The Labyrinth of Sustainability

‘The Labyrinth of Sustainability’ explores the growth of corporate sustainability in Latin America, offering actionable insights to business leaders, policymakers, NGOs, academics and journalists through 12 case studies that examine the challenges and opportunities facing companies across the region as they integrate sustainability into their strategy and operations.

‘The Labyrinth of Sustainability’ offers the first comprehensive effort to analyze corporate sustainability systematically in the Latin American context—and to extract lessons for companies across the developing world. Featuring an introduction by the prizewinning author and Yale professor Daniel Esty, the book starts off with examining the “sustainability imperative”—the notion that businesses must work toward sustainability to be successful in today’s marketplace. The 12 chapters that follow present a collection of carefully developed and tightly framed case studies from companies across Latin America highlighting how they are addressing this imperative. Contributions from leading experts around the region bring a freshness and authenticity as well as a nuanced and grounded approach that make this volume a must-read for business leaders, government officials, non-governmental organization advocates, journalists and academics in Latin America and across the world.

List of Illustrations; Acknowledgments; Notes on Contributors; Introduction, Daniel C. Esty; 1. Water Conservation in Scarcity Conditions: Corporate Sustainability at Mexico’s FEMSA Group, Roger Nion Conaway and Francisco Gabriel Rodríguez González; 2. Walmart Mexico: Clean Energy to Reduce Costs and Improve Corporate Image, Mariel Guadalupe Ferro Rivas and Mariana Cesín Sastré; 3. Grupo Vanguardia Revitalizes Plastics Recycling in Honduras, Martha Sofia Cifuentes and Felipe Perez; 4. Nissan Mexicana’s Renewable Power Partnership, Marco Antonio Cristobal and Aidee Figueroa; 5. Tecnosol Follows the Sun, Martha Sofia Cifuentes and Felipe Perez; 6. Rizek Pushes Dominican Republic Cocoa Industry toward Sustainability, Milagros De Camps German; 7. Centrosur Leads the Way to Sustainability in Ecuador, Edwin Garcia; 8. A Resilient World: Bavaria Builds Its Case on Water, Santiago Cortes Villota; 9. Grupo Herdez Takes the Initiative in Mexico’s Food Market, Faruz O. Loutfi Olivares; 10. Chile’s Las Palmas Avocado Orchard: Water Consumption Reduction in Agriculture, Siegfried King; 11. Mabe-Ontex: Increasing Global Competitiveness with Ecofriendly Disposable Products, Margarita Heredia-Soto; 12. Water Use Efficiency Initiatives in Nestlé’s Value Chain and the Implications of the Company’s Business Model, Hellen Quinonez; Notes; Index.