Businesses appear to be listening to the environmental concerns of their consumers -- at least more so than Congress listens to their constituents on the issue -- according to a fascinating McKinsey & Co. study (registration required) released last month. Of course, being a good listener doesn't necessarily translate into meaningful action, but we'll take baby steps where we can get them.

The McKinsey survey -- which received responses from an astounding 2,192 executives around the world (27 percent of them CEOs, COOs or CFOs) -- indicates that over the past 12 months, business executives agree that the environment will continue be the issue of most concern by the public and politicians for the next five years. In fact, 80 percent of the executives surveyed expect some form of climate change regulation over that next half decade.

The survey found that 60 percent of global executives view climate change as important to consider within their companies’ overall strategy. And we're not surprised to see that nearly 70 percent of them see it as an important consideration for managing corporate reputation and brands.

But we're also not shocked that despite the rhetoric, 44 percent of CEOs said that climate change isn’t a significant item on their agendas. And when When asked how well their companies do take climate change into consideration in strategy, more than half of CEOs say somewhat well at best. That's somewhat discouraging.

The survey also shows that consumers put investment in renewable and alternative energy sources at the top of the list of ways for companies to improve their corporate image. Industry leaders like Intel and Pepsi lead the way in purchases of renewable energy, according to the EPA Green Power Partnership.

Consumer protection groups also play a major role in this trend to insure consumers that such companies aren’t greenwashing. For example Green-e Energy, a non-profit consumer protection program, certified the renewable energy purchases of Intel and Pepsi to ensure consumers the purchases were verified and that the electricity came from clean renewable resources.