Former US President Bill Clinton told participants of the recent 6th World Chambers Congress that they demonstrated vision, dedication and leadership in resolving the fundamental issues of our day such as climate change, population growth, sprawling urbanism and shortages of food, energy and water.
“Meeting these challenges requires the creative energy of the business world – its flexibility in adapting to changing circumstances, its search for efficiency and concrete results,” he said.
The videotaped message was shown at the opening ceremony of the Congress and also during two Congress workshops – one examining how cities around the world are building strategic alliances to find sustainable solutions to the effects of sprawling urbanism and another dedicated to the economic health of the world’s ports. Mr Clinton said both workshops were particularly important.
“It is in cities that the fight against climate change and for a cleaner, more efficient use of energy and water resources must be fought and won,” he said.
With a rich 400-year history, chambers of commerce are natural leaders in their communities and are well-placed to address global challenges.
Sifiso Zulu, World Chambers Federation Vice-Chair and moderator of the workshop on creating sustainable cities told participants: “Chambers have a critical role to play in ensuring sustainable development in cities and should take the lead in doing so instead of waiting for governments to enact legislation.”
Lorenzo Ysasi, Past President of the Mexico City Chamber of Commerce said because of the rapid rise in population in Mexico City, infrastructure was built without much consideration for sustainable development.
Matthias Gelber, Board Member of Maleki GmbH in Malaysia argued that a bottom up approach, such as recycling household waste, was essential for sustainable development while Philippe Meyer, International Affairs Director at the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services said it was important to emphasize that firms play a leading role.
During the workshop on ports Ton Geerts, General Manager of the Rotterdam Chamber of Commerce, underscored moves towards clean energy and the reduction of CO2 gases through the Rotterdam Bio Port initiative, which is in line with the Clinton Climate Initiative.
Moderator of the panel Mahbubur Rahman, Past President, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry and President of ICC Bangladesh said ports are the focal point of international trade and that efficient management of ports is therefore fundamental.
Environmental management issues were also examined in a workshop on chambers and the environment in which panellists from several chambers described efforts to raise awareness about environmental issues and specific measures that have been put in place to address them.
Describing his chamber’s initiatives, including recycling water for its own use, Hamad Buamim, Director General of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the United Arab Emirates said: “We aim to lead by example and be a model for other organizations.”
Rajeev Singh, Secretary General of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Calcutta, said that because SME’s lacked infrastructural support as well as financial and technological incentives to promote low carbon growth, his chamber now provides SME’s with a validated pool of credible technology providers, facilitates online message sharing and in-house training, and conducts regular industry surveys to identify key environmental management problems.
“The key to chambers’ success in addressing environmental issues is a strong private-public sector partnership,” remarked Jose Alejandro of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry chamber, who also acted as moderator.
The workshop concluded that chambers must take a leading role in addressing environmental management issues and should introduce benchmarking of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) among chambers; share best practices through online forums, and introduce awards in recognition of CSR initiatives.