The March 11th, 2002 presentation featured: L. Hunter Lovins, CEO (Strategy), Rocky Mountain Institute, and Walter Link, President Link Group and Global Academy.

Co-sponsored by: Foundation for Global Commuity, Sustainable Business Institute, Acterra/Business Environmental Network, Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, Pacific Industrial Business Association, Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group, and World Business Academy.

Background and additional information on the presentation:

"The late 20th Century witnessed two great intellectual shifts. The first was the fall of communism, with the apparent triumph of market economics. The second, now emergent in a rapidly growing number of businesses, is the end of the war against the Earth, with the eventual competitive victory of a new form of economics we call 'Natural Capitalism.'"

The major focus of the presentation was on the shifts taking place in the balanced needs of economics, which are:

Human Capital (labor, intelligence, culture and organization)
Financial Capital (cash, investments and monetary instruments)
Manufacturer’s Capital (infrastructure, machines, tools and factories)
Natural Capital (resources, living systems and ecosystems)

Additionally the presentation focused on the triple bottom line responsibilities of organizations: financial, environmental and social.

One of the facts mentioned: of the largest 100 economic entities in the world today, 50% are nation-states and 50% are corporations.

L. Hunter Lovins is the Chief Executive Officer (Strategy) of Rocky Mountain Institute. She holds BAs from Pitzer College (political studies and sociology), and a JD from Loyola University School of Law (Los Angeles) with the Alumni Award for Outstanding Service to the School, A member of the California Bar, she helped establish and for six years was Assistant Director of the California Conservation Project (Tree People), an innovative urban forestry and environmental education group. She has co-authored nine books, including Natural Capitalism (1999), and dozens of papers. She was 1982 Henry R. Luce Visiting Professor at Dartmouth College, and has taught at several other universities. She has consulted for dozens of clients in the public and private sectors, has addressed hundreds of audiences, and appeared in numerous broadcast interviews. With colleague Amory Lovins she has shared a 2000 Time Hero for the Planet Award, 1999 Lindbergh Award, 1993 Nissan Award, and 1982 Mitchell Prize. Ms. Lovins serves on the boards of two private corporations and many public interest groups. In her spare time, she serves on her local fire/rescue service as an EMT. She trains polocrosse horses, competes at polocrosse, and rides rodeo.

Walter Link, President of Link Group and the Global Academy, is an international businessman active in the worldwide movement to promote corporate social and environmental responsibility. Among other roles, he is a founding member and board chair of the Social Venture Network Europe, a founding member of the Institute for Social and Ethical AcccountAbility, a creator of Human Rights Watch's Brussels office, on the board of the Greyston Foundation that creates businesses with the disenfranchised, and has also worked as a counselor and meditation teacher.

The Global Academy and Rocky Mountain Institute are collaborating on two projects:

1) Natural Capitalism Academy to develop and deliver courses at universities and corporations.

2) The Global Academy Genome Institute, which promotes in-depth reflection on how to deal with genetic technology and convenes national and international multi-stakeholder dialogues on the subject.

Walter comes from a business and diplomatic service family. Born in Germany, he has lived for the past 20 years all across Europe, the Americas and Asia. He speaks English, German, French and some Spanish.

At the meeting a Bibliography on Sustainable Enterprise and Web Resources were distributed:

Bibliography | Web Resources