Charter Trustee David Blood '81, managing partner of Generation Investment Management and Al Gore, chairman of the firm and former U.S. vice president, co-authored an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal titled "We Need Sustainable Capitalism" (11/5/08).
They write, "The financial crisis has reinforced our view that sustainable development will be the primary driver of economic and industrial change over the next 25 years. We founded Generation Investment Management in 2004 to develop a new philosophy of investment management and business more broadly. Our approach is based on the long-term, and on the explicit recognition that sustainability issues are central to business and should be incorporated in the analysis of business and management quality."
"At this moment, we are faced with the convergence of three interrelated crises: economic recession, energy insecurity and the overarching climate crisis. Solving any one of these challenges requires addressing all three." They observe that "Sustainability and long-term value creation are closely linked. Business and markets cannot operate in isolation from society or the environment."
Gore and Blood conclude, "We need to return to first principles. We need a more long-term and responsible form of capitalism. We must develop sustainable capitalism."
