global conference
Little profit
Exhausting resources
What'sNewS Issue 6' June 1998
Qian Yong, National Environmental Protection Agency, China: 'There is a
huge amount of pressure from the general public in China to clean
up the environment. That is why we are participating in your Shanghai
conference later in the year. There is a lot to learn.'
Franc van den Berg (right), managing director BECO Environmental
Management consultancy: Tm a professional in this field, but it has given
me a lot of food for thought.
Luis Bameule, Quickfood, Argentina:
'A lot of these conferences are too general or too
technical. I thinkyou've found a real balance.'
increasingly
stringent
environmental
regulations.
Cargill was
there, outlining
how
sustainability -
or lack of it -
will influence
production and trade. The CEO of Shell
came in for criticism, but also for praise
following the publication of the oil
giant's first-ever 'green' annual report.
The NGOs were there too, of course.
They outlined succinctly both the state of
the planet and what needs to be done to
alleviate the growing pollution and
destruction of biodiversity - the kind of
thing that is shocking to hear, but all too
often easily forgotten. Especially when
they are not backed up with hard
financial facts. This was the task of other
The unlikely advocate of sustainability, Shell's CEO Cor Herkströter presenting
the multinational's first ever 'green'annual report, 'our commitment is here in
black and white.'
survival is linked to that of fish stocks in
ie Atlantic is clearly good news for the
fish. Peter Hindle of Proctor Gamble
had another story to teil. As a producer
of detergents, his business relies on the
development of technology which meets
speakers. They were to explain in the
language of commerce, the language we
all understand, that without
sustainability, there will be little profit in
the future. Nor will there be a planet to
support the ever-growing numbers of
people. John Elkington of London-based
SustainAbility l.td. reminded conference
that the underground nuclear testing
carried out by Pakistan in retaliation to
India's earlier explosions is unlikely to
leave the earth unaffected.
So where is the language of commerce,
you may be wondering. Wijffels had
some answers to offer, specifïcally to the
financial services sector. 'Sustainability
has become a make or break issue,' he
Dutch minister of economie affairs, Hans Wijers on the ongoing process of
internationalization: 'Enterprises often choose for enlargement and grow beyond
their national boundariesBut let's also consider that that means pollution does
not stop at national boundaries. Cooperation is therefore increasingly essential.'
Jacqueline Aloisi de Landerel, director of United
Nations Environment Program/lndustry
Environment, France: 'There are three types of
capita! - financial, human and natural. All are
resources,but one does not recover as quickly as
the others. That is the earth.'
