The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, better known as Rio+20, is now behind us, and it pretty much ended with a whimper and not a bang. It was a long road to travel, literally and figuratively, to arrive pretty much where everyone started out.

But, as I report from my own Rio travels last week, perspectives on Rio+20 are quite different in the business community than in the policy and activist communities. While the latter two groups left Rio largely glum and deflated, if not angry and cynical, the corporate community was decidedly more upbeat. From their perspective, Rio provided an opportunity to make new commitments, showcase existing ones, and share ideas and best practices.

Over the past week, I had the opportunity to attend many of the business-centric events, as well as to talk to more than a score of business and thought leaders from North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. I captured a dozen of their voices in brief video segments (including three questions for Richard Branson), some of which have been nicely compiled in a video produced by GreenBiz Associate Editor Kristine Wong. Their views of the official UN proceedings were anywhere from neutral to negative, but their excitement about the corporate activities was palpable.

This week, we offer a package of stories from Rio, with more to come this week -- analyses and post-mortems from business leaders and others. Please weigh in with your own perspective on what happened last week in Brazil. We'd love to know.

How to Leverage Sustainability Programs to Drive Enterprise-Wide Efficiency: This week's webcast, on Tuesday, June 26, focuses on how companies are implementing sustainability initiatives to drive efficiency throughout their organization and realize improved environmental, social and financial results. Join me in conversation with Accenture's Global Environment Program Director Mike Nicholus, MetaVu CEO Mark Serwinowski, and Enablon Project Manager Julien Picaud. It's free; registration required. It should be a stimulating hour.

VERGE Cities 2.0: On July 18, we'll be hosting a half-day virtual event, part of our ongoing VERGE series. This one focuses on how technology is changing cities: the opportunities at the convergence of information, energy, building, and transportation technologies, and the implications for both cities and business. We'll be presenting innovators from both cities and business in a series of discussions and presentations. You can register here -- it's free.

Also This Week: Jennifer Ward reports on UL Environment's quest to validate company "zero waste" claims ... Heather Clancy and Jennifer Morris separately report on companies' growing interest in accounting for natural capital ... and Maya Albanese resumes her monthly series on women sustainability leaders with a profile of sustainable coffee trader Sue Garnett.