"We need a revolution. We need revolutionary change, revolutionary action. We need a free market revolution for global sustainability," United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the participants in the annual WEF meeting here.
The days of consumption without thought are over, Ban cautioned saying "climate change is rendering the old model obsolete. The old economic model now amounts to a global suicide pact".
The Secretary-General further said ways must be devised to manage scarce resources.
"We are running out of time on climate change, on clean energy," he said, adding that developing a sustainable growth agenda has become "the agenda for the 21st century".
"Together we need to tear down the walls between a green agenda and a growth agenda. There is no time to waste," he said.
Finland's President Tarja Halonen, a co-chair of the UN High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability, called for an approach that combined growth with social justice and environmental sustainability.
President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared that his government is committed to policies that balance growth and environmental protection.
For Mexican President Felipe Calderon, the situation also presents huge opportunities, "If you are able to produce more, using less (energy), that will be good for the planet," he said.
Just as there is no necessary dichotomy between growth and environment protection, there is no contradiction between the interests of business and economic sustainability, Mike Duke, President and Chief Executive Officer of Wal-Mart Stores, told the participants.
Jim Balsillie, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, Research in Motion, the Canadian software company, said things are getting worse and the big question is "how do we stop a runaway train." He called for a fundamental rethink of economics. "We must be extraordinarily ambitious," he said.
But William H Gates lll, Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said he is optimistic that humankind's ability to innovate will eventually produce solutions. Just demanding that developing countries cut energy use will not resolve the problem.
"You cannot tell a guy in India who is using two candles that he can only use one," he said