CSR International Top 100 Leader (Ranked 31 in 2009)
Dr. Alan Knight has been a critical force in the development of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development (SD) in the United Kingdom and globally. His career spans close to 20 years and his accomplishments range from being instrumental in the development of the UK’s energy label on cars to running the Virgin Earth Challenge (a US$25 million prize for carbon sequestration).
Dr. Knight began his career in 1990 when he was recruited by the UK DIY company B&Q to manage environmental affairs particularly with regard to the issue of destruction of rainforests. Dr. Knight was instrumental in the creation of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and remains a current Board director.
Building on this success, Knight went on to serve as the Head of Social Responsibility for the Kingfisher Group and the Head of Corporate Sustainability at SABMiller. At Kingfisher, he had a strong focus on supply chain issues in Asia and he was responsible for co-coordinating social and environmental policies for nearly 600 stores in 12 countries. At SABMiller, Knight developed a CSR framework that ensured that all the operations were aware of the key issues affecting SABMiller on a global scale but also allowed the flexibility to select those which were more relevant to them.
In 2005, Knight founded Single Planet Living a CSR/SD consultancy where he works with clients such as Virgin, Coca-Cola and Prudential. In addition to consulting, Knight travels extensively for public speaking engagements. He wants to challenge his clients and audiences through provocative approaches such as pushing the ideas of “if products could talk” or asking conference attendees “‘What will 9 billion sustainable lifestyles look like in 2050?’
Knight describes his “if products could talk” theme as a way of ”asking companies to look at their impacts through their products and, if the products could talk, what they would say. Would they be proud of how they are produced, sold and discarded after they are used? Or would they be embarrassed or be ashamed?”
While known for his work with businesses, Knight’s work goes beyond products and development to the broader issues of sustainable lifestyles. Through his work at the Sustainable Development Commission, Knight has 10 key principles of sustainable lifestyles. This is what he sees we have to reach before 2050 when 9 billion people are living on planet Earth.
The 10 key points of focus for a sustainable lifestyle as:
1) I manage my own self esteem and health
2) I live within my own finance limits
3) The products I buy help local and international trade
4) I only use clean and renewable energy
5) I am active in a vibrant community
6) I talk with, not at, people
7) I have found the right balance between technology, simplicity and stewardship
8) My political leaders have courage
9) I use much less stuff
10) There is a New Economics – a new form of growth aligned to nature.
Knight has received numerous awards including the OBE, and a lifelong award from US-based Rainforest Alliance. He is also a fellow with the World Wildlife Federation UK, a senior associate at the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership, a director at the UK’s Sustainable Development Commission and Chair of Ethical Trading Champions Group, the UK Government’s Food Industry Sustainability Strategy.
Knight was born in 1964 and has a degree in Geology from Southampton University and PhD from London University for his study of marine pollution in St Austell Bay, Cornwall.
Tags: Alan Knight, b&q, csr, fsc, Kingfisher, OBE, sabmiller, SD, Single Living Planet, Sustainable Development Commission, virgin, virgin earth challenge