Kim Sbarcea writes Corporate sustainability and knowledge management:
I have been exploring the linkages between KM and corporate sustainability - what might be the role KM has to play in moving an organisation towards sustainability? you can read my preliminary ideas here Corporate sustainability and KM [Word document]
The primary discussion in the document is around corporate sustainability and ethics. But Sbarcea's thesis is represented by the strong belief that KM can support companies in their drive to do better for all stakeholders in creating sustainable companies. She also makes the connection that any KM effort has to maintain itself -- that the KM efforts have to be sustainable as well, otherwise it is too easy to slide back and let inertia (or worse) take over.
I suggest that KM has a key role in DRIVING sustainability. If sustainability is all about stakeholder engagement; building bridging capital; broadening the knowledge base of a company beyond its boundaries, then KM has a critical role to play.
Note: Her ideas are inspired, in part, by an impressive discussion by Ray Anderson (video, 9:45 long) about converting Interface to a more ecologically sustainable carpet company. (Sadly, the video died on my about 4 minutes in, and I can't get YouTube to queue it up again.)