During a high-level dialogue at the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) convened member CEOs and key policymakers to launch the WBCSD’s first Policy Advisory Council.

This new council will guide the WBCSD’s global policy outreach, focused on working with international organizations and the public sector to create the enabling conditions and regulations for businesses to scale up their sustainability efforts.

WBCSD Policy Advisory Council members include: Felipe Calderón, former President of Mexico and Chair of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate; Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary, UNFCCC; Rachel Kyte, Vice President Sustainable Development, World Bank; Arun Maira, Member Planning Commission, India; Mark Malloch Brown, Chairman, FTI Consulting; Bob Orr, Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations; Achim Steiner, Executive Director, UNEP and Dominic Waughray, Senior Director, World Economic Forum.

“Neither the public nor the private sector alone can bring about the actions, scale and impact necessary to achieve a sustainable future for both society and the environment. Our new Policy Advisory Council brings together some of the strongest sustainability leaders from both private and public sectors to ensure we’re all working toward that common goal,” says WBCSD’s Chief International Relations Officer, Carina Larsfalten.

In 2014, the WBCSD Policy Advisory Council will focus on advancing alignment of ambitious public and private sector sustainability efforts on several key issues, including climate change and energy, measurement, valuation & reporting, ecosystems, water and food security.

Other WBCSD highlights from the WEF in Davos

The WBCSD actively participated in the preparation of the Forum’s first-ever Climate Day, aimed at sparking momentum among world leaders to reach a climate agreement in Paris by 2015. The WBCSD’s message to international leaders at Climate Day was clear: the time for discussion about climate change is over. Society only has time to act, and business has the ability to bring scale, innovation and resources to the issue of climate change.

At an interactive breakfast discussion in Davos,Water.org co-founder Gary White, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, along with WBCSD COO Peter Whiteand other business leaders, discussed the business case for water and the role of business in achieving the universal human right of access to water and sanitation. Both water and climate change are key priority areas of the WBCSD’s Action2020 initiative.

Read the WBCSD’s press release from Davos

Read WBCSD President Peter Bakker’s blog’s from Davos:

• On sustainability and cities on the Guardian Sustainable Business Blog
• Business can’t afford to ignore climate change any longer(Huffington Post)
• Mainstream businesses are taking action on climate change