Alain Belda, Chairman and CEO of Alcoa, took the opportunity at a sustainability forum in Beijing to highlight the need for urgent action on climate change and water management.

The Beijing Leadership in Sustainability Forum brought together leaders in U.S. business in China, with government officials and scientists to look for greater cooperation and a platform for future collaboration and more informed decision making on sustainability issues by industry, governments, and communities.

"We know we must address climate change and are willing to take a leadership position that will help get us all to our common goals of protecting our world for future generations. The changes that are needed can't be incremental; we need major breakthroughs," Belda said. "Our commitment is to work for step-change through innovation and concerted action."

Alcoa was recently named one of the most sustainable corporations in the world for the third year in a row as one of the top role models in sustainable business practices in the annual Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World at the Davos World Economic Forum.

"We incorporate sustainable behavior into our business practices, partnerships and community engagement. At Alcoa, we view sustainability as the simultaneous achievement of financial success, environmental excellence and social responsibility, which delivers long-term benefits to our stakeholders," Belda said.

Alcoa is a founding member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership an alliance of nine major U.S.-based companies and four leading environmental organizations that has taken the public lead in calling on the U.S. government to quickly enact strong national legislation to achieve significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.

"Alcoa and our USCAP partners are convinced that we can build a global plan of action on climate change in ways that create more economic opportunities than risks and we need to engage this action in all sectors in all the leading economies, especially the United States and China, to make this a top priority," Belda told the audience. "Though the challenge is significant, I believe we can all grow and prosper in a greenhouse gas constrained world. Actually, I believe there is no other option. As an economic leader the U.S. must help lead the way.

The U.S. Climate Action Partnership consists of Alcoa, BP America, Caterpillar, Duke Energy, DuPont, FPL Group, General Electric, Lehman Brothers, PG&E, and PNM Resources along with leading non-governmental organizations Environmental Defense, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Natural Resources Defense Council, and World Resources Institute. USCAP calls for mandatory reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from major emitting sectors, including large stationary sources and transportation, and energy use in commercial and residential buildings.

"China's growth – which is providing the engine for the global economy – offers an unprecedented opportunity to build urban, transportation and energy infrastructure which meets this challenge," Belda added.

Alcoa has been recently ranked third on a new international listing of the world's top 50 low-carbon pioneers published by CNBC European Business, a business publication affiliated with CNBC Europe. Companies were ranked on the basis of the degree to which the company "had taken a courageous or ground-breaking stance on climate change during the past decade." Alcoa is the only metals company on the list and the top ranked of the three major U.S. corporations on the list.