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GLOBAL PROFIT EQUALS GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY

Christopher Louise, Communications and Monitoring & Evaluation Manager, UNDP-ACT

Eco Forum - World Environment Day 2006 emphasised the responsibilities of the Cypriot business community towards protecting the island’s rich and diverse environmental assets. In Cyprus, business activities inevitably have a major environmental impact, such as that of Cypriot agriculture, which is disproportionately large compared to this sector’s economic benefits. Indeed agriculture accounts for 17% of water consumption, whilst farming intensification has caused a reduction in rural biodiversity and an increase in ground and water pollution through the massive use of fertilisers and pesticides. At the same time tourism is by far the largest sector of the economy, and has a significant environmental impact. Touristic developments in environmentally sensitive areas result in destruction of important habitats, landscape value degradation, as well as increased water consumption and waste production. Meanwhile the extractive industries cause dust pollution, create a massive erosion problem, and cause ground and water pollution.

This broad and sweeping overview of Cyprus’s environmental concerns is indicative of the challenges of today’s world, where the drive to create economic opportunity is balanced with the need to protect the natural systems and environmental resources upon which modern societies depend. Today, globalisation has become the key reference point for our politics, our economic development, our social welfare and ultimately our identity as human beings. In other words, global citizenship and global responsibilities have become integral to the way we understand the world. In this modern global village we accept the mantra that social ills have a global reach and impact, which are not contained by political borders. The application of this principle to Cyprus is especially pertinent, where the political divisions cannot hide the reality of a unitary island-wide eco-system, and where the degradation or crisis in one part of the island inevitably affects its environmental system as a whole.

In recent years the message of corporate social responsibility has been captured through the UN’s initiative,  the Global Compact, which was launched at the World Economic Forum in 1999 by United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. The Global Compact asks companies to observe standards based on 10 principles, which have been drawn from three sources: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labour Organisation's Fundamental Principles on Rights at Work and the Rio Principles on Environment and Development. Though the Compact is not a regulatory instrument or code of conduct, it has been described as a value-based platform designed to promote institutional learning. Annan threw down the gauntlet to business leaders by saying: “We have to choose between a global market driven only by calculations of short-term profit, and one which has a human face. Between a world which condemns a quarter of the human race to starvation and squalor, and one which offers everyone at least a chance of prosperity, in a healthy environment. Between a selfish free-for-all in which we ignore the fate of the losers, and a future in which the strong and the successful accept their responsibilities, showing global vision and leadership”.
Ultimately there are sound business arguments for companies to be proactive about protecting the environment, especially on such an integrated ecosystem like Cyprus. These include potential cost savings, more efficient production processes, product and service innovation, access to new markets, improved risk management, better stakeholder relations and having a seat at the table in formulating policy on regulatory frameworks. World Environment Day offered an opportunity to advance the dialogue on responsible business practices and the environment. Such a dialogue should continue to focus on the protection of Cyprus’ environmental assets. This will depend on an island-wide approach where both communities need to work together to forge effective mechanisms for finding integrated solutions to the dangers of environmental degradation, including the theme of this year’s World Environment Day – Deserts and Desertification. And finally, the principles of the global compact, and the philosophy inherent in a socially responsible approach to business practice, offers business leaders from both communities an opportunity to develop ties across the Green Line in order that the island’s business community can invest in the future of Cypriot society.