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SPEECH BY DEPUTY
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UNEP ON THE OCCASION OF THE BUSINESS SOUTH AUSTRALIA
BREAKFAST IN CELEBRATION OF WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
Adelaide, Australia
Monday 5 June 2000
Senator Hill, Minister Iain Evans, Lord Mayor Alfred
Huang, Mike Hannell, President of Business SA, the South Australian business community, Global 500 Award
Winners, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Good morning and a very happy World Environment Day to
you all !
It is a pleasure to be with you today in Adelaide, South Australia, for this years global central
celebrations of the United Nations World Environment Day. First of all I would like to pass on my sincere
congratulations to Lord Mayor Huang on his recent election and to thank him, and the people of
Adelaide and South Australia, for the tremendous warmth of welcome accorded to us during our visit here to
celebrate World Environment Day at the start of the new millennium. I have been asked to speak to you today on : what
environmental issues are growing in importance internationally and the relationship of the private
sector and the environment.
Let me turn to the first topic. I believe the issues
that will grow in importance globally are those identified in UNEP’s Global Environment Outlook Report
2000, released last year. The conclusion of that report is sobering: all our natural systems are in
decline, and time is running out to reverse this trend. As the World Environment Day slogan for
2000 chillingly reminds us : it is – "Time to Act".
Here are just a few of the statistics:
Over one-half of all wetlands have been altered or destroyed; 25% of the earth’s surface is already
affected by land degradation;
Since 1960, more than one-fifth of the world’s tropical forests has been lost;
More than one-half of the world’s coral reefs are potentially threatened by human activities;
Almost 70% of marine fisheries are either
fully exploited or over fished;
Carbon dioxide emissions have increased 400 percent since 1950.
Of the many challenges these statistics present, perhaps the most serious – and one business leaders at
the Davos summit last year called the biggest threat to humanity – is climate change. The climate is
getting warmer. Eight of the hottest ten years on record occurred last decade. Glaciers are smaller than
at any time in the last 5000 years. The arctic ocean has lost 40 percent of it’s ice cover in 30 years.
These figures and others are not in dispute – they are undeniable. The WMO/UNEP Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that the presence of CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere is at record levels.
The people of the world and the business of the world are accepting that we
cannot continue to use the atmosphere as a dump for waste gases of our unsustainable activities.
Hopefully, and very soon,
markets will give business a strong signal that if you dump, you will pay. On this point, it is very encouraging to see the
Australian Environment Minister, Robert Hill, working hard to convince Australians and other nations that
the Kyoto Protocol must be implemented. The Minister
has rightly pointed out to Australian business, particularly some that are recalcitrant, that
the target is fair and achievable. I hope Australian business can respond to the challenge.
Australians are, of course, no strangers to other environmental challenges, particularly with water.
Humanity’s use of freshwater soared sixfold over the last century, and continues to rise. Demand is
expected to increase by over a third in the next 25 years – and to almost double for drinking water.
About one in every five people on Earth currently lacks safe
drinking water. According to a recent Australian government discussion paper, one-third of
Australia's rivers are under environmental threat. Salinity and land degradation currently affects 2.5 million
hectares across Australia and cost Australians $2 billion a year in lost productivity.
If business-as-usual continues, this amount will increase
to 15.5 million hectares - an area nearly three-quarters the size of the state of Victoria - in
the next 20 to 50 years.
When these environmental challenges are considered in terms of business, several issues emerge. First, it's
not just desirable for business to get involved in the quest for sustainability, it is essential. The
Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, has recognized this and called on the private sector
to take a leading role in the protection of the environment through his Global Compact.
Second, the solution to many of environmental problems cannot be found in the mindset that created them.
Indeed, the current mindset still focuses overwhelmingly on the costs of meeting environmental
challenges, without an accounting for the costs of not meeting them and, indeed, the benefits. This is
particularly true for climate change and analyses that conclude reducing emissions will be economically
harmful.
As for what environmental issues will be increasingly important to business – in addition to climate change
- I believe they all contain the word ‘ability’. First and foremost will be the ability of business to
respond and adapt to increasing levels of both environmental awareness and standards. This increasing
environmental awareness and standards will also drive - and be driven by – two other ‘abilities’: corporate
‘account-ability’ and ‘liability’.
Even if you mistakenly believe that the Earth’s resources are as unlimited as human imagination, or
that climate change is not an important issue, by simply dedicating effort to eliminating all waste, you
will automatically be taking a major environmental step, and in the process create value for both your
shareholders and your stakeholders.
