Earlier this year I was privileged to represent Europe at a different sort of conference: as part of the Rio +20 United Nations Summit…one of the most notable characteristics of the UN summit…was the huge role played by business…1,400 companies took part in 'Business Action for Sustainable Development' - the corporate forum organised by the UN Global Compact to input in to the Summit. 37 CEOs from major investors, banks and insurance companies publicly signed what they called a "Natural Capital Declaration" committing themselves to integrating natural capital in their valuations. A Coalition of 72 major investors appealed for mandatory corporate sustainability reporting requirements on business, led by Aviva Global Investors…Individual companies and other stakeholders made 700 individual pledges before and at Rio… [refers to Microsoft, Total, DuPont, Coca-Cola, Walmart, Kingfisher, Puma, Unilever]