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ACCA Sustainability Conference 2009 | |
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5 June 2009 It's the time of the year where the business community faithfully gathers to commemorate World Environment Day on 5 June at the 'Sustainability Conference 2009' organised by the ACCA and its partners. SEI supported ACCA's initiatives to educate and nurture senior business leaders on emerging pro-environment business practices and how their business can do better when sustainability values are adopted in corporate management policy and practice. In fact, SEI has been collaborating with ACCA and the Singapore Compact in organising a series of sustainability reporting workshops that promotes environmentally responsible corporate behaviour.
The Guest-of-Honor for the conference was Mr Tan Yong Soon, Permanent Secretary from the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources. In his keynote address, Mr Tan urged companies not to totally forgo pro-environment initiatives in these difficult times. He emphasized that 'economic progress at minimal cost to the environment being a distinct possibility in the present rather than hopeless ideal for the future'. And the business community can take heart knowing that the government is backing them up through tangible programmes to transform their businesses into climate-friendly ones which might involve painstaking changes initially, especially for smaller businesses, but a rewarding outcome, nonetheless. Indeed, there are a slew of support initiatives ready to help businesses make that transition. Ms Vibeke Rovsing Lauritzen, Danish Ambassdor, was amongst distinguished guests invited to share the Danish's experience. She observed similarities between Denmark and Singapore’s environmental situation and lets on that the Danish's success in sustainable development lies in the close dialogue and collaboration between the government and the business community. This allows the continual refinement of government policies to manage the fine balance between environmental consideration and evolving industrial aspirations. Her views were similarly echoed by the rest of the speakers that followed.
The event was a marked success judging from the engaging panel discussion which saw numerous questions from the floor ranging from climate challenges outlook in the short term to more thought-provoking ones such as whether the mechanisms under Kyoto Protocol are really effective in limiting emissions in a world filled with voracious appetite for development. But the business community is confident that their collective efforts can make a difference to stem the worsening climate change if they act promptly enough. With newfound perspectives and old prejudices broken, the congregation left the conference with renewed vision to persevere in their sustainability endeavours. We look forward eagerly to their growing resolve to fight climate change - one carbon footprint less at a time, brings us one step closer to a climate woe-free world!
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