It would take the resources of five and a half planet Earths for everyone on our world today to enjoy the same lifestyle currently pursued in first world nations according to UTS Faculty of Business sustainability expert Distinguished Professor Dexter Dunphy.

He warned a gathering of more than 300 business leaders, bureaucrats and academics at a recent UTSpeaks public lecture that sustainable business practices were the only way economies would survive rapidly worsening ecological crises such as global warming.

Professor Dunphy said China and India, the two fastest growing economies, alone would require the equivalent of an entire planet Earth to match the current level of consumption in western societies.

Professor Dunphy is an international thought leader in corporate sustainability, corporate social responsibility and the management of organisational change. "A serious turning point has been reached in the relationship between human consumption and global ecosystems," he said.

"We have reached a tipping point in community, corporate and political awareness of environmental issues. Increasingly business success will depend on how quickly all sectors respond to the urgent demands for sustainable practices.

"To date, the daunting task of creating a sustainable basis for human survival has been viewed mainly in terms of costs," Prof Dunphy said. "However there are rich opportunities for success and profitability for businesses that respond appropriately and quickly to current ecological stresses.

"Companies such as Lend Lease, BP and Westpac are showing that not only are the introduction of sustainable processes helping preserve the environment for future generations, they are saving and making hundreds of millions of dollars through being far sighted."

Prof Dunphy identified six categories into which businesses fit on a spectrum – from having serious complacency about sustainable practices to having inspired innovation and vision.

"At the worst extreme we see corporations that feel they should be able to keep sailing in first class on the Titanic – I call them Stealthy Saboteurs and Freeloaders," he said. "These companies invest considerable wealth into obstructing and confusing the facts about issues such as global warming and try to maintain the status quo for their own profit. They are getting rich at the expense of future generations.

"Then there are the Bunker Wombats for whom ignorance is bliss and they just want to get on with things, they don't want to know about change for the better and see it as something that will come at a cost.

"Then there are Compliance Reactive Minimalists who stick by whatever government guidelines are in place and do the bare minimum. Such corporations fail to see the opportunity to be leaders and capture the benefits that come from becoming leaders in change.

"Then there are the Industrious Stewards focussed on recycling, remanufacturing, saving and doing more with less.

"Then at the positive end of the spectrum we find Proactive Strategists, companies that lead in value adding and innovation and finally we have the Transforming Futurists who by transforming their operations lead in creating a sustainable world."

Professor Dunphy said corporations, governments and communities had a responsibility to future generations to get beyond endless debate about whether or not events such as global warming were caused by industry and take the long-term view of business and social needs and the appropriate actions.

For UTS this meant making corporate sustainability an integral part of its MBA program.

"Now with the inclusion of sustainability materials across a range of subjects, including core subjects, all MBA students will encounter sustainability issues in their program," Professor Dunphy said.

"Moreover, as these materials are integrated into specific subjects such as Strategic Management, the relevance of sustainability to specific fields of expertise will be clear and graduates better informed and able to contribute actively in integrating sustainability into business practice."