Preface

My interest in sustainability reporting comes from being witness to the many detrimental effects of human activity on the natural world. When I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s on the island of Okinawa, Japan, I spent a lot of time with my family on some of the most beautiful and pristine beaches in the world. Plastic bottles and bags did not exist on the beaches of Okinawa; that has changed. In 2013, on less than a mile of an Okinawan beach, 134 pounds of washed-up trash were ­collected.1 There is considerable plastic debris floating currently in the Pacific Ocean. Recent scientific research on 192 coastal countries found that in 2010, between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic entered the oceans.2 This plastic does not biodegrade but breaks into smaller and smaller pieces that pose substantial problems for marine life and the oceans’ ­ecosystems. Chemical pollutants and rising water temperatures are having drastic effects on the oceans’ food chain. Coral reefs are dying all over the globe; healthy coral reefs are are essential for sustaining fish. Sea mammals are contaminated with pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), and flame-retardants. Killer whales are now considered to be the most toxic creatures in the Arctic. What is all of this doing to humans?

The destructive effects that I have seen in my lifetime are quite ­disturbing. It is urgent that the causes of these effects be addressed so that current and future generations can prosper on Earth. Business ­practices in the last century have been a major contributor to the ­problems facing life on the planet. It is important for people to understand the ­problems caused by human activity, but it is equally important to understand what can be done to address these issues. As an author and speaker, I have had the opportunity to explain the connection between business ­practices and their impacts on people, profits, and the planet and to explain ways to improve business practices. I wrote this book to help explain how ­sustainability reporting can be useful in helping organizations achieve a more sustainable approach to their operations and the natural ­environment.