Business Progress towards Sustainable Development
Paris, 26 February 1998 - As the sixth session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) approaches, business has reaffirmed its commitment to the goal of sustainable development.
In a recent speech John Browne, Group Chief Executive of The British Petroleum Company, explained: "no company can be really successful, unless it is sustainable, unless it has the capacity to keep using its skills and to keep growing as a business".
The sixth session of the UNCSD begins in New York on 20 April 1998. The government delegations will concentrate on four areas: responsible entrepeneurship, corporate environmental management tools, technology cooperation and freshwater management.
This negotiating round is important because for the first time business and other groups will be able to discuss directly with government delegations during the negotiating sessions. The two day industry segment on 21 and 22 April will pilot business and other groups' participation, and could prove a precedent for business involvement in other UN negotiations.
ICC and the World
Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) are coordinating business approaches to the negotiations. In four background documents ICC and the WBCSD have analysed:
- companies external relations. Business must continue to improve its performance and provide information about its policies and practices to stakeholders (responsible entrepreneurship)
- companies internal operations. Voluntary initiatives like the ICC Business Charter for Sustainable Development allow business to progress beyond rigid regulatory frameworks. Environmental management systems integrate sustainable development into everyday business practices (
- technology cooperation involves the transfer of skills and know-how not just hardware. Excessive government regulation stifles innovation whereas a free market is the most efficient driving force for the introduction of new technologies (technology cooperation)
- freshwater management. Industry has already begun to manage water more efficiently, though the pricing of water remains a public policy issue (industry and freshwater)
ICC Environment Commission
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