The best theories withstand challenge.

For the October Green Monday, we have asked two experts with opposing views to review Jeremy Grantham's theory that we are entering an era of rising resource prices. With 29% of the profit warnings this year being linked to rising resource prices, your opinion on whether the change is cyclical or structural can have a major impact on corporate strategy. The debate will then move on to how to build strategies for growing your business despite rising prices.

Here's what you will hear on the night;

The evening's chairman Jim Woods will begin by looking at Jeremy Grantham and his "new paradigm" thesis; his background, theory and the resulting implications. Jeremy is highly regarded in the business community, in part because he not far behind Warren Buffet in the rich list, and because he looks at Sustainability from the perspective of a calm investor rather than a passionate environmentalist.

Tim Lenton, Professor of Earth System Science at The University of Exeter was trained by James Lovelock, and he will examine Grantham's thesis from the perspective of Earth System Science. Grantham's arguments fit with Tim's view that declining agricultural yields and population growth necessitate a rapid shift towards efficiency and recycling in order for us to retain a peaceful existence.

Arguing the Cornucopian camp - "we've heard it all before - don't panic" we have Brendan O'Neill, Editor at Spiked. Brendan recently wrote "Think the Earth is finite, think again"; arguing it is wrong to describe resources as "fixed" - they are more of a function of man's ingenuity. His recent green satires have the dubious honour of being described by the BBC as "a skidmark on the gusset of environmentalism". We'll let you make up your own mind.

Simon Ellis, Managing Director at Legal & General Investments, sits somewhere between Malthusians and Cornucopians and will look at how the investment world is changing. To him, the disruption represents an opportunity - aided with clips from two James Bond movies, he will show how resource scarcity is already impacting shareholder value and a "green premium" is emerging for resource efficient companies.  

And finally, Andy Wales, Group Head of Sustainable Development at SAB Miller, will look at strategic responses to resource scarcity. Major companies can mitigate the risks of water and other resources without going beyond commercially-attractive investment parameters. You can read up on SAB Miller's latest water action plan "Water Futures" , which together with the WWF and GIZ aims to prove the business case for private sector engagement in promoting the sustainable management of water resources.

Join the debate: sign up for your place here and choose the roundtable you want to continue the conversation at.