The Global Ministerial Environment Ministers – held just prior to World Environment Day, last week in
Malmo, Sweden, reflects a fundamental shift of the United Nations towards partnerships to promote peace
and prosperity. Over 100 Environment Ministers were present, including I am very pleased to add, Senator
Hill. Ministers discussed frankly, in collaboration with business partners and civil society, the
environmental challenges facing the planet. Their deliberations concluded with the adoption of the Malmo
Ministerial Declaration, which clearly underscores that Governments, international organisations, the
business community and private citizens are all necessary partners if we are to meet the environmental
challenges ahead. Not surprisingly, the declaration, which reflects the views of the assembled Ministers
from both the developed and developing world, has a dedicated section on the relationship between the
Private Sector and the Environment. Copies of the full document are available at the back of the room but
wanted to briefly pick-out some of the main elements agreed.
Ministers declared that :
- Institutional and regulatory capacities of Government should be enhanced to better interact with
the private sector.
- A greater commitment by the private sector should be persued to engender a new culture of environmental
accountability through the application of the polluter-pays principle, environmental performance
indicators and reporting, and the establishment of a precautionary approach in investment and technology
decisions.
- New efforts should be made to encourage the transfer of cleaner technology and a life cycle economy.
- The promotion, especially in the area of bio-technology, of a corporate ethic guided by public
interest.
We need to strive for an industrial ecology that mimics the cyclic and closed nature of biological
systems, where the ‘waste’ from one process becomes ‘resource’ for another, and where prices tell the
environmental truth. In this economy, a company’s responsibility for a product lasts "from cradle to
cradle", and economists understand that "economic growth" that degrades the Earth’s natural systems is
neither economic, nor growth. There are many companies that are taking the lead in
this new commerce and they represent some of the largest and most diverse enterprises in the world.
Many of these companies have joined groups such as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development to
push the agenda for sustainability.
Whilst many Australian companies have made great strides in promoting sustainability I'd like to see
more Australian-owned companies take up this issue, and become global leaders. I encourage the Business
Council of Australia, and Business South Australia, through its stated commitment to ecologically
sustainable economic development and addressing major
national environmental issues, to take an increasing role in this leadership. I invite business to add to
its efforts on national environmental standards, and corporate environmental accounting and reporting by
working with UNEP in our Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) designed to produce globally applicable
guidelines for preparing sustainability reports.
Those pioneering the shift to resource productivity and cleaner production seem to understand that most
people around the world want companies to do more to improve the environment, especially in the industrial
and manufacturing centres of Australia’s backyard:
Asia. One recent survey of 1000 consumers in 29 countries by the New York-based marketing research
firm Roper Starch Worldwide, found that environmental
concerns ranked ahead of education, hunger and poverty on a list of 19 issues.
As the expectations of consumers continue to increase, the demand for more – and better - information
will also increase. Indeed, consumers have moved from an attitude of "tell me" to one of "show me".
According to a report recently from the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Waste
Management and Pollution Control, companies that cannot certify the environmental performance of their operations and
products through standards such as "life-cycle assessment" will miss out on new and lucrative export
markets, particularly in the US and Europe.
Shareholders too are demanding better environmental performance. At a recent BP Amoco annual general
meeting, for example, 13 percent of proxy shareholders voted against a company proposal to explore for oil in
the sensitive arctic region of North America.
Shareholders are also increasingly sensitive to the risk of environmental mistakes. Some Australian mining
companies have recently received adverse publicity due to environmental catastrophes. Such events raise
serious questions about these operations. How is it, for example, that our system of corporate governance
can still allow a company to internalise profits, but externalise the cost of cleaning up their
environmental mistakes?
I am convinced that this will prove to be good business, but only for those companies prepared to
act. In this quest, the United Nations Environment Programme is working hard to help the nations of the
world - and companies - move to sustainable systems. UNEP's Division of Industry Technology and Economics,
for example, is deeply involved in the development and promotion of cleaner production and has taken severalinitiatives, including the 1998
International Declaration on Cleaner Production that now has more than 180 high level signatories from government and
industries from over 45 countries, including
Australia.
UNEP has also established a number of voluntary initiatives with the Insurance, Finance, Mining, and
Tourism sectors to improve environmental performance. I invite Australian companies to join and support us
in these endeavors that will be increasingly important in the lead up to the Rio + 10 conference in 2002.
