World Business Council for Sustainable Development -- Development Focus Area

The Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD) first addressed poverty alleviation in its book Changing Course, released at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The issue was later taken up by the World Business Council WBCSD through a series of scenario exercises on global governance and by its Corporate Social Responsibility project. Furthermore, the Sustainability Through the Market project explored the powerful role of the markets to promote sustainable development.

Launched in 2001, the Sustainable Livelihoods project built on that legacy. The project focused on researching the roles that corporations and markets can play in improving the lives of impoverished people in ways that are beneficial to all concerned.

The newly established Development Focus Area came as a result of the revised WBCSD strategy, which identifies Development as one of the three main sustainable development issues that will shape the business agenda for the coming years. It builds on the work of the WBCSD's Sustainable Livelihoods project to promote business solutions to development challenges.

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