New UNEP Report: “Class
of 2006: Industry report cards on environment
and social responsibility.”
New York, 10 May 2006 – A growing
number of business and industry groups are making
efforts to improve their environmental and social
performance according to a new report by the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The challenge today, says the
report, is to speed up progress in moving towards
the life cycle economy, doing accountable reporting
against corporate responsibility commitments and
strengthening engagement of business and industry
from rapidly industrialising developing countries.
In most cases, significant steps have been taken
towards putting policy, programmes, new technologies
and reporting systems in place, says the report,
“Class of 2006: Industry report cards on environment
and social responsibility.”
“The progress is especially
evident with respect to key global issues, notably
climate change, and in high impact industries
that face heavy criticism from stakeholders and
public institutions,” says Monique Barbut, Director
of UNEP’s Division of Technology, Industry and
Economics, which produced the report.
The report, released today to coincide with the
14th Session of the UN’s Commission on Sustainable
Development (CSD) in New York, provides an update
on progress across some thirty industry sectors
since the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD).
The report cards were prepared
by 45 business and industry organisations and
initiatives – including newcomers to the process
such as cement, coffee, detergents, mining, paper,
postal services, public transport and renewable
energy - who volunteered to participate in the
review facilitated by UNEP.
“Four years on from WSSD there are some signs
of hope coming from the class of 2006,” said Mrs
Barbut. “If numbers and statistics are not always
available, at least new policies, technologies
and programmes have been introduced in a number
of instances. The first steps towards measurement
of sustainability impact and improved management
are being taken.”
“Having said this,” Barbut added,
“it must be mentioned that some industry sector
organisations appear to stick to old models of
industrial development and are not on track towards
sustainable development. In this respect, more
needs to be done, and we must continue to strive
for greater progress,” she said.
Four years ago, a UNEP report prepared for the
WSSD concluded that there was a growing gap between
the efforts of business and industry to reduce
their impact on the environment and the worsening
state of the planet.
The 2002 report said the gap
was partly due to the fact that in most industry
sectors, only a small number of companies were
actively striving for sustainability, i.e. actively
integrating social and environmental factors into
business decisions.
“The latest report released
by UNEP today shows that while more needs to be
done, the gap between words and deeds is starting
to close,” said Mrs Barbut. "The real challenge
now is implementation of environmental practices
by smaller companies in industrialised countries
and strengthened engagement of business and industry
from emerging market economies,” she said.
Note to Editors
Copies of the report, “Class of 2006: Industry
report cards on environment and social responsibility”,
can be downloaded from http://www.unep.fr
Business and industry sectors
contributing to the report cards process included:
Accounting, Advertising, Aluminium, Automotive
manufacturing, Cement, Chemicals, Coal, Coffee,
Construction, Consulting Engineering, Detergents,
Electricity (mainstream), Electricity (renewables),
Fertilizer, Finance, Food and Drink, Forest and
Paper, Information and Communications Technology,
Iron and Steel, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG),
Mining, Oil and Gas, Postal services, Public Transport,
Railways, Refrigeration, Road transport, Tourism
and Waste Management. The Labour sector also contributed.
