Joni Mitchell’s iconic 1970 song “Big Yellow Taxi” pleads: “Give me spots on my apples but leave me the birds and bees”. At the time of its release, this protest at the widespread use of chemical pesticides seemed like a Hail Mary. Would farmers and their counterparts in other industries really heed this call for a more ecologically friendly version of capitalism?

Now, more than half a century later, corporations are doing just that, having started integrating more sustainable practices into their business models.