Editing Eco-efficiency (section)

==History==
Although eco-efficiency is a rather new method, the idea is not. In the early 1970s [[Paul R. Ehrlich]] and [[John Holdren]] developed the lettering formula [[I = PAT]] to describe the [[Human impact on the environment|impact of human activity on the environment]].<ref name= ehren/> Furthermore, the concept of eco-efficiency was first described by McIntyre and Thornton in 1978,<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = McIntyre | first1 = R. | last2 = Thornton | first2 = J. | year = 1978 | title = On the environmental efficiency of economic systems | journal = Soviet Studies | volume = 30 | issue = 2| pages = 173–192 | doi=10.1080/09668137808411179}}</ref> but it wasn't until 1992, when the term was formally coined and widely publicized by [[Stephan Schmidheiny]] in ''Changing Course''.<ref name= ehren /> Schmidheiny set out "to change the perception of industry as being part of the problem of environmental degradation to the reality of its becoming part - a key part - of the solution for sustainability and global development".<ref name= wbcsd/> The major drivers in the early phase of eco-efficiency's development were the "forward-looking managers and thinkers in 3M and Dow".<ref name= wbcsd /> It was their involvement which catapulted eco-efficiency into development. The results of the [[World Business Council for Sustainable Development|WBCSD]]'s work creating the "linkage between environmental performance and the bottom line was published in 1997 in its report Environmental Performance and Shareholder Value".<ref name= wbcsd />