Not much of value, mostly cheerleading for our corporate overlords who know better how to fix the world for us. ( )

John Elkington, the author, has written 20 books and been called "The Godfather of Sustainability", and in 2004 BusinessWeek described him as "a dean of the corporate responsibility movement for 3 decades". This, his latest book, looks at how Capitalism needs to change in order to survive in the coming years. He indentifies problems or solutions by grouping them into 1 of 3 groups: Black Swans, Grey Swans, or Green Swans. He is expounding upon the theory proposed by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book "The Black Swan".
Black Swans, by Elkington's definition, are huge "wicked" or "super wicked problems" (these are true business terms now in the corporate terminology) that usually are usually not foreseen so they could not be prevented. (Think the Spanish Flu Pandemic). Grey Swans are those that were foreseen but not much was done to prevent them. Green Swans are technologies, etc. that are beneficial to society, people or the earth. Once in a while, a Green Swan turns into a Black one and he cites a few of those examples, such as unleaded gasoline. Initially, it was seen as a breakthrough in anti-knock technology and a key contribution to fuel efficiency for vehicles, but it turned out to be a huge Black Swan especially for inner city children due to lead poisoning. Another example of Green Swan turned Black was early Freons, a form of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), "chemicals that had a number of significant advantages, including in terms of safety." Until they started ripping holes in the ozone, that is. (Incidentally, both were developed by Thomas Midgley, Jr., was a "brilliant chemist and engineer, was awarded over a hundred patents, and employed by GM and DuPont", and has been described as "the single organism in Earth's history that has inflicted the most damage on the planet.")
One current Black Swan he indentified was plastics. No matter where one stands on climate change, noone can say that plastics are good for anything. Each bit of plastic made ( and look around, most homes are full of it-- from cell phones and laptops, to toys, to packaging, water bottles-- the list is endless) produces incredible amounts of pollution and recycling it isn't any better (not long ago Frontline had an episode on it and exposed how recycling it was even worse than making it to begin with-- if you can find it, I encourage you to watch it). Beyond the landfill problems, and going into the oceans and being horrible for wildlife, huge amounts that end up in the ocean fragment with the exposure to salt water and ultraviolet light and become "microplastics". So what you say? Besides ending up in the bellies of so many creatures, The World Health Organisation reviewed the potential risks of plastic in drinking water "after a new analysis of some of the world's most popular bottled water brands found that more than 90% contained tiny pieces of plastic (microscopic). A previous study also found high levels of microplastics in tap water." Not to mention last year scientists found microplastics in Arctic ice (see https://www.reuters.com/article/us-en...). I don't care who you are, you can't say that is healthy for anyone or anything, or the health of the planet.

He indentifies several Black Swans, and how something needs to be done about them before irreparable damage is done. He also indentifies some potential Greens Swans, but warns as with any developing technology, if used unwisely, they too could become Black ones. Mr. Elkington shares what companies must do to reinvent themselves going forward-- not only to stay in business, but their focus must be more than the bottom line... that they have a social responsiblity, and an earth responsibility.

I did not agree with everything he said. I don't agree with the whole climate change thing. He several times referred to populist as bad (I had to actually go look it up-- after being bandied about negatively for some time in the media, and then the author's inferences, I started to think that I had the definition of the word wrong. According to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary: populist: a member of a political party claiming to represent the common people; and a believer in the rights, wisdom, or virtues of the common people. When did that become bad? Well, then, I guess I am a populist.)

So, on the whole, I found his book interesting, and liked reading his perspective on so many things-- his involvement over the span of his career with global corporations, governments and the U.N., as well as his take on the many things that can damage this beautiful world we live in and the technologies that he believes hold promise for the future.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the publisher-- thank you! ( )