Rio + 10 will be a major forum to assess progress
since the 1992 Earth Summit and to substantially
progress the sustainable development agenda. Issues
that are likely to have the highest priority are
climate change, water, globalisation, and private
capital flows.
Finally, Australia is fortunate to be endowed with the
natural, human, social and economic capital to reverse
the current and damaging environmental trends.
Australian research and development in renewable energy technologies and water treatment systems, for
example, is some of the best in the world. With such wealth, combined with both the Australian
knack for innovation and expanding markets for greener products, Australia – and Australians - are in an
enviable position. Indeed, the world is watching; for if Australia cannot manage the path to sustainability
given these gifts and a low population, the rest of the world will be even harder pressed to succeed.
Thank you.
SPEECH BY UNEP DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT THE WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY GLOBAL 500 AWARD CEREMONY
Adelaide, Australia
Sunday 4 June 2000
Prime Minister John Howard, Premier Olsen, Senator
Hill, Distinguished guests and Award winners, Ladies
and Gentlemen.
It is indeed a pleasure to be here in the wonderful city of Adelaide with you today to present the Global
500 awards. This annual award was launched by the United Nations Environment Programme some thirteen
years ago, and is presented to individuals and organizations who have shown outstanding achievement
in the protection and improvement of the environment.
The 14 winners today come from 12 countries from all
walks of life and all corners of the globe. They join more than 700 other laureates who represent a broad
and growing global environmental movement. Today’s laureates also includes three winners of the Global
500 Youth Environment Award. On the eve of the first World Environment Day of a new
Millenium, we celebrate their notable achievements. The United Nations also celebrates the diverse nature
and creativity of the award winning laureates being honoured today. Their vision, effort, and hard work
has helped to make a difference. They have already
taken up the challenge. They already realize it is "time to act".
Theirs are good news stories that remind us how dedication and a strong desire to improve the world
can succeed.
Indeed, the past and current laureates have often succeeded by challenging the idea that "it couldn’t
be done".
To name but three of this years achievements
here in Australia, for example, the Andyamathanha people of Nepabunna set an Australian and
international precedent by being the first indigenous community to voluntarily declare some of their
traditional land - 58,000 hectares – as an Indigenous Protected Area (IPA). This is the first time that a
protected area in Australia has been formally recognized on the basis of voluntary declaration,
rather than legislation. Other communities are now
following their example and may soon bring the area of protected land to more than 10 million hectares.
In Iceland, Asbjorn Bjorgvinsson helped set up three whale watching companies, and produced the first
annual report on a $600 million Icelandic whale-watching industry that has grown by as much as
50% per year. His reports have had a significant
political impact in Iceland and served to counter the commercial lobby to reestablish whaling while
facilitating Iceland’s move to rejoin the International Whaling Commission.
In Germany, members of the youth branch of the
Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation, actually BET the German government that
they could achieve the Government’s climate protection target at their schools within seven months, instead
of the seven-year period the Government has set for
itself. Between May and November 1999, the pupils aimed to save 10 million kg of carbon dioxide, or 10%
of the total emissions of their schools. The German Federal Environmental Agency acted as
judge, reviewed the results from 20 schools selected at random and determined that the children had had won
the bet. They were rewarded with a party in Bonn. Indeed, the work of the students – and of all
the laureates here today – demonstrates that human imagination is, in the words of Albert Einstein, more
powerful than knowledge and, I’m convinced, the key to solving many of our pressing environmental challenges.
Combine the two, however, and they become a powerful tool for change.
This welding of imagination and knowledge is what
World Environment Day is all about and readily seen in the wonderful effort of the people of Adelaide and the
Government of South Australia in this year’s event. From tomorrow’s parade of children to the planting
of the 20 millionth tree by the Trees for Life volunteers, these events create an atmosphere of hope
and action that is truly inspiring. Prime Minister Howard, Senator Hill and all South Australians are to
be congratulated for their initiative and generous support of the UN World Environment Day. The number of
activities planned for this year has surpassed all previous records.
There are, of course, thousands of people across
Australia and the world who are not here today but
whose efforts are also worth praise. On the eve of
World Environment Day, then, let us not forget that we
are all called to be ‘quiet achievers’ restoring the environment, and to remember that this restoration
will not be achieved by a few great actions, but by changing the hundreds of small actions we do everyday.
My heartfelt congratulations goes out to all the award
winners. You are an inspiration to us all.
Thank you.
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