Midwest-based Executives Address How To Create Value Through Sustainable Practices At World Business Council For Sustainable Development Regional Conference

DELAWARE, Ohio, Aug. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Executives from 80 leading corporations, NGOs and other organizations based in the U.S. Midwest – and reporting an aggregated $2.1 trillion in revenue – met to discuss how their organizations could accelerate their sustainable practices at the second annual World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) U.S. Midwest Conference.

Held on the Columbus, Ohio campus of The Ohio State University on Aug. 2, the conference was co-sponsored by Greif, Inc. (NYSE: GEF, GEF.B), SC Johnson, Battelle and the Dow Chemical Company.

Representatives from the invited organizations discussed U.S. water trends; tactics that companies can employ to promote and accelerate more sustainable consumption; and the implications of Rio+20 for corporations. Organizations also shared best practices to foster collaboration at the national and regional levels.

Greif Executive Chairman Michael Gasser welcomed the group, setting the tone for the day.  "This meeting is action oriented," he said. "So first, I challenge us all to reach a combined 1 percent water and energy use reduction by next year's conference."

Gasser continued, "Sustainability drives innovation for corporate leaders who are managing their businesses for long-term growth – and creating a better future for their children's children."

In his keynote remarks, WBCSD President Peter Bakker said, "Everyone talks about sustainability, but the world is not getting better.  We need radical change.  We need to act now."

According to the WBCSD report Vision 2050, nine billion people will share the planet by mid-century. Twenty-nine leading global companies from 14 industries collaborated to write the report, which resulted from an 18-month combined effort of CEOs, sustainability experts and more than 200 companies and external stakeholders in 20 countries. It features agreed-upon must-haves if the world's population in 2050 is to live well and within the limits of the planet's resources.

Geneva, Switzerland-based Bakker said, "If we are to save the world, it is business that will have to do it, and the U.S. must lead.

"The question is, how can we scale up sustainability as part of the core of our business, as part of the core of our economic model to truly transform the world?"

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