Is Your Business Fit for Tomorrow’s Markets? How to Do the Math

The guide argues that traditional business models focused on increasing sales are unsustainable given growing global populations and industrialization. It proposes a three-step analytical process: conducting a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to identify environmental hotspots, multiplying these impacts by projected demand growth to 2030, and analyzing the broader industry context, including competitors and community needs. The author suggests that companies must either innovate their products or shift their paradigms toward services—such as mobility services instead of just selling cars—to meet sustainability targets and avoid obsolescence.

• Companies can use Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) to pinpoint the highest environmental impacts across their supply chain, including material extraction, manufacturing, delivery, use, and disposal, which helps in reducing costs and improving corporate image.
• Businesses should project their total environmental impact by 2030 by multiplying current product impacts by projected sales volumes to determine if sustainability goals remain achievable at that scale.
• The growth of the global middle class—projected to increase by a population nearly 10 times the size of the United States between 2009 and 2030—necessitates a shift from selling more products to providing better services, such as mobility services and mass transit in the automotive sector.
• The World Resources Institute (WRI) has collaborated with Mars, Incorporated in 2016 on science-based targets for land and water, and is working with the Water Mandate to develop a methodology for context-based targets.

APA

World Resources Institute (2017). Is Your Business Fit for Tomorrow’s Markets? How to Do the Math. https://www.wri.org/insights/your-business-fit-tomorrows-markets-how-do-math

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Is Your Business Fit for Tomorrow’s Markets? How to Do the Math. 2017. https://www.wri.org/insights/your-business-fit-tomorrows-markets-how-do-math.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Is Your Business Fit for Tomorrow’s Markets? How to Do the Math |date=15 August 2017 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/your-business-fit-tomorrows-markets-how-do-math |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2017your, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Is Your Business Fit for Tomorrow’s Markets? How to Do the Math}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2017}, month = aug, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/your-business-fit-tomorrows-markets-how-do-math}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }