Every decade has its buzzwords. In the 80s, IT' and PC' were on everyone's lips; in the 90s, Internet' was the holy grail. And in 2008? It is sustainability'. Open a newspaper or magazine, turn on the TV or radio, and there will be articles and programmes about going green, reducing hydrocarbons and/or renewable energy.

Yet the world has been slow to accept and react to the challenges of global warming, climate change and the way we live.

The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 was intended to create a step-change for the planet, but has never really achieved the intended impact.

In particular, the United States has been criticised for its failure to ratify the protocol, a black mark against the globe's largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

Emerging countries have focused on creating tiger economies but often using old and dirty' technologies. Many Third World countries are focused on survival and cannot give priority to environmental issues.

The recent 2008 World Economic Forum in Davos may yet succeed where Kyoto failed, because in the last 11 years, climate change has become a fact.

While debate rages as to the causes, few can deny the increase in global temperature, the melting of the polar ice caps and extreme weather patterns bringing death and damage.

And now there is the will and impetus for the developed world to take decisive action to create a sustainable planet.

National and European legislation, along with corporate social responsibility initiatives like Marks & Spencer's Plan A, are helping the drive towards an eco-friendly approach.

So what is sustainability? In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development produced a definition in its Brundtland Report.

It said: "Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

And world-leading venture capitalist John Doerr, one of Silicon Valley's most influential figures and the man behind Google and Amazon, said: "Green technology is the largest economic challenge of the 21st century".

Just as technology has played a significant role in causing today's crisis, so is it now taking the lead in solving it.

One of the heartlands of this sustainable technology revolution is Oxfordshire. Be it industry, academia or Government institute, the county's powerful science cluster and infrastructure is leading the way.

Sustainability itself offers an almost limitless canvas, from the obvious such as biofuels, fuel cells, solar panels and wind farms, to the less obvious like curbing the spread of diseases resulting from global warming.

An increasing number of Oxfordshire businesses are emerging as world leaders in this sector. Microbial Solutions, a spinout from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, a research centre at Wallingford owned by the National Environment Research Council uses clever' bacteria to clean toxic industrial wastewater so it can be pumped into the sewage system.

Green Biologics, based at Milton Park, researches an advanced biofuel based on butanol and derived from biomass, waste plant material.

Biofuels have recently come under attack on two fronts. First, many use edible crops as a source, both reducing food supply and driving up the price. Second, experiments such as producing bioethanol from corn starch brought a low yield. For every unit of energy used to create the fuel, only 1.3 units of energy resulted.

In sharp contrast, Green Biologics produces 26 units of energy for every unit spent creating the fuel - a momentous improvement.

Helveta, based at Harwell, has a simple and transparent system that monitors and tracks timber from the forest to the local DIY store.

It is invaluable in highlighting illegal logging, a practice which not only causes the destruction of vital forests but also involves money-laundering.

Economics have to be a compelling driver to alter the way we live.

A report in The Lancet warns climate change will accelerate the spread of tropical viruses across Europe.

Greater movement of people, goods and animals is the root cause, but global warming will hasten the increase. One such is dengue fever, known as break bone' disease because it causes painful joints, as well as fever.

Oxitec, based at Milton Park, is already developing an environmentally-friendly method of controlling it through existing sterile insect technology.

A combination of genetics and molecular biology, the technology produces sterile males to mate with wild females and control the mosquito population. This is far more effective and cheaper than current methods.

To develop all these innovations takes money, and firmly backing the Oxford entrepreneurs is Oxford Capital Partners, one of the leading technology-driven venture capital firms.

The firm invests in technologies, not projects. A wind farm is a project, but the miniaturisation of wind turbines for use on homes or businesses would be of interest.

Ever since its foundation in Oxford in 1999, Oxford Capital Partners has funded sustainability technology as one of its core areas, drawing on its experience in America, Africa and Asia.

The firm actively seeks new ideas that will become sustainable businesses and generate returns for re-investment.

Investment director David Mott said: "We invested in sustainability right from the start. We believe that good, strong businesses have a vital role in the world of today and tomorrow.

"The owners make profits they can recycle into new ideas and the investors make strong returns for further investment. It's a very sustainable cycle."