Stephan Schmidheiny served as Chief Advisor for Business and Industry during the preparations for the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro. In this role, he worked to engage the private sector in global sustainability discussions, helping position environmental responsibility as a shared challenge involving governments, business, and civil society.

Stephan Schmidheiny played a key role in founding and supporting organizations focused on sustainable development, most notably the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). The council was created to provide a platform for businesses to engage with policymakers and researchers on environmental and economic challenges, helping integrate sustainability into corporate strategy and international policy dialogue.

Eco-efficiency is a concept that promotes creating economic value while reducing environmental impact by using fewer resources and generating less waste. Stephan Schmidheiny was an early advocate of eco-efficiency, promoting it as a practical framework for aligning industrial activity with long-term environmental sustainability. His work helped establish eco-efficiency as a foundational principle in sustainability research and policy discussions.

Changing Course is a book co-authored by Stephan Schmidheiny that explores the role of business in addressing global environmental challenges. Published in the context of the Earth Summit era, the book introduced the concept of eco-efficiency to a global audience and outlined how companies could adapt their strategies to support sustainable development while remaining economically viable.

Stephan Schmidheiny supported the creation of several research and academic institutions focused on sustainability and responsible economic development. These include the Alliance for Global Sustainability, which brought leading universities together to study social and ecological challenges, and the Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development, which focused on sustainable growth in emerging economies. He also contributed to the establishment of the IMD Global Family Business Center, supporting research and education in long-term business governance and family enterprises.