ABSTRACT
The result of the tireless work of many organisations is that there is a strong tradition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainable business in the United States today, albeit within a tough market environment. Beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the US government established regulatory agencies that shaped much of the CSR benchmarks guiding business operations. The Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes were launched in 1999 as the first global indexes tracking the financial performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide. In the 1990s, many US corporations also began participating in voluntary principles such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). More recently consumers have expectations of business and, as American business integrates CSR into core business, there has been increased pressure on defining the value of corporate investment in sustainable business. This chapter provides some insights from the American interviews conducted for The Top 50 Sustainability Books, beginning with Stuart Hart.
