Stephan Schmidheiny has made industrial history, as both an entrepreneur and pioneer. After taking over responsibility for the family firm Swiss Eternit Group in 1976, he began to push for an end to asbestos processing, leading the way in the world in this regard. He subsequently played a key role in saving the Swiss watch industry, and built up an industrial group in Latin America. He served as an advisor to the United Nations and the OECD, established the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and set up numerous organisations that promote sustainability. As a philanthropist and author, and as the person who coined the term 'eco-efficiency', he has lent crucial impetus to the debate on sustainable economic, social and environmental development worldwide.