Navigating Sustainable Growth

Every CEO aims to deliver sustainable growth. But as the impacts of climate risk escalate, this challenge will intensify in the years ahead. To succeed, the board must enhance its sustainability fluency and own the climate agenda.

Navigating Sustainable Growth addresses anyone grappling with how leading companies can thrive in an emerging future that prioritizes decarbonization and dematerialization. With over 300 examples of practices by 180 leading global companies, this timely book explores two major themes:

• To deliver sustainable growth, companies cannot rely on strong financials alone. They must also demonstrate a track record of reducing negative impacts and creating value through sustainable offerings — and help suppliers and customers do the same.
• The board owns the critical 5-7-year planning horizon that is key to how successful companies create long-term value. As climate risks amplify, the short-term focus of most executive teams leads to missing new opportunities while facing new perils.

As a bonus, the book offers The Climate Story. This eight-step, data-rich synopsis explains how we arrived at this crossroads, and where it will take us.

This book will help investors, citizens, students, and educators discover proven strategies for sustainable growth; CEOs and corporate secretaries to reframe board agendas; and boards to measure performance and chart a course to transform climate risk into opportunity.

Gib Hedstrom has 30 years’ experience advising boards of directors on sustainable growth at the intersection of environment, strategy, and governance. After several years in finance at GE, Gib spent 20 years at Arthur D. Little, leading the global launch of environmental auditing and later running the company’s sustainability practice, including from Brussels. He has written several books and dozens of articles about board and C-suite sustainability oversight. Gib is founder and managing partner of ESG Navigator, a corporate sustainability benchmarking and strategic planning platform endorsed by The Conference Board. He earned his MBA and sustainability MS from the University of Michigan, and a BA in economics and geology from Hamilton College.

"In a world that urgently needs business to lead with purpose and long-term vision, Navigating Sustainable Growth offers timely and practical guidance for boards and executives. Gib Hedstrom makes a compelling case that sustainable growth isn’t just about doing less harm – it’s about creating more value for society than we take. For leaders serious about building future-fit companies, this book is a vital resource." --Paul Polman, Former CEO, Unilever

"Gib Hedstrom offers valuable insights and practical steps for driving sustainable growth. This book is an indispensable resource for any executive or board member committed to creating long-term value while addressing climate challenges." --Dave Regnery, Chair & CEO, Trane Technologies

"Gib provides a roadmap for boards to enhance fluency, drawing on decades of helping boards and corporate leaders address the most challenging issues of the day." --Wendy Kei, Chair, Board of Directors, Ontario Power Generation

"A roadmap for how corporate leaders, especially Board members, can engage fully in ways that will generate strong economic outcomes and durable solutions to the climate crisis." --Larry Selzer, President and CEO, The Conservation Fund

"Navigating Sustainable Growth　helps boards, corporate leaders, and business　schools to navigate a course toward sustainable business. Gib’s book provides a timely, ‘how to’ toolkit." --Jason Jay, Director, Sustainability Initiative, MIT Sloan School of Management