[Editor's note: This article was co-written by Jim Holway, director of the Western Lands and Communities Program, and Dennis Minano, the former chief environmental officer at General Motors]

The topics of greenhouse gases (GHG), climate change and environmentally responsible growth occupy the media and political agendas and inject uncertainty into regional economies and businesses on just what to do. Some states and leading companies have taken preemptive steps on these issues, yet others find themselves stymied without a clear vision of the future.

The fog of uncertainty around carbon and climate continues, and will remain unclear, as the 112th Congress continues and we move into another election cycle. What is clear is the need to create strategic and actionable business plans with meaningful public-private partnerships that will produce outcomes that will be good for business, society and our quality of life.

Corporations can establish growth strategies that yield business results and social and environmental benefits using the following core business strategies and tools:

1. Risk Management. Discussions on future growth and carbon in the context of sustainability are really about risk management. How do businesses reduce exposure, mitigate their impact and adapt to changing societal needs, government policies, and natural resource constraints?

2. Transitional Business Tactics. As businesses manage their risk relative to carbon in the form of GHG controls and policy initiatives, they need to also consider transitional business tactics. Businesses must concurrently define what they will do today, with an eye toward transitioning their products and processes to meet shareholder expectations for sustained growth.

3. Strategic Placement. Businesses will also need strategic placement for their products and brands, as well as a supportive supply chain -- all of which needs to be bounded by a persuasive value proposition for their customers. To stay relevant, this requires a business strategy that addresses projections of energy costs and requirements for carbon reductions, yet maintains customer loyalty by providing products and services that address their evolving needs. Strategic placement relies on product innovation, and the ability to work with stakeholders through meaningful partnerships.

This suite of strategies and tools will enable states, regional economies and businesses to recognize the contours of the climate debate and to collaboratively focus on actionable goals and to monitor progress. When coupled with meaningful public-private partnerships, these strategies will result in greater business success and advancing community and global sustainability.

Corporate Strategy & Action

The ability for corporations, governments and society to address sustainability and its associated issues requires active engaged leadership which can put a classic business strategy into place, including a vision, strategy, investment, and action. For example, the top macro-economic concerns of business currently include: consumer expectations, government policies, price pressures, credit markets and interest rates and the federal deficit.

The figure below presents how these and other strategic business value-drivers can intersect to magnify innovation and enhanced competitiveness. Carbon and climate intersect each of these concerns. As consumer demand shifts, companies need to respond with more innovative and eco-relevant product options.

Risk Management, Government Action and Carbon Controls

When it comes, government action regarding climate will directly impact business operations and success. Specifically, the "Endangerment Finding" by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded that six GHGs, including carbon, pose a threat to human health. The finding opens the door to additional EPA regulations that will impact a company's ability to compete and interstate-regional economies.

Further, recent EPA guidance to the states on how to incorporate CO2 control measures in the environmental permitting process is a new business factor and potentially another step in the march toward a genuine CO2 regulatory scheme.

As companies find ways to respond to shifting consumer demands and new governmental policies -- with an eye on long-term profits, they will need to balance natural resource consumption with demand for what they produce. There are already many companies moving in the direction of eco-relevant products and operations.

For example, General Electric is manufacturing more fuel-efficient locomotives; CSX is integrating renewable energy into future plans for its land holdings; and Aerojet, a firm that focuses on rocket propulsion, has deployed solar energy to better control long-term electricity costs.

These companies have selected eco-relevant products because it makes economic and environmental sense. Further, the leadership of these businesses has begun to position themselves (and their products) competitively, as they see how the regulatory and policy landscape is changing.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued new guidance for public companies on what must be disclosed regarding the "materiality" of their impact on climate. The SEC outlined four areas that might trigger requirements for companies to disclose their vulnerability to sustainability concerns:

1) impact of legislation and regulation
2) impact of International Accords
3) indirect consequences of regulation or business trends
4) physical impacts of climate change

While this SEC guidance is focused on climate, it also addresses greater transparency and the material impact that either climate change policies or actual physical changes in our climate patterns may have on the financial performance of public companies. Climate change and carbon emissions will be closely tied to regulation, the availability and cost of raw materials, and emerging business trends.

This warrants special attention by business leadership -- especially as corporations plan their long-term corporate growth strategies. Companies such as Dow Chemical, Boeing, CSX, Home Depot and Walmart are choosing to proactively manage energy and energy supplies (including reliability and quality), to reduce carbon exposure and reduce operational costs.

The availability of capital from credit markets is another area that will be affected by climate and carbon emissions. In the past five years, public companies have been increasingly subjected to new sustainability measures and ratings, referred to as their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance.

Rating agencies, non-profit organizations and social investment funds such as Innovest, Calvert, Domini, IRRC, TIAA-CREF and KLD Analytics have been actively screening companies on everything from environmental disclosures to carbon and climate responsiveness.