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  Business Times 6 Apr 07
Full eco-friendly business sustainability still elusive: UN
By Matthew Phan

SINGAPORE is fortunate to have a strong, centralised government guiding practices in clean energy and water, say representatives of the United Nations (UN), but they go on to warn that no country has achieved complete sustainability and say that individual firms need to contribute to the effort.

Singapore is playing host to the UN's annual B4E Global Business Summit for the Environment at the Shangri-La Hotel on 19-20 April, and will host two other international water conferences this year. These are the Singapore Desalination and Water Reuse Leadership Summit that runs for two days next week, and the International Water Association's conference on leading-edge water and waste treatment technologies in June.

Singapore's clear legal framework, corporate governance and transparency measures, robust management system and comparatively high environmental standards are all to be lauded, said Claire Chiang, president of the Singapore Compact. The organisation is a participant in the UN Global Compact.

At their respective levels, the bodies each aim to promote responsible business practices.

Ms Chiang, who is also senior vice-president at resorts operator Banyan Tree, said: 'The challenge is to uphold the level of good practices and value when operating overseas, within very different operating environments and facing a diverse array of socio-economic factors.'

The B4E summit is 'very relevant' for Singapore business, she said, as eco-related industries around the world are still in a developmental stage, and Singapore firms can use the conference to tap into a global body of knowledge.

'Many multinationals are likely to have the Global Compact's vision and values translated from global headquarters. However, SMEs and local companies might not enjoy that same awareness', Ms Chiang said.

Speakers at B4E include the likes of investment managers from Daiwa and Innovest, senior executives from Dow Chemical, Hewlett-Packard and Nokia, as well as senior government officials and researchers.

They will discuss subjects like best practices in environmental management, green investing and financing, private-public collaboration in policy and regulation, and creating partnerships that do not damage the environment.

Pointers and road maps are emerging on how to create more intelligent markets that capture and internalise wider costs, said Nick Nuttal, spokesman for the Office of the Executive Director at the UN Environment Programme.

But many complications, such as perverse incentives, still abound.

For example, property owners might buy the idea of retrofitting an old building to make its air-conditioning and lighting more energy-efficient, but could be vetoed by housing agents who do not want to interrupt their short-term commissions, which the renovation would interrupt - a problem described by consultant Amory Lovins, of the Rocky Mountain Institute, in an interview with the New Yorker.

The illustration reflects the larger issue of governments' need to align incentives and regulation, said Mr Nuttal.

'No country can put up their hand and say they have achieved a sustainable way to run their economy. No country can say it is a perfect model for balancing the economic, social and environmental dynamics', he said.
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