theories of sustainability and addresses critical issues concerned with population, consumption and economic growth. It discusses realistic ways forward, in particular the Circular Economy and Cradle to Cradle frameworks.

The book is both a theoretical and practical study guide for undergraduate and postgraduate international students of broad areas of sustainability, teaching ways to recognize opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship at the intersection of environmental, economic, ethical, and social systems. It takes a strategic approach in applying the power of business methods and policy to address issues of global importance such as climate change, poverty, ecosystem degradation and human rights.

This textbook is essential reading for students of business, management and sustainability courses. It is written in an engaging and accessible style, with each chapter including case studies, discussion questions, end of chapter summaries and suggestions for further reading. This new edition is updated throughout, and contains an additional chapter on the circular economy.

Helen Kopnina is a researcher in the fields of environmental education and environmental social sciences. Helen is currently employed at both at Leiden University and The Hague University of Applied Science (HHS) in The Netherlands. At the Leiden Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology she is an Assistant Professor of environmental anthropology. At the HHS, she is a coordinator and lecturer of the Sustainable Business program.

John Blewitt was Director of the MSc Social Responsibility and Sustainability at Aston Business School in Birmingham, UK, until his retirement in 2017. He has published widely on education and sustainability issues and is author of Understanding Sustainable Development, 3rd edition (Routledge, 2018) and co-editor of The Post-Growth Project (LPP/Green House, 2014). He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Schumacher Institute and a core member of the think tank, Green House.