The Role of Business in Global Sustainability Transformations

Dalia D’Amato is an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Forest Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Helsinki (Finland), and a member of the Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS). Since Autumn 2022, she has been employed by the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE). Current research interests include solution-oriented sustainability narratives, such as the green, circular, and bioeconomy, and related societal and organisational transformations; business sustainability in the forest sector and other land use-intensive sectors; biodiversity-underpinned ecosystem services and the governance of socio-ecological systems. Anne Toppinen is Professor in forest economics and business and Vice Dean of research affairs and doctoral education at the Department of Forest Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, at University of Helsinki (Finland). During 2018-21, she served as Director of the Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS). Her research interests focus on sustainability pathways and resilience of forest-based value networks, corporate responsibility questions in a broad sense, and emergence of new sustainability-driven business models. She has published widely in the fields of corporate responsibility and forest bioeconomy. Robert Kozak is a Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia. His research and teaching revolve around sustainable business management and business-based solutions to complex problems related to sustainable development, forestry, wood products, and the emerging conservation economy. He was awarded the International Union of Forest Research Organization’s Scientific Achievement Award (2014), a Doctor of Agriculture and Forestry honoris causa from the University of Helsinki (2022), and the Killam Teaching Prize (2001, 2014).

Table of Contents

Part 1 – Business sustainability today








A little chapter on the big picture
Robert Kozak, Anne Toppinen, Dalia D’Amato




Towards the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in business strategy and operations
Angelina Korsunova and Kaisa Korhonen-Kurki




Sustainable business models: state of the art and emerging avenues
Romana Rauter, Tomas Santa-Maria, and Josef-Peter Schöggl

Part 2 – Framing and managing sustainability




Potential of the green economy discourse to advance sustainability in business
Maria Fernanda Tomaselli, Kahlil Baker, Michael Barkusky, Noriko Kusumi




The circular bioeconomy: company-level strategic perspectives
Ari Jantunen and Anni Tuppura




Strategies for brand owners and retailers in the circular bioeconomy transition
Fabian Schipfer, Gülşah Yilan, Francesca Govoni, Piergiuseppe Morone




Servitization and the future of business development – Insights from the forest industry
Katja Lähtinen and Liina Häyrinen



Part 3 – Governance and policy mechanisms




The private sector engagement paradox: the proliferation of finance and market driven sustainability tools alongside the acceleration of environmental degradation
Ben Cashore




Intact forest landscapes and the FSC: lessons for NGO-business cooperation
William Nikolakis and Peter Wood




The internet of trees and networked surveillance: a multi-stakeholder effort to protect the resilience of ecosystem
Mario Schultz and Peter Seele

Part 4 – Business sustainability tomorrow?




The quandary of sustainability-oriented innovations
Eric Hansen, Jaana Korhonen, Rajat Panwar, Marko Hakovirta




Business in a strongly sustainable society?
Iana Nesterova and Ben Robra




The quest for the sustainable hybrid business
Ellen Stenslie




Sustainable futures and the changing role of business vis-à-vis with society



Anne Toppinen, Robert Kozak, Dalia D’Amato

Index