Business needs to convey a positive image at Summit says world poll
Paris, 27 August 2002 - Three out of four corporate executives polled worldwide say it is important for business to project a positive image of its concrete achievements at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg.
The strong business presence at the summit reflects this widespread business grassroots acknowledgment that companies are an essential part of the solution in achieving sustainable development and fighting poverty throughout the world.
About 100 chief executives are expected to have attended the summit by the time it ends on 4 September. About 700 companies are represented at Johannesburg.
Centrepiece of the high profile business effort is the Virtual Exhibit, an innovative online and TV showcase of sustainable development initiatives which is webcasting the summit to the world over the Internet. The United Nations is a partner in the Virtual Exhibit with Business Action for Sustainable Development, a business alliance formed by the International Chamber of Commerce and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Inevitably, there were regional differences in the poll published jointly today by the International Chamber of Commerce and Germany's prestigious Ifo Institute.
Business respondents in the host country, South Africa, and throughout the African continent were the most strongly convinced that the image business is presenting in Johannesburg matters. In South Africa, 54% attached the highest "very important" assessment to a positive image and all respondents considered it to be important.
Business experts in Latin America, and especially Brazil, Peru and Costa Rica, were similarly interested in conveying an image of concrete achievement in the complex environmental and economic fields covered by the summit. The same feed-back came from respondents from western and eastern Europe and Asia.
While in North America only 6% of respondents were prepared to rate a positive business image in Johannesburg as "very important" - the highest rating -73% of business experts consulted in the United States and Canada c
onsidered that a positive image at Johannesburg was important to business.
In marked contrast with other regions, 55% of the business experts polled in Russia considered that achieving a positive image at the Johannesburg summit was unimportant.
The ICC-Ifo poll is based on the opinions of almost 1,000 business executives and experts in 90 countries.
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