Harnessing Corporate Power to Heal the Planet

The report proposes 'natural capitalism' as a new economic model where businesses profit by radically increasing resource productivity, eliminating waste, shifting from selling products to providing services, and investing in the restoration of natural capital. It argues that the current industrial model is logically flawed because it liquidates the ecosystem services upon which all life depends. By applying whole-systems thinking, the authors claim companies can achieve significant cost savings and competitive advantages, citing examples from firms like Southwire, Dow, and Interface. The text suggests that while governments can support this transition through tax policy, corporations possess the necessary agility and resources to lead the effort to heal the planet.

• The authors define 'natural capitalism' as a form of economics that recognizes natural resources and ecosystem services as the most important form of capital, arguing that traditional capitalism is an aberration because it "liquidates" this capital rather than valuing it.
• The first principle of natural capitalism is to radically increase resource productivity. The authors assert that this increases profits and solves most environmental dilemmas by slowing resource depletion and pollution discharge.
• The second principle is the total elimination of the concept of waste by redesigning the economy to close material flow loops, mimicking biological patterns where industrial output does not represent a disposal cost.
• The third principle advocates shifting the economic focus from the production and sale of physical goods to the provision of continuous service and value. This aligns the interests of the provider and customer to minimize the flow of energy and materials.
• The fourth principle is to invest in the restoration of the planet's ecosystems. The authors argue that once toxicity is designed out, industries like farming and forestry must be redesigned to be restorative to natural ecosystems to ensure long-term corporate survival.
• The document provides several corporate examples of resource productivity gains: Southwire Corporation halved its energy per pound of product in six years, and Dow's Louisiana division achieved average annual returns on investment of over 200 percent through worker-suggested energy-saving projects between 1981 and 1993.
• Interface, a carpet maker, demonstrates the service-flow model by leasing floor-covering services rather than selling carpet, which reduces the mass flow of carpet to landfills by approximately 80 percent.
• The authors suggest that government tax policy can facilitate this transition by shifting taxes away from employment (such as FICA) and toward resource use, thereby encouraging companies to use more people and fewer resources.

APA

Lovins, L. H., & Lovins, A. B. (n.d.). Harnessing Corporate Power to Heal the Planet. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_NC00-29_HarnessCorpPwr.pdf

Chicago

Lovins, L. Hunter, and Amory B. Lovins. Harnessing Corporate Power to Heal the Planet. RMI, n.d. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_NC00-29_HarnessCorpPwr.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lovins |first1=L. Hunter |last2=Lovins |first2=Amory B. |title=Harnessing Corporate Power to Heal the Planet |publisher=RMI |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_NC00-29_HarnessCorpPwr.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lovinsndharnessing, author = {Lovins, L. Hunter and Lovins, Amory B.}, title = {{Harnessing Corporate Power to Heal the Planet}}, institution = {RMI}, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_NC00-29_HarnessCorpPwr.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }