Book review: Cannibals with Forks – John Elkington (1999)

Cannibals with Forks: Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business demonstrates how all businesses can and must help society achieve three goals that are linked – economic prosperity, environmental protection and social equity.

The book takes a global view and describes seven linked revolutions, which it predicted will define the business environment of the first few decades of the 21st century, and argues that these issues should already be at the top of the corporate agenda.

Author John Elkington gives readers a complete perspective of sustainability and how businesses are responding, as well as what it means for these businesses. He argues that it is possible and necessary to get all businesses to act responsibly and consider the triple bottom line when making decisions. The book uses history to demonstrate why this is needed and put situations and consequences into perspective.

The book successfully shows why business executives need to consider and implement sustainability polices and what doing so would involve. It uses facts and examples to show how the movement has already progressed and developed.

As well as showing why sustainability is important Cannibals with Forks sets out practical suggestions that businesses can use to make themselves responsible across all three areas in the triple bottom line.