The world now faces an increasing array of social and environmental problems. These include growing inequity, a looming freshwater crisis, mounting rural poverty, and the “inconvenient truth” of climate change. The Earth’s resources are being pushed to their natural limits as population continues to grow.

Companies face a unique challenge to develop breakthrough solutions that actually solve the two biggest problems facing humanity: global-scale poverty and environmental degradation. Rather than making incremental changes to existing products and practices (simply reducing negative impact), companies can harness technological and business model innovation—thereby creating new growth opportunities that effectively address these challenges.

Clean technology and poverty-alleviating initiatives have exploded over the past few years. For instance, “clean tech” start-ups now represent the third largest investment category in North America and micro-credit endeavors are gaining momentum throughout the developing world. But if business is to lead a commercial revolution, it must fuse these elements: By weaving inherently clean technologies into the social fabric of traditionally underserved markets, companies can create innovative business models that move us more rapidly towards a sustainable world.