Climate change, transport and sustainable agriculture are currently three of our most urgent environmental concerns. Each has a number of apparent solutions, so why does progress so often seem to elude us? `Multi owner` problems such as climate change are our most pressing and complex environmental problems. With so many different parties involved, no one will take the lead until a crisis compels them to act. For proactive change without crisis, there must be a driver with the mandate to bring parties together and get their support for action. This responsibility as champion will usually fall to government, but to meet the challenge it will be necessary to adopt decision-making processes that are informed by all relevant parties. Those relevant parties, be they business or NGOs among others, are going to have alter their perspectives if they are to contribute to effective solutions.