Natural Advantage of Nations

It provides an overview of the 21st century business case for sustainable development, incorporating key work from more than 30 of the world's leading sustainability practitioners in business, government and civil society. Its starting point is Professor Michael Porter's competitive advantage theory and practice which, combined with sustainability, demonstrates how the well-being of society and the environment can be improved while driving innovation in an increasingly competitive world.

Emphasis is placed on the need to develop new concepts of "well-being" and "competitiveness" along with dramatic increases in resource productivity, built around inter-disciplinary, whole systems solutions. Valuable international examples are provided, for example, from the Netherlands and China, as well as Australia. The governance component contains thought-provoking debate on the need to address "shorttermism" and reform the fiduciary responsibilities of pension and superannuation fund trustees.