Paul Polman

I see business as an ecosystem.

Addressing the weaknesses of capitalism will require us, above all, to do two things: first, to take a long-term perspective, and second, to re-set the priorities of business.

The last few months have seen a welcome race to the top. Consumers have sent companies a clear signal that they do not want their purchasing habits to drive deforestation and companies are responding. Better still, companies are committing to working in partnership with suppliers, governments and NGOs to strengthen forest governance and economic incentives. It can be done and this Declaration signals a real intention to accelerate action.

Africa's vibrancy and entrepreneurial spirit is un-matched. There's huge potential here to grow business, create jobs, and to improve living standards.

The ideal is a world in which every woman and girl can create the kind of life she wishes to lead, unconstrained by harmful norms and stereotypes.

We need new, dynamic models for growth through the sharing economy, using big data to unlock new insights and adopting closed-loop cycles.

Companies are the first to see the costs of climate change.

Why would you invest in a company which is out of synch with the needs of society, that does not take its social compliance in its supply chain seriously, that does not think about the costs of externalities or of its negative impacts on society?

Working together on solving something requires a high level of humility and a high level of self-awareness.

I've always been bothered by systems that don't work for everybody. It doesn't mean we're all equal. I am not naive about that. But we should have a more inclusive society.

It is unacceptable that more than 1 billion people are hungry every day while another billion are obese.

If we achieve our sustainability targets and no one else follows, we will have failed.