The race for global market share will be determined not by corporate officers repeating a green mantra but by showcasing green performance and innovative products. As in basketball, we need to watch their feet, not their mouth.

As the biggest player at the table, China needs to show the way. The nation has already begun construction of some of the foundation.

The recent reform of the water pollution control law includes heavy penalties for noncompliance. The national priority on environmental protection was given a further boost by the creation of the new Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP). MEP already has a green company program. There are serious environmental targets in the 11th five-year plan.

However, these pieces still remain to be forged into an integrated strategy that aligns business and government interests at all levels in a search for environmental excellence. To grasp the markets of the future, China needs to get enterprises to lift their focus from the immediate path they are taking toward the direction of a market-driven green future.

Coordinating policies across ministries for a single unified powerful set of incentives will get their attention. These incentives need to be focused on both today's and tomorrow's environmental problems if they are to succeed in driving marketable innovations.

Companies need to recognize that the new environmentalism sweeping Asia is no less serious then its forerunners in Europe and North America where environmental values are now mainstream. Already we see previously revered global brands being taken to task for environmental missteps outside their home territories. This is no fad. It is here to stay.

When you take a close look at those companies that excel environmentally, it is usually a company that has learned the hard way from a serious environmental disaster in its past.

It need not take matriculation from the school of hard knocks to get the message. The vision starts from the top. CEOs need to dedicate their companies to excellence - especially environmental excellence.

They need to establish corporate incentives for environmental performance equal to those for financial performance. They need to create a culture of compliance and an expectation of constant improvement.