Shops, Lifestyle and the Planet: will Corporate Social Responsibility deliver a one-planet, low-carbon world?

Date: 1 Dec 2009
Speaker(s): Professor Alan Knight
Venue: University of Leeds

Alan Knight gave his own insights into how fast-moving consumer products, global brands and global sustainable development are impossible bed fellows. The reasons for this, he argued, are far more complex than old clichéd “corporates don’t care” – there is a fundamental weakness in the ‘tone of voice’ narrative that underpins both Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development. A fresher, product- and lifestyle-centric narrative and vision is needed before we can unlock the dangerous inertia and distraction that the CSR discipline is creating.

Part of the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy’s 2009-2010 Seminar Series at the University of Leeds.

Chair: Professor Andy Gouldson, Director of the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy