What We’d Tell CEOs About the Elephant in the Boardroom

An open letter from the World Resources Institute to CEOs warning that current business models relying on increased consumption are unsustainable given natural resource limits and the rapid growth of the global middle class.

• Business model innovation is failing to keep pace with global consumption, creating a long-term risk for companies that rely on increased consumption for growth.
• The global middle class is projected to grow by 3 billion people between 2009 and 2030, driven by population growth and poverty reduction in developing markets such as China and India.
• Current projections suggest the volume of materials required could be three times higher by 2050 than it was in 2000, potentially exceeding the earth's capacity to provide necessary water, energy, and raw materials.
• To mitigate risks, companies are encouraged to adopt innovative models such as sharing, repairing, or providing services instead of selling goods; examples include Rent the Runway, ThredUP, and Philips.
• Corporate sustainability teams often avoid discussing consumption because it challenges the core business models that have driven financial success for the last 100 years, focusing instead on efficiency and climate change.

APA

Moss'], [. B. '. (2017). What We’d Tell CEOs About the Elephant in the Boardroom. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/insights/what-wed-tell-ceos-about-elephant-boardroom

Chicago

Moss'], ['Manish Bapna', 'Kevin. What We’d Tell CEOs About the Elephant in the Boardroom. World Resources Institute, 2017. https://www.wri.org/insights/what-wed-tell-ceos-about-elephant-boardroom.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Moss'] |first1=['Manish Bapna', 'Kevin |title=What We’d Tell CEOs About the Elephant in the Boardroom |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=6 July 2017 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/what-wed-tell-ceos-about-elephant-boardroom |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{moss2017what, author = {Moss'], ['Manish Bapna', 'Kevin}, title = {{What We’d Tell CEOs About the Elephant in the Boardroom}}, publisher = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2017}, month = jul, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/what-wed-tell-ceos-about-elephant-boardroom}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }