Due to overwhelming pressure from consumers and government initiatives, manufacturers are finally getting the message that less is definitely more when it comes to the packaging that surrounds the products that we buy.

Change is happening fast and it's clear that for many companies, the challenge is to keep up. We live in a world where value is being built and destroyed at mindboggling speeds, shareholders are becoming more radicalised and consumers can pass and spread judgement on a company in the blink of an eye.

Energy efficiency is a major focus, too. Mahindra has a target of cutting energy for street lighting by 50% on 2009 levels by 2014. Already, three-fifths of the streets are lit with LEDs.

With rising populations creating more mouths to feed, newly affluent citizens in developing countries hungry for meat and other resource-intensive foods, growing global water stress and changes in climate, agricultural supply chains are facing unprecedented pressure.

The board is eyeing up other industries - with pilots underway in clean water technology, new concepts for retail, and sustainable homes. And it's also probing new markets, beginning with the US...

Business success in difficult economic times comes to those who take their responsibilities seriously and look for new ways to address the material concerns of their key stakeholders. For us at British Gas, this is the cornerstone of our corporate responsibility strategy.

Strangely enough, according to some commentators, the health impacts of this scandal could actually have been positive, with the lean horsemeat making the burgers healthier. But somehow I don't think this was done with our health in mind.

Formed in 1979, Ecover's mission was avowedly green: it aimed to reduce the amount of phosphates flowing into the water ways. Only later did it emphasise hygiene and the efficacy of its products. Last year it restated its mission as 'making a healthy and sustainable lifestyle easy'.

Crowdsourcing goes far beyond the inception of new solutions. Start-ups are drawing on the masses for everything from funding - through investor platforms like Kickstarter - to development.

Alvin Toffler published Future Shock in 1970, at a time of great social and economic upheaval. Toffler sought to help people make sense of what was g...