Even before the euphoria of Canada's gold medal haul at the 2010 winter games subsides, questions are being asked about whether it was money well spent. Many say the games were a defining moment for Canada - a nation building success story. Others question whether Canada deserves the golden accolades - particularly in terms of whether the games were as 'green' as its organizers claimed. We deserve only a Bronze Medal said one celebrated environmentalist.

But Vancouver 2010 was not just a defining moment for Canada, it was much more - a turning point the impact of which will be felt for decades. And the metric most often cited - the number of gold medals won - is the wrong standard to gauge its success. A better yardstick is the extent to which the actions of today's leaders in business and government change the world of tomorrow. By that measure, the gold rush has only just begun.

Vancouver, March 2, 2010 - The main focus of the 17 days of Olympic competition rightly was on the athletes, and we cheered and wept with their heart stopping victories and their heart breaking losses. These were games, after all, and in every game there are winners and there are losers. 

But there was another dynamic at play throughout the games where there were no losers and where the awards are only just beginning. This was the effort being made by corporate-level sponsors to bring their own sustainability agendas to the Vancouver for the world to see. 

For the corporate sponsors of the 2010 Games the immediate and most obvious benefit was the opportunity for 'green' branding and the chance to sell products. But for many other business leaders' in town to catch an Olympic event or two and to meet government officials from across the nation, Vancouver 2010 was a testing ground for new ways to do business and new ideas that could change the world.

Most notable in this regard was Sir Richard Branson who convened the first Carbon War Room summit in partnership with the City of Vancouver, where a bold plan was tabled to remove 5 billion tons of CO2 per year by 2020, in essence reducing the global carbon footprint by 10%. 

Branson's plan, as some commentators have noted, is to tackle the low hanging fruit of energy inefficient buildings, where it is estimated that investments of $130 billion per year for building retrofits and $50 billion for renewable energy over the next 10 years could achieve the 5 billion tons of CO2 reductions by 2020.

Even more important is the fact that much of that money required will come from the private sector, and its impact on job creation will stimulate economies everywhere.

As green business strategist Andrew Winston noted in his Harvard Business review blog, many other corporate sponsors used Vancouver 2010 to circumscribe time and space to test consumer reaction on a controllable scale to new products and new business strategies. Behind Coke's pre-games targets of zero waste and carbon neutrality was a plan to employ new refrigerants to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, hybrid delivery fleets, a new "PlantBottle," and the purchase of carbon offsets.

What better way to test this strategy than to use millions of devoted sports fans focused on one event at one point in time - a moment that will change the way Coke's business unfolds for years to come and the impacts it will have on the environmental.

The opportunity was not lost on other corporate sponsors. Rona used Vancouver 2010 to demonstrate its commitment to sustainability in how it does business and in the products it sells. GE's commitment to renewable energy and sustainable business practices, which started years ago with its 'ecomagination initiative', was exposed to millions of viewers around the world that the company might not otherwise have reached.

For these corporations and for the many other enterprises large and small associated with the games, Vancouver 2010 was turning points in how they do business.

It was also a turning point for many governmental leaders. Officials from federal, provincial and municipal governments from coast to coast were on hand in Vancouver to promote to global business leaders and the international media Canada's commercial strengths and investment advantages.

In addition to the commendable efforts made by the British Columbia government in its business showcase, the federal government's two-week Global Business Leaders Initiative was an investor outreach program that brought top business leaders and senior political representatives together at a single moment that could have spin off benefits for years to come.

"What we've learned is that there's a great deal that can be gained around the Olympics with partnerships," according to Alan Collins, the U.K.'s ambassador for the 2012 Games and consul general in New York.

"The Games are brilliant for sport but there's a huge amount of business possible as well," he is quoted as saying. He is absolutely correct.

It was a two way street in terms of communications. Government leaders learned firsthand from corporate giants the dangers of focusing on short term political payoffs and the necessity to plan forward for years into the future. The British Columbia government had already learned this lesson and its support for the games - often at a high political cost - was based on a vision for change that extends far beyond today's poll results.

The City of Vancouver made the same commitment by setting a goal to be the greenest city in the world and putting in place a plan to achieve that goal, a plan that will remake Vancouver for generations to come.

And the golden accolades of the moment won by the competing athletes surely extend to VANOC, the Vancouver Organizing Committee. Just as each gold medal winner set a new standard for their individual sport, VANOC set a new standard of excellence in how Olympic events in the future will unfold.

Did everything go right?  Absolutely not! There were mishaps and tragedies - including the accidental death of one competitor and serious injuries for others. Not all the ceremonial events unfolded as planned - often with comic consequences. And the weather was unseasonably warm for a winter extravaganza.  Well, weather happens!

But Olympic organizers for the 2012 Games in London and the 2014 Games in Sochi Russia have commended the Vancouver organizing committee for its resounding success of pulling off such a huge enterprise with minimal disruptions and with few of the much feared negatives that could have happened. Each took away lessons on how to build on the success of Vancouver 2010.  Clearly, VANOC set a new standard for the successful management of Olympic events.

Did the Vancouver 2010 Games achieve its goal to be the first truly sustainable and carbon-neutral Olympics?  Perhaps! The numbers will take weeks to unfold. But more importantly, did Vancouver 2010 change the world of tomorrow? Most certainly it did, and the payoff both here and elsewhere will unfold for years to come.

For our part at the GLOBE Foundation, we will pick up where VANOC left off and bring forward the same message about changing the future when business and government leaders from around the world gather for GLOBE 2010 taking place on March 24-26th in Vancouver. We won't be looking for gold medals; but we will be trying hard to make winners of everyone that attends GLOBE 2010 working for a better world tomorrow.

John D. Wiebe
President and CEO