$1 Invested in Resilience Can Save $4–7 in Post-Disaster Costs.

Stephen Jordan is the CEO of the Institute for Sustainable Development, an organization that works with communities and businesses to recover from past disasters and to anticipate and prepare for future threats and opportunities. Stephen is an internationally recognized expert in sustainability, community and economic development, critical infrastructure protection, disaster recovery, international trade and investment, and public-private relations.

The emotional answer is because of my children. You want to be able to leave the world a little bit better than you found it. Rationally, what’s the alternative? Carpe diem? Short-term thinking? Life isn’t just one transaction. It’s not a single sprint and then you’re done. It’s not just what’s happening today. It’s about relationships, it’s about thinking ahead. Sustainability is a lot like capitalism properly understood — deploy your resources wisely today, and you will get a better return in the future.

I’ve been studying and thinking about CSR for a long time. Responsibility has a connotation of obligation — you owe certain duties to others. Initially, CSR was a critique of capitalism, it was oriented around calling attention to the failures of businesses. It’s now become a catch-all phrase encompassing a management discipline.