Last Monday's FT carried a story that confused CSR with sustainability so badly I just had to write a letter (they didn't print it). Virtue's Reward's key quote is: "For advocates of responsible business, sustainability is what they have been seeking for years - a way for companies to do good while at the same time improving profits and shareholder returns."

Well, FT, welcome to 2004. But, for the leading companies we work with sustainability is not about doing good. It's about creating long-term value for shareholders.

Sustainability is made up of a number of issues that are creating a global 'crunch'. On one side, rising demand from a growing, more prosperous population. On the other, reducing supply of eco-system services - including a stable climate - on which we all rely. This crunch is already driving the strategic context, making it very much the "business of business"

Companies already realise that ways of making money today won't be profitable tomorrow. Basic services and resources that the natural world provides cheaply will become more and more expensive. Rising expectations of businesses will translate into new regulation, changed consumer behaviour, new norms in the supply chain and investor pressure.

The leading companies we work with see these challenges as enormous opportunities. Sustainability is about being a successful company into the future.

Some people will always think 'responsibility' - whether as campaigners or change agents. But the fundamental business case for sustainability is: how can companies create shareholder value in a world dominated by the crunch?

We need to get beyond virtue and into market-driven enlightened self-interest if businesses are going to take sustainable development seriously.