John Elkington has been a one man tour de force. Approaching four decades working in the corporate world on numerous CSR, sustainability, innovation, and social change fronts, he’s had privileged access into the headspace of upper management, as well as the pulse of evolution of social movements in recent years. In a Forward Thinking exclusive, we caught up with Mr. Elkington to discuss developments globally, and progress on sustainability issues in Asia Pacific.

Forward Thinking:  Globally, do you think we can wean ourselves off of our endless growth economic model and onto what many have dubbed a “steady state economy”, e.g. where population and consumption are stabilized within sustainable levels with the resources we have on Earth? What would enable this, or be holding us back?

John Elkington: There has been much discussion in ‘deep ecology’, academic and related circles over the years about the prospects for a ‘steady state economy’.  My view is that, while this may be – indeed has to be the ultimate long-term objective – demographic pressures mean that we will be forced to grow parts of the economy for quite some time. And breaking down the economic and business models we inherited from the 19th and 20th centuries and creating new ones fit for purpose in the new century will mean enormous, disruptive transformation processes that, I find, ‘steady state’ deflect the mind from.

FT:  While many reference sustainability as a journey, with the global situation evolving as it is (from climate change to food security to economic crisis), one could wonder if we have enough time for such a leisure trip. Do you think businesses and countries across APAC especially are really geared up for the challenge, and recognize the true scale of the threats at hand?

JE: Recent surveys suggest that very high percentages of CEOs in major corporations worldwide think they are doing rather well on sustainability. A recent Accenture survey of 760 CEOs for the UN Global Compact showed that no less than 81% believed that they had already “embedded” sustainability. This is encouraging as we read this as a belief that they need to embed. But if they mean that having a chief sustainability officer or that they produce a series of annual sustainability reports is embedding sustainability, I am afraid that we can only conclude that they are deluded.

Corporate social responsibility and accountability are necessary conditions of what needs to happen next, but may even be misleading if they persuade corporate C-Suites that the sustainability agenda can be addressed by a few fractions of one percent of change in some areas of the business. Think of what happened to Communism in 1989 and some Arab dictatorships in 2011: these are small-scale convulsions compared to what we will need to cope with as climate change gets a grip – and we embark on the transition to low carbon economies.

FT:  What companies are or industries are bright spots on the horizon that might have emerged since the Volans Phoenix Economy report?

JE: Business leaders are using the sustainability language with growing facility, but most do not understand the implications. Among other things, they should read ‘Vision 2050’, a new study by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. It’s exciting that WBCSD is now talking about transformational change in markets and technologies, but most companies aren’t there yet, even at the level of understanding. So most of the encouraging developments we have seen since we launched ‘The Phoenix Economy’ have been happening elsewhere, in areas like clean technology and social innovation and social enterprise. We have also seen growing activity at the level of cities and city-states, which can be way more powerful in terms of driving market change than individual corporate initiatives, important though those may be.

FT:  Have you come across any useful adaptation blueprints or guides that might help businesses and governments around the region anticipate and manage the changes ahead?

JE: I see the work of government agencies like Singapore’s Economic development Board as modeling what the public sector now needs to do, in terms of developing clusters of innovation and enterprise around areas like clean technology and social enterprise. There is no overarching blueprint that can guide any and all countries or regions, but there are a growing number of models that can be copied, at least in part.

FT: Some think that globally, we need some kind of wake-up call for action on any number of global issues— a tragedy or cataclysmic event that shakes humanity into action. Yet, from 9-11’s, to economic crisis, to catastrophic floods and fires, nothing seems to be providing the stimulus for a sustained turn. What do you think it would take to shake humanity from its slumber?

JE: Oh, I think young people increasingly understand that their future prospects are at risk, from climate change and from a range of other security issues, around food, water, energy and so on. The fact that their elders are still struggling to grasp the scale of what is happening could become a real cause of intergenerational tensions.  This is something we are just beginning to explore at Volans alongside our partner, the ad agency JWT.

FT: You recently completed a whirlwind trip across Asia. With the many companies and organizations you engaged with in your travels, what were the high and low points? Any interesting realizations after you returned to the U.K.?

JE: The growth trajectory of so many Asian economies both blinds key decision-makers to some of the challenges that their counterparts in other parts of the world have been forced to face, but also the rapidly growing appetite for natural resources is likely to shock growing numbers of people awake. Think of the dispute between Canada and China on potash last year, or between China and Japan on rare earth minerals.  Just wait until the peak oil challenge engages!

FT:  In your “Cultural Revolution” 4x4 matrix, you illustrate how change progresses from individual mindsets, to behaviours, to collective cultural activity, to an overall paradigm shift. With the urgency of challenges we face, have you identified any specific pressure points in cultures across Asia Pacific that might help jump-start this progression?

JE: It’s clear that family-owned and operated businesses are even more important in Asia – and we are hoping to engage them increasingly in the coming years. The very fact that there is an intergenerational dimension to their ownership may help engage them on some aspects of the sustainability agenda.

FT:  As a champion for social innovation in recent decades, you’ve highlighted the efforts of many social entrepreneurs trying to tackle global issues, and acknowledge the connection between economy, people, and planet. Many social innovators identify strongly with the former two categories, and omit environmental outcomes as outside their scope. Why do you think so many people, innovators included, are divorced from our environment in their thoughts and actions, when it is our environment that shapes our way of life?

JE: When I came up with the ‘triple bottom line’ in 1994, I was trying to say to business that beyond the conventional financial bottom line there are wider economic, social and environmental considerations that should be taken into account. The fact that some people then boiled that down into a ‘double bottom line’ was fine for social mission businesses and organisations, but very often they are blind to the environmental dimensions of what they do. I am all for concepts like ‘blended value’ and ‘integrated reporting’, but only if the environmental and natural capital aspects are strongly represented.

FT: Of your many board engagements, which do you find the most personally satisfying, and why?

JE: Insanely, I sit on 25 boards or advisory boards – and all the organisations have their ups and downs, but in a way what I like best is the ability to move between agendas and cultures and act as a cross-pollinator.

FT: What advice would you give young people, especially entrepreneurs and new graduates who seek to make a positive change in the world in the years ahead?

JE: Get out there and talk to people whose work interests you. Some of the busiest people in the world often also turn out to be among the most open – they’re always trying to learn. Don’t spook them by asking them to be a mentor - just see if you can get close enough into to start a conversation. Other than that, try to do things that you love doing – then when you find yourself having to do them 24 hours a day you’ll be better placed to survive, thrive and drive real change in the wider world.