In 1994, he originated the term "Triple Bottom Line" and in 1995 the popularisation, People, Planet & Profit (or, alternatively, Prosperity). In 1987, with Julia Hailes and Tom Burke, he co-founded SustainAbility, a think tank and consultancy that works with businesses through markets in the pursuit of economic, social and environmental sustainability. In 2009, a CSR International survey of the Top 100 CSR leaders placed John fourth: after Al Gore, Barack Obama and the late Anita Roddick of the Body Shop, and alongside Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank.