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The 2005 Business of Sustainability Conference and Trade Fair will be
best remembered for bringing together six leading speakers to cover the
topic of sustainable business practices. In planning the conference, the
organisers aim was to offer a variety of perspectives from the
education, industrial and regulation fields. Each speaker made a
presentation, followed by a question and answer session from the
audience.
| Anne Grete Hestnes |
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Anne Grete Hestnes is presently Dean of
the Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art at the Norwegian University
of Science and Technology, where she has been full professor since
1985. She has also been visiting professor at Lawrence Berkeley
Laboratories at the University of California at Berkeley and at the
Laboratoire d'Energie Solaire in École Polytechnique Fedérale (EPFL)
in Lausanne. She is associate editor of the journal "Solar Energy",
and she is President of the International Solar Energy Society. At
the same time she is a member of the European Commission's External
Advisory Committee on Energy (EAG Energie), as well as of various
committees within the Research Council of Norway. In opening her
presentation she was very complimentary about sustainable business
procedures in South Australia. She said, “You don’t need help from
other countries- you seem to be going quite well.”
Ms. Grete Hestnes encouraged the need to explore new markets and
opportunities in establishing a sustainable business environment.
She said, “To make buildings more sustainable, we have to look at
new technology.” She also called for the implementation of a few
practical procedures in building design, saying it was unbelievable
that Australian buildings had not embraced double glazed windows.
Another recommendation was the need to embrace solar panels in
architectural design. |
| Dr Martin Gibson |
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Dr Martin Gibson is Director of
Envirowise, a UK Government programme designed to help companies
reduce costs by reducing waste at source. Martin has helped to
formulate many of the key approaches of Envirowise and has spoken at
over 100 events to promote the messages to business. He is a keen
advocate of the approach of the programme, which helps companies to
be more
resource efficient.
Envirowise offers UK companies free and practical environmental
advice, with the intent of increasing profits, through the reduction
of waste. He encouraged the virtues of the triple bottom line
(people, planet, profits), a theme explored by other presenters
across the two days. Envirowise employees 120 advisors, who conduct
businesses site visits across the UK. Through thorough auditing, an
average business will achieve in a saving of ₤1,000 a year per an
employee in industry and ₤200 per an employee in the services
sector. Dr. Gibson said that his organisation believes it is
possible to achieve a ₤10 saving for every ₤1 spent. He said that in
order for savings to occur, it is important that the program is
embraced by upper management and encouraged from top to bottom. Dr.
Gibson said, “Most companies will use Envirowise for the savings- I
don’t care about the means, I care about the end.”
Download PowerPoint
Presentation |
| Paul Perkins |
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Paul Perkins, adjunct professor at the
Australian National University, is a national leader in public
sector commercial reform and the emerging sustainable development
movement. He is chairman of the new Adelaide based CRC for
Contamination Assessment and Environmental Remediation (CRC CARE).
Professor Perkins is a member of the Australian Government's
Business Roundtable on Sustainable Development, Chairman of the
National Environmental Education Council and Chairman of the Barton
Group, a national CEO alliance responsible for leading
implementation of the Environment Industry Development Action
Agenda. He was previously CEO of ACTEW, a unique government-owned
holding company which operates electricity, water, sewerage and
broadband telecommunications operations through ACTEW AGL, the first
equity-based public-private partnership in multi-utility operations
in Australia.
Mr. Perkins warned the Conference on the arrogance of certainty,
when none exists. Outlining the problems associated with both the
public and private sector in their ability to combat environmental
problems, he explained that each sector must work together, rather
than one dominating the other. He said both sectors have a role to
play in ensuring sustainable outcomes and that it was important to
be entrepreneurial to solve problems. Mr. Perkins singled out
Australia’s water problems as an example, he said, “Australia has
plenty of water, it’s just the way you use it.
“If we saved half of our water from the Murray-Darling System, we
solve our water problems for the next 2000 years.” Pointing out that
the technology to solve our water problems already exists, he said
that if you look at the best practice, you can find ways of removing
problems. Mr. Perkisn said that money needed to solve such a problem
already exists through superannuation funds, but bureaucratic
problems prevent this from happening. He called on the need for
Australians to look at the bigger picture and noted that many of the
major water producers have been attempting to stop recycling,
because it is a threat to their monopoly. Calling on the need for
this to end, he said Australia will never solve its environmental
problems when monopolies stifle development.
Download PowerPoint Presentation |
| Dr Paul Vogel |
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Dr Paul Vogel, Chief Executive and
Chairman of South Australia’s regulator, the Environment Protection
Authority. Before taking up his position in November 2002, Paul was
Director of Environmental Policy with the Department of the Premier
and Cabinet in Western Australia, and prior to that Director of
Environmental Systems with the (then) WA Department of Environmental
Protection.
Dr. Vogel presented the case for why regulation is needed to ensure
business sustainability. Without the presence of environmental
regulation, important milestones such as clean drinking water,
improved air quality and the removal of ozone depleting substances
would not have occurred. With markets not embracing equity as part
of their nature, he considered it essential for the presence of an
environmental watchdog. He said that those industries that did the
right thing should be rewarded with limited regulation, as a means
to inspire other industries to follow. In doing so, he considered it
important that the EPA ensured there was a level playing field with
heavily and lowly regulated industries. Dr. Vogel aptly concluded
his presentation (and the speaker series) by saying, “The business
of sustainability is everyone’s business.”
Download
PowerPoint Presentation |
| Joe Van Belleghem |
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Joe Van Belleghem CA, President
BuildGreen Developments Inc.
Mr. Van Belleghem, is a partner of Windmill Development Group Ltd, a
triple bottom line development company that focuses solely on Green
Building Developments. Mr. Van Belleghem is on the board of
directors for the United States Green Building Council, the Canadian
Brownfield Network Board and an Advisory Board Member to the BC
Sustainable Energy Association. He is also the Vice Chair and one of
the founders of the Canada Green Building Council.
In his presentation Joe highlighted that education throughout the
business community and the market was the biggest barrier to making
business more sustainable. Mr. Van Bellegham said that when he began
as a developer, 18 years ago, he did not have an interest in green
business. It was not until he read a book titled by Paul Hawken,
Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins, that his outlook on business
changed.
Outlining several of his projects including Dockside Green, British
Columbia, Mr. Van Bellegham explained that green projects had strong
community support. This was demonstrated best when on one project
that he did not need a marketing budget because the development was
attracting enough free coverage through the local media.
Whilst community support for his developments has remained strong,
Mr. Van Bellegham said the reaction by governments on sustainable
issues is disappointing. He said, “I am a developer at heart and I
was really discouraged lack of activity.”
Sustainable practices advocated by Mr. Van Bellegham are numerous
and highly diverse, ranging from the use of cement additives to
reduce Carbon Dioxide emissions, to establishing bicycle trails, or
using native plants to remove the need for irrigation. He aims to
use waste from one process to fuel the needs for another. The end
result is a healthier environment, with numerous economic, social
and environmental benefits. |
| Rodney Wade |
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Rodney Wade is the
Technical Manager for Finsbury Green Printing, Australia's leading
environmental printing group. He is responsible for the company's
Quality and Environment Systems (ISO9001:2000 and 14001:2004)
nationally, as well as the playing a part in the marketing of
Finsbury's green initiatives. Rodney's experience in the industry
extends over 34 years and is well known as a enthusiastic advocate
for sustainable change in the greening of print.
Rodney re-enforced the statements made by Mr. Van Bellegham
concerning the publics desire to adopt sustainable practices. His
presentation took the form of a case study, following events from
1998, when his organisation embraced green practices. As the fourth
largest employer in Australia, Mr. Wade said the printing industry
has a very poor record in environmental practices. It is will little
surprise that since becoming the first carbon neutral printer in
Australia the company has experienced increased demand in its
products. He pointed out that you do not need to be an
environmentalist to embrace green practices simply because
environmental procedures make sound business sense. Major activities
undertaken by Finsbury Green Printing include paper and solvent
recycling, tree planing to offset Carbon Dioxide emissions and the
replacement of harmful solvent to vegetable based inks. Mr. Wade
said, “Sustainability is a philosophy that many companies are
embarking on and reaping the reward.” |
| Elinor Cozens |
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Elinor Cozens, 17, is the immediate past -President
of the Youth Environment Council of South Australia. She attended
Urrbrae Agricultural High School for three years, where her
environmental awareness and interest grew. Actively involved with
the Environment Youth Arts Prize and EPA Roundtable, Elinor has also
written an article discussing the River Murray and how we can work
towards social and environmental change. She now attends Norwood
Morialta High School, and hopes to pass on her knowledge and
experience of the environment through further mentoring and activity
in the Youth Environment Council. |
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