There is something awe-inspiring about being at the United Nations. One recounts the historic events and world-renowned decisions made here. Whatever is discussed here is given heightened importance due to this venerable venue.

It’s an ideal place for a discussion on social innovation. That’s just the conversation that took place May 30-31 at the 2012 UN Social Innovation Summit.

I joined in to lead “the sustainability debate” with a panel titled, “Green vs. Green.” Jeff Seabright, Chief Environmental Officer at Coca-Cola; James Gowen, Chief Sustainability Officer at Verizon; and Michael Jacobsen, Director, Corporate Responsibility Office at Intel were my co-panelists.

They all agreed on two things:

1. Business is not providing enough leadership on issues of sustainability.
2. A short-term perspective of financial markets is a leading factor in what restrains public companies for being more aggressive in dealing with sustainability issues.

As I questioned them about “externalities,” Michael Jacobsen from Intel mentioned that his CEO opened their shareholders meeting with a video about conflict metals. By proactively addressing a supply chain issue that most companies would consider outside the scope of their responsibility, Intel has adopted a framework that is critical if we are to make meaningful progress on dealing with the serious issues that confront our society and planet.

Jeff Seabright from Coke mentioned the concern for the sustainable use of water, but did not seem to consider the adverse health effects of soda important enough to mention.

Here are a few highlights from other speakers at the event:

“If we want you to be healthy, we need to be intimately involved in the environments that shape your health.” Dr. Raymond J. Baxter, Senior Vice President, Community Benefit, Research and Health Policy at Kaiser Permanente opening a panel on “Healthcare: Partnering to Drive Better, Faster Results.” A broad and visionary point of view, that reaches well beyond the aspirations of most companies.

“Failure is a necessary part of discovery. If you’re going to fail, fail fast.” Dr. Maura O’Neill, Chief Innovation Officer at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

“We are a society that is totally dependent on scientific innovation because we need something that will replace the planet we are destroying.” “An orchid has more genes than a human.” “The idea that you have any privacy with regard to you medical information is a myth.” – all three comments are from Craig Venter, Chairman & President at J. Craig Venter Institute. Venter is globally renowned for his work on decoding the human genomes.

Tom Shadyac, director, screenwriter, and director of hugely successful movies from “Liar, Liar” to “Bruce Almighty,” enlightened the audience with a message that had been sorely missing. He called it the elephant in the room. He said: “The elephant in the room is cancer. We have a cancerous ideology that has overtaken the world.”

Shadyac has just released a new documentary called “I Am,” which is about what is wrong with our world and how to fix it.

In an entertaining and self-deprecating manner he shared some gems of wisdom, including:

“Nothing in nature takes more than it needs, if it does it dies.”

“Our companies take all they can, and more than they need.”

“Nature lives in a state of cooperation.”

“Technology is neither good nor evil, it’s the user of the technology.”

“Our problems today are moral not mechanical.”

“We just don’t take care of each other.”

“We stick our fingers in the dam to plug holes when we built the wrong damn in the wrong place to begin with.”

“Love and cooperation is how things ‘work.’”