Journalists' Business Briefing for Johannesburg World Summit-Sustainable Consumption

www.article13.com have launched a new mini-site, called Journalists Link, that will give you key information and insight on the Earth Summit 2002 and its links to business. We have identified five issues on the agenda that are relevant to business and in the days running up to the Summit will be posting briefing papers on Corporate governance, Reducing poverty, Making globalisation work, Sustainable levels of consumption, Reversing environmental degradation.

Number 4 in a series of 5 below.

Sustainable Patterns of Consumption and Resource Use
- with more than six billion people on the planet it is vital that we have a more even distribution in terms of consumption and resource use. Business most be more efficient with these limited resources and ensure equity otherwise the gap between developed and developing countries, the rich and the poor will continue to grow. A divisive world would reduce business opportunities.

What business can do/is doing: Business can develop products and services that use resources sustainably and more efficiently. Switching to a service delivery business model can also help change patterns of resource use and consumption. Independent certification of management of natural resources - such as in forestry - has been developed in the last ten years as response to customer concern of unsustainable harvesting of timber and the loss of rainforests.

Business Opportunity: Ensuring that there is reliable supply of raw materials be it fish, forest products or energy make good business sense as it provides security for business to plan ahead. This in turn provides enabling conditions to provide job security and improved governance. Aside from sustainability, improving the efficiency of use of natural resources can increased productivity and reduce overheads. There are also opportunities for new product and service development in line with societies expectations and needs.

Business Risk: Eventually as resources are depleted, costs will increase. If they run out then alternatives need to be found, Identification of alternatives is often expensive as the development of new technology to utilise the alternative resource. There are also risks to reputation with being associated as responsible for poor stewardship and inefficient use of natural resources.

Case Study: World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD)-Cement Sector initiative

Ten major companies in the cement industry are currently engaged in assessing how to dramatically improve the sustainable development impacts of the sector. Why? Because cement is the most widely used material on earth and its biggest market is in the developing markets of Asia. The project aimed to develop a vision and recommendations for companies and their stakeholder to take forward to contribute to a more sustainable future. The project has developed an agenda for change that focuses on developing stretching targets and indicators in the following eight areas:

·   Resource productivity - improving eco -efficiency though improved practices in quarrying, energy use and waste recovery
·   Climatic protection - understanding and managing emissions
·   Emission reduction - reducing dust from quarrying and Nox, SOx and airborne pollutants from cement manufacture
·   Employee well -being - managing and improving employee health and safety
·   Community well - being
·   Regional development
·   Shareholder value

The 10 major cement companies are currently developing their response to the sector report in the form of a five-year agenda for action to be published in 2002. Following the World's Summit the cement companies have committed to implementing their action plans including public reporting and ongoing dialogue with its stakeholders. However, the implications of this project can only be evaluated once the companies begin to implement and report on their agenda for change.