Global Summit Catalyzes
Commitments, Spotlights Opportunities and
Showcases Actions Towards Green Growth
Seoul (Republic
of Korea), 23 April 2010 - Heeding a call-to-action
by the United Nations Secretary-General,
business leaders from the world's largest
global companies on Friday pledged to elevate
and broaden their commitments to address
the world's most pressing environmental
problems.
Gathering at the fourth
annual Business for Environment Global Summit
("B4E"), corporate executives
and entrepreneurs joined leaders from governments,
international agencies, and civil society
to forge a new sustainability pact that
advances solutions and approaches in numerous
areas, including – energy efficiency; green-growth
strategies; water stewardship; and clean-tech
innovations.
"We need green
growth for our economic and environmental
well-being," said United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon. "Climate change, desertification
and declining biodiversity are themselves
a threat to the Millennium Development Goals.
We need action. Innovation. Resolve. I look
to business to play a major role."
In his keynote address,
President Lee Myung-bak, Republic of Korea,
echoed the themes of the UN Secretary-General,
saying that countries and the world can
drive development that produces both economic
and environmental benefits. President Lee
highlighted the Republic of Korea's green-growth
stimulus packages and special initiatives
such as Korea's Four Major Rivers Restoration
Project.
President Lee was joined
by the President Mohamed Nasheed, Republic
of Maldives, and President Bharrat Jagdeo,
Republic of Guyana.
Nearly 1000 participants
from more than 35 countries attended the
Summit, which was hosted by the United Nations
Environment Programme, the UN Global Compact,
and the World Wildlife Fund. The event coincided
with Earth Day 2010.
The Summit featured
a range of international business leaders
and executives from companies including
Clarins, Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical Company,
Generation Investment, Hewlett-Packard,
Hitachi, LG Electronics, McKinsey &
Co, Puma, Siemens, SIG AG, and Virgin Group.
During the summit, executives
and other leaders offered a range of new
environmental strategies, approaches and
innovations, including:
Incorporating development
objectives, including food security, into
overall climate-change strategies;
Embracing a new models
of water management that include broader
considerations of economic, environmental
and social impacts at the level of the watershed;
Expanding sustainable
procurement and green supply chain by requiring
vendors and partners to embrace sustainability
criteria and standards;
Encouraging investors
and financiers to adopt longer-range investment
horizons that fully incorporate environmental
and sustainability considerations;
Raising awareness among
consumers to drive new consumption patterns,
while at the same time developing new products
and services that appeal to new priorities;
Adopting corporate biodiversity
strategies that recognize the value of ecosystems
to economies and societies.
Widening participation
in key UN special initiatives, including
the UN Global Compact's Caring for Climate
and CEO Water Mandate projects.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary
General and Executive Director of the United
Nations Environment Programme, stressed
that what is required is a "new paradigm"
in the way global leaders and society at
large approach environmental issues and
mainstream natural and nature-based assets
within economies.
"The blunt economic
models of the 20th century are unlikely
to deliver the kind of low carbon, resource-efficient
development path so urgently needed on a
planet of six billion, rising to over nine
billion people by 2050. Thus a transition
to a Green Economy is in the end inevitable.
The question now is whether this happens
by design or by default."
Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN
Global Compact, said that during the past
ten years a strong movement based on corporate
responsibility and sustainability has been
created, noting that the UN Global Compact
today includes nearly 6000 business participants
from more than 140 countries.
"We must build
on this momentum," Mr. Kell said. "The
message is clear: incorporating environmental,
social and governance issues into business
strategies and operations leads to long-range
value creation for companies and societies.
It is a winning formula for the global economy,
and our planet."
Notes to Editors:
United Nations Environment
Programme (www.unep.org)
UNEP is the United Nations
agency for addressing environmental issues
at the global and regional level. Its mandate
is to coordinate the development of environmental
policy consensus by keeping the global environment
under review and bringing emerging issues
to the attention of governments and the
international community for action.
United Nations Global
Compact (www.unglobalcompact.org)
Through the power of
collective action, the Global Compact seeks
to promote responsible corporate citizenship
so that business can be part of the solution
to the challenges of globalisation. In this
way, the private sector – in partnership
with other social actors – can help realize
a more sustainable and inclusive global
economy.
World Wild Life Fund (http://www.worldwildlife.org/)
WWF is the world's leading
conservation organization, working in 100
countries for nearly half a century. With
the support of almost 5 million members
worldwide, WWF is dedicated to delivering
science-based solutions to preserve the
diversity and abundance of life on Earth,
halt the degradation of the environment
and combat climate change in ways that benefit
people and nature alike. Visit www.worldwildlife.org
to learn more.
