The viscerally devastating moving picture of a polar bear struggling to board a chunk of ice, dissolving under its paws, still haunts me today. Judging by the public and critical response to the The Inconvenient Truth—a national and international box office success from 2006—I was not the only one that found the documentary poignant and disturbing. The impact of the film is best captured by the Oxford University-run survey which shows that as many as 89% of respondents said it made them more aware of the problem of global warming and as many as 74% of them claimed that they had changed some of their habits after seeing the film.

Finding meaningful, inspiring stories of impactful corporate leadership in environmental sustainability for many may seem like a fantasy. From my experience, I know this kind of leadership is not only alive and well in our business community but also essential to our collective future. Forward thinking corporate leaders and employees use their ingenuity to think beyond the bottom line of the current quarter and plan for the future. This kind of leadership and the thinking that it is built upon is possible and it’s game changing.