When it's released next week, an authoritative global scientific report will reveal the "smoking gun" of climate change and warn us that things are going to get worse, according to the news wires.

Few details are being released - the scientists are keeping their powder dry. But their pessimism casts a big shadow. The weather is getting hotter, sea levels are rising and predictions in the report for the future of global warming are based on 19 computer models, about twice as many as in the past.

All this coincides with leaders of America's biggest companies now putting pressure on the Bush administration to pull its finger out and bring in tough measures to fight global warming, says the San Francisco Chronicle.

They shouldn't hold their breath. White House spokesman Tony Snow reckons President Bush will address the issue of energy in tonight's State of the Union address but he is unlikely to support calls for a mandatory limit on carbon emissions, according to news reports.

Yep, Dubya is expected to talk about alternative fuels like ethanol and revamping fuel-efficiency standards for passenger cars, says The Wall Street Journal..

Talk about underwhelming. In terms of fighting climate change, those measures will be about as successful as his deluded Iraq strategy! The sad part is that the US is the wealthiest and most technologically advanced nation in the world and fighting climate change will be impossible without US leadership.

Business also wants the US Government to create a carbon market, something which will be tricky because of the potential loopholes and hidden costs.

Still, it's a sign of the times. As the latest edition of BusinessWeek points out, there has been something of a climate change going on in the business world with some of the world's biggest companies, like Unilever and GE, seeing sustainability as something that would help the bottom line and banks and brokerages setting up dedicated teams to assess how companies are affected by everything from climate change to social pressures in emerging markets.

Clearly, business leaders know that legislation is inevitable. They just want to be there when it's being written. Much like Lyndon Baines Johnson's quote on why he wanted J Edgar Hoover inside the tent.

But sustainability is not that simple. Sustainability measures are often taken as good proxies of management quality, of strategic-mindedness and nimble handling, but how many champions of sustainability are caught flat-footed? Witness BP's problems with the refinery explosion that killed 15 in Texas, a big oil pipeline leak in Alaska and a US Justice Department probe into alleged manipulation of oil prices.

Climate change is expected to be a big topic at this week's World Economic Forum in Davos. Not that Davos has ever had that big an impact on world affairs.

Is climate change going to get worse? The only sure thing is that fixing the problem will not be easy.