2Sustain

Here’s a great interview with Adam Werbach, whom you may remember for rocking the boat among environmentalists in 2004 with his speech that challenged the green movement to link its goals with broader social and economic initiatives. The youngest-ever president of the Sierra Club (he was elected back in 1996 at age 23), Werbach stirred more controversy when he helped spearhead Wal-Mart’s sustainability efforts in 2006. (More about Wal-Mart’s initiatives here and here.) Now the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi S, a consultancy arm of the global advertising firm dedicated to sustainability solutions, and the author of a new book, Strategy for Sustainability: A Business Manifesto, Werbach sat down with the McKinsey Quarterly to discuss “when sustainability means more than ‘green’.”

He talks about how the definition of sustainability has changed, and why it’s essential that we attach the ingenuity and innovation of the corporate world to help solve today’s global environmental challenges. (Case in point: Werbach reminds us that a truck from Wal-Mart was the first to reach Hurricane Katrina survivors.)

Enjoy the video. For more, read an adaptation from Strategy for Sustainability at the McKinsey Quarterly.