This arena affects every industry and every demographic on some level. Yes, terms like Resource-sensitive and low-impact development but is going to make things any clearer for the masses? What isn’t resource sensitive these days? And what’s the difference between what you try to achieve with low-impact development as opposed to sustainable development?

And a price on carbon doesn’t mean “going green becomes no longer exceptional”. Companies will only have to pay over and above a set cap on their emissions. We’re not talking about carbon neutrality here. And if “everyone” is at least doing what they have to comply there’s still plenty of room excel and stand out. And as the consumer gets more savvy the stakes will become higher.

If sustainable development is “intellectually bankrupt and should be abandoned” what’s the alternative? Stick our heads in the proverbial sand and carry on our merry way?

We’re only now beginning this journey! Huge global movements take time and effort. If the corporates are reducing energy here and water there and sourcing leather from none amazonian suppliers etc etc THEN GOOD!

Sure we’re not going to stop the inevitable now. We never had a chance anyway. But when Mother Nature finally decides to scratch her itch (any bets for 2012/13 anyone? :-) ) at least we’ll be part way down the path as opposed to not at all.

The one important fact to recognise is that the meeting of any government legislation is just another way of being ‘as bad as the law will allow you to be’. This is not what the sustainability movement is about – it is about best practice, continuous improvement and as such, will never be ‘achieved’ only ever strived for.

As for suggesting the entire movement is now out of the realms of ‘marketing’ is strange. If it’s about continuous improvement, then someone, somewhere is doing more to lower their impact than anyone else, so why wouldn’t they market the fact – it’s leading by example.

As to the language used by corporates relating to corporate sustainability, guidelines such as the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) and the AA1000 give good guidance on what is acceptable and what is not. I think the more important thing to look for is independent verification of claims made.

Having that said, I actually don’t even see much in the way of ‘green-washing’ anymore – I think corporates have become wise to the negative reputational risk they run by going anywhere near it.

This really fits in line with a lot of people—like Yvon Chouinard and the heaps of others—that say that terms like this are lacking-in-meaning neologisms, capable of distracting all of us from what ultimately should matter.