Mark Lee, CEO of SustainAbility UK, spoke at the Sustainable Brands 08 conference on the history (and future) of changes in society around sustainability suggesting we can see them as four waves (a metaphor as an Aussie living near the beach I can relate too!).

The citizen/regulation driven first wave triggered by Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in the 60s-70s, followed by the consumer led green movement of the 80s early 90s which ended in a sea of green wash. The third wave was more focussed on social issues such as equity and governance through the anti-globalisation movement.

Mark posits we are now in the fourth wave which is more complex characterised by multiple issues and systems (with a climate change focus at the moment which he argues we shouldn’t overly emphasise).

It’s a fascinating future looking speech so watch it to understand the fifth wave which he identifies as demographics and food related in the shorter term. He also touches on the localisation vector which is something Digital Eskimo is working on at the moment, more on that soon!

Watch Mark’s Presentation here.