It is perhaps surprising that business is beginning to make progress on the environment while our elected governments are wasting precious time.

Whether it is the images of polar bears drowning, films like An Inconvenient Truth or the growing pile of learned reports, the evidence is sinking in and this country seems, at last, to be waking-up to sustainability. The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change's latest assessment effectively ended any serious debate about whether climate change is happening, and whether human activity is the cause. Economist Nicholas Stern's report said that climate change could shrink the global economy by a fifth, and calculated that for every £1 of investment in preventing climate change between £5 and £20 of impact related costs can be saved. Excuses not to act are in short supply.

This is great for those of us who have been slogging away on environmental issues for years, knocking on doors saying "this is important". The business response has really taken off this year. Among our partners at Forum for the Future, Marks & Spencer have had the highest profile. Through their Plan A, they are investigating and tackling the sustainability impact of every single area of their business. Equally ambitious declarations of intent have come from the retail giants Wal-Mart and Tesco. Tesco, one of the top five retailers in the world, has promised independently audited absolute reductions in C02 emissions from its operations and carbon labelling on all products.

A significant change in approach from the companies we work with is the shift in perception of environment from a risk issue, to be handled by technical staff or the PR department, to a strategic issue, central to the future of the whole business. When we began work more than a decade ago, our partners asked: "What should our sustainability strategy be, in the light of our business?" Now the likes of BT, First Choice and Unilever are asking, "What should our business strategy be, in the light of sustainability?"

A road paved with good intentionsGovernment is moving more slowly. The Climate Change Bill will set statutory targets for carbon reduction. But this Government has excelled at setting reduction targets while presiding over real increases. Its good intentions are not reflected in spending: less than £10bn on environmental protection and enhancement, compared with the hundreds of billions spent on security, health and education. The same is true of taxation. Friends of the Earth calculate that - despite Gordon Brown's promise to the contrary - green taxes as a percentage of overall taxes have actually fallen (from 9.4 % to 7.7 %) since Labour took power in 1997.

Following the money would tell a similar story in other sectors. Even among some of the most high-profile examples of business moving in the right direction - General Electric investing $1.5bn in products that offer significant environmental benefits or BP putting $8bn into its Alternative Energy business - the sums are still small compared to overall turnover, or investment in conventional, unsustainable paths.

So, we have some momentum and movement, but we are not there yet. What else do we need to do? One major task is to turn the green agenda from a negative to a positive one. The environmental movement tends to focus on limits and constraints, and talk about the future in gloomily apocalyptic terms: Species are disappearing. The planet is overheating. If you want to do anything about it, you'll have to lead a life of sacrifice and constraint. This is not an enticing story for most people, and there is a real risk that they will move directly from ignorance to despair.

As any brand manager will tell you, people want positive things they can aspire to. To motivate them to behave differently we need to offer attractive but credible visions of the future. Organisations also need to feel the pull of a better future rather than the need make efficiency savings or comply with regulations.

This positive framing unleashes the creativity and innovation necessary to make products and services smarter and more efficient, satisfying needs while using less of the earth's resources and contributing far less pollution. Plenty of examples show that it is possible to design out waste and harness clean sources of energy. We also know such approaches represent a huge market opportunity. Stern argues that, "as a result of action on climate change, new markets are created in low-carbon energy technologies and other low-carbon goods and services. These markets could grow to be worth billions of dollars each year." Companies and investors need to start moving into them. As Goldman Sachs says, "More capital is now focused on sustainable business models, and the market is rewarding leaders and new entrants in a way that could scarcely have been predicted even 15 years ago."

The timings, though, are very tight. With climate science giving us a window of 10 to 15 years to make really dramatic changes in our lifestyles, bold leadership is critical. While the public are increasingly concerned, many remain confused about what they should actually do. At the moment, we are seeing more signs of leadership from the business community, such as Tesco's Terry Leahy, Virgin's Richard Branson or Stuart Rose at M&S. As Leahy puts it, "I am determined that Tesco should be a leader in helping to create a low-carbon economy." These commitments from the corporate world are leaving national governments looking rather timid. Take the radicalism of Ken Livingstone and the untested plans of David Cameron out of the equation and genuine political leadership on sustainability is in worryingly short supply.

A low-carbon Britain doesn't have to mean cutbacks and sacrifice. If we respond in the right way, many of the changes we make could improve our quality of life. We could be living healthier, more prosperous lives in stronger, better connected and cleaner communities. Will our leaders take us there?

This article was written for The Guardian's Green List supplement

Read Sally Uren's article - 'Hall of shame'

Listen to Sally Uren interviewed by The Guardian

Read more about our contribution to the Green List 2007

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