We must put the planet before profit

Sir Richard Branson says the future belongs to entrepreneurs who put people and the planet before short-term profit

03 Feb 2012 - Writing for the Age of Energy: The Green Economy series, Sir Richard Branson explains why "doing good is good for business".

When entrepreneurs ask me if I have a single message which will help them, I say: doing good can help improve your prospects, your profits and your business – and can change the world.

I believe that business can be a force for good, and that by doing the right thing it will prosper. In other words, doing good is good for business.

So far business, or capitalism, for the most part, has been a means of making money. The means by which that money was made have not been as important as the end result. One of the most devastating theories of the 1970s was that – no matter what it took – the primary purpose of business was to maximise value for shareholders. This led to a variety of social ills where businesses polluted, discarded employees at the drop of a hat or created unsustainable short-term gains. read more>>>