There appears to be unparalleled agreement amongst the scientific community that something very unpleasant is afoot. Without doubt the world is becoming a very different place to live, that much is clear. A recent addition to the published work in this field is The Hot Topic - a book by two prominent UK scientists, Gabrielle Walker, an award-winning science journalist, and Professor Sir David King, the Government's chief scientific advisor from 2001 to 2007 - gives us a more balanced view of the problem we traditionally get.

It provides a much needed antidote to those who believe that continuing predictions of impending Armageddon are the only way to shock humanity into action. Walker and King expose some of the common elements of mythology that surround the subject of climate change from both camps. For example; the world was not "warmer than it is now in the middle ages". Temperatures are higher now than they have been for 1000 years". "The planet is not really warming". Yes it is. 1998 and 2005 were hottest in the last 150 years. "Human CO2 emissions are tiny compared with natural sources", true but natural sources also absorb CO2 at about the same rate of discharge. Roughly speaking, the natural world is in balance. We are upsetting the natural balance.

On the other side of the debate, the Gulf Stream is not about to shut down any time soon. The major capitals of the world are not in imminent danger of disappearing beneath the waves and current climate change models are predicting a 2 to 3 degrees C rise in average temperature in the next five to ten years and we can deal with that. It won't be easy and won't be without cost, but we can deal with it. We will only encounter the real problems if we don't actually get down to making changes soon. The real problems occur if we fail to act now and that's the scary part.

But what does "...if we fail to act now" mean? What is it that we can do? There are real economic, political, social and technological issues that have to be faced. A great deal of work at national and international level has to be done by Governments to help us manage waste, transport, renewable energy, deforestation as well as to sort out what appear to be those intractable issues relating to fulfilling the aspirations of countless millions in the developing economies to emulate the lifestyles that we in the developed world have become accustomed to. Creating the conditions for harnessing science and engineering to contribute through the development of technological solutions must also be at least partly for Governments. We note however that in the spirit of the Victorian entrepreneurs, Richard Branson has offered a $25 Million prize for the person who comes up with the best way of removing significant amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere.

What contribution can we make through our organisations and as individuals? What is Sustainable Development anyway? Essentially it's about how organisations take account of their economic, social and environmental impacts in the way they operate. It refers to the voluntary actions that business and commerce can take to address both its own competitive interests and the interests of wider society. There are three main elements to Sustainable Development: economic, social and environmental.

Our whole society is based upon cycles of economic activity, growth being perhaps the most important parameter. High and stable levels of economic growth are the only way we have at present to ensure the high levels of employment and prosperity that the human condition aspires to. Growth over the last 250 years however has been the great consumer of energy and raw materials, the source of pollution, the reason we find ourselves in our current situation.

The effects of the social collapse that would certainly follow an economic collapse are unthinkable for most people. 250 years of economic growth has resulted in a population wedded to a sophisticated and interlinked social system that simply cannot easily be reversed. Yet, if we continue to damage our environment, economic collapse will follow environmental collapse and social collapse will surely be close on its heels.

The only way it seems that we can begin to resolve this apparent dichotomy between ever increasing levels of economic growth and the ecological impact this is having on our planet is to set about developing ever more sustainable patterns of production and consumption, making sure the price of that growth is not environmental decline or social injustice. What Walker and King refer to as "more from less".

Given that Governments will play their part and that science and technology will make significant contributions, we have to begin to come terms with things that business, commerce and we as individuals can do. What is vitally important in all this is the way we think, because the way we think inevitably determines the way we behave. The things we can do are the low hanging fruit of the emissions game.

We can make a start by gaining a clear understanding of our own sustainability issues when developing our organisation's direction. Sustainability means being around in the future. Since the future will rely on serving our customer well and not resemble the present or the past we need to be able to see where our market place and our customer's needs are taking us. Most organisations believe they are clear on the needs of their customers/stakeholders now. We also must develop clarity on what the needs of our customers/stakeholders will be in the future and create processes and a waste elimination culture that listens to the customer and continuously improves our customer experience.

Product design is an area of great potential. It is well understood that 80% of the cost of any product or service is determined in the design phase. Not too a big step then to reach the conclusion that the design phase also accounts for a significant proportion of the waste and emissions created by the manufacture and use of the product or service over its working life.

Understanding our supply chain from raw material to land fill is another area through which we can make a significant contribution. We can think about mapping the supply chain that delivers our product or service from raw material to disposal to identify the sources of loss and waste. We have also to understand that if we off-load large potions of our supply chain to the developing economies, they do not become responsible for the emissions. Only by mapping the supply chain and measuring and so understanding the environmental impact at each stage will we begin to devise ways of reducing that impact.

In short, by adopting a "lean" approach, by developing and implementing structured programmes of improvement based upon measurement, analysis and the solid principles of reduce, reuse, recycle and recover, we can begin to make as significant contribution a sustainable future for our organisations, our nation and our grandchildren.

For further information on sustainable development, why not attend the taster workshop on our Active Learning Forum on 20th May or the Active Learning Day - Securing Your Organisations Future through Sustainable Development on 22nd April. Click here for further information.