The business of trees, paper, print and information is a cycle which can be endlessly renewed.

Is this industry fit for purpose? Im not so sure, Porritt said.

The industry needs to become savvy with what it has to do for the future, to ensure that as many as 9bn people can survive equally well as 6bn at present, he said.

Sustainability was for all human beings and not just for an elite few or a special group.

Porritt paid tribute to printer Beacon Press, which he said was an example of how a business can be both successful and environmentally sound in its practices.