David Bent

David Bent is director of sustainable business at Forum for the Future, a nonprofit sustainable development organization based in the United Kingdom.

David leads the organization's work on business strategy, helping companies discover how they can be both profitable and sustainable. He enables companies to answer the question “What should our business strategy be in the light of our sustainable development challenges?” through techniques that include scenarios, visioning and financial modeling. David's work at Forum includes leading the research into business models for sustainable consumption and the business case for sustainability.

David's six years of experience working with people and businesses on how they can profit from sustainable development ranges from strategy development through capacity building to financial analysis. He qualified as a chartered accountant during four years with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

David is a member of the Corporate Responsibility Advisory Group of the ICAEW (Europe's largest accounting institution). He was a tutor on the Cambridge Programme for Industry post-graduate certificate in sustainable business. And he sat on the economics expert panel and the indicators working group for the 2005 revision of the Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines (known as G3).

David has published on corporate strategy for sustainability, competitiveness, the future of business and sustainability and accounting for sustainability. He also has spoken at academic and practitioner conferences, including at HBR and EU Presidency events.

In addition, David is a board member of Groundwork London (a regeneration charity) and non-executive director of FairSay, which enables digital advocacy and campaigning.

As well as being a chartered accountant, David has an MSc in responsibility and practice from the University of Bath. His first degree was a master in physics from the University of Oxford.