The human race is pushing our planet towards the edge of disaster by flooding land, sea, and air with pollution and by the over-use of our natural resources. These issues amount to one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced. As the world explores alternative growth paths, new ways of doing business are critical. Innovative solutions are pointing the way to new business models and market opportunities.
B4E, the Global Business Summit for the Environment, is the leading international conference focusing on business and the environment. B4E 2008 highlights the most urgent environmental challenges facing the world today and discusses business-driven solutions for mitigating and adapting to climate change. Important topics addressed include resource efficiencies, renewable energies, new business models and climate strategies. Delegates tackled best practices for identifying and managing the risks posed by climate change and uncover opportunities for developing competitive advantages.
B4E Global Summit 2007 was the first major international gathering to build on the environmental momentum since the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP 13 in Bali in 2007. Following a highly successful event in 2007, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Global Compact announced the second B4E – Business for the Environment Global Summit, held in Singapore from 22 to 23 April 2008.
“If the world is to successfully navigate the Bali Road Map to the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen in 2009, ways and means need to be found to mobilise and focus the trillions of dollars in the world’s financial and capital markets on the greening of the global economy,” said Mr. Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UNEP.
“This ‘greening’ is already underway, driven by the existing emissions reduction treaty – the Kyoto Protocol – and the anticipation of even deeper cuts from a post-2012 climate regime. I look forward to the B4E conference playing its part in stepping up, accelerating and mainstreaming these real, tangible but currently fledgling transitions. Ones that promise a more resource efficient world and a new way of doing business in the 21st century,” he added.
Speakers at the B4E Global Summit 2008 |
Environmental leaders and champions gather for the B4E Global Summit 2008 in a coalition against climate change
Mr. Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP
More than 500 government, NGO and business leaders and press from about 30 countries attended the second B4E - Business for the Environment Global Summit in Singapore. Jointly hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Global Compact, the event was held at the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre from 22 to 23 April 2008. The two-day summit addressed how corporate citizens can advance business-driven, pro-environment strategies that will also have a positive impact on their bottom line.
“One of the central achievements from the recently concluded COP 13 Bali talks was that both developed and developing countries acknowledged that climate change is everyone’s challenges and everyone’s opportunity. The B4E Global Summit 2008 in Singapore marks another milestone in our effort to assemble a coalition of public and private organisations from Asia and across the world that are determined to realise tomorrow’s economy today,” said Mr. Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UNEP.
Highlights of the B4E Summit included the launch of the UNEP study on transboundary movement in ozone depleting chemicals, highlighting the prevalence of illegal trade in chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the Asia Pacific, the release of a new book by the President of the Maldives, His Excellency Mr. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, titled ‘Paradise Drowning’, and a new report on biodiversity, titled, ‘Sustaining Life’, published by Oxford University Press, supported by UNEP; the Secretariat of the CBD; the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and IUCN.
High-level roundtable discussions were conducted at this year’s Summit with UNEP Champions of the Earth laureates on the topic of advancing the climate agenda through policy, mitigation and adaptation, while industry-specific tracks discussed the concrete value that businesses can realise by financing and investing in climate-friendly production; policy tools and market instruments that can be used in sustainable building and construction; and how climate change can be tackled through information communication and technology.
B4E is an important platform for policy makers, business and civil society to come together and build strong, lasting partnerships to tackle global challenges,” said Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact. “It is an appropriate forum to highlight “Caring for Climate”, our global engagement platform and call to action, which has now been endorsed by more than 200 companies from around the world. These companies are not merely discussing the need for action against climate change. Instead, they have committed to measuring, tracking and communicating their progress in incorporating sustainability principles into business practices, and ensuring transparency and unbiased dialogue with stakeholders.”
As part of its on-going commitment to be an environmental leader in the MICE industry, Global Initiatives, the official organisers of the B4E Global Summit 2008, maintained the green focus of the event by issuing press attendees with virtual press kits on thumb-drives and using recycled paper or paper obtained from certified sustainable managed plantations. It also used a fleet of 15 Honda Civic Hybrid cars for the transportation of VIPs and speakers. At the event venue at Suntec City Convention Centre, various green initiatives were also undertaken to encourage the use of recycled or reused materials, sustainably produced, organic or fair trade produce and the overall reduction in the use of paper and other materials.
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