Note to Correspondents

 

Note No 193
4 June 2002

CONFERENCE IN GRAZ CONSIDERS THE ROLE OF BUSINESS
IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

VIENNA, 4 June (UN Information Service) – The role of business in promoting sustainable development will be discussed at a conference in Graz, Austria, next week which has been jointly organized by the United Nation’s Global Compact Office and an Austrian institution, the Cleaner Production Centre (CPC) Graz.

The International Conference on Sustainable Development and Profit will explore business strategies which promote both growth and sustainable development. It is being held in Graz from 6 - 8 June 2002.

A new worldwide sustainable business development programme will be unveiled at the event. ECOPROFIT (ÖKOPROFIT) has been developed jointly by the United Nations’ Global Compact project and an the Cleaner Production Centre in Graz. It aims to facilitate access to new global markets and projects for the participating economy and science.

At the conference entrepreneurs, bankers, researchers and government representatives from around the world will discuss ways business can use ECOPROFIT to bring about global sustainable development.

The United Nations’ Global Compact Office is supporting the ECOPROFIT initiative as a public-private partnership which offers new solutions to sustainability. It has been developed by Graz’ Cleaner Production Centre. The company’s Managing Director, Herbert Zlöbl, will talk about the benefits of ECOPROFIT at the conference and how more than 1000 companies in 40 cities worldwide are already benefiting from this sustainable growth.

The UN’s Global Compact is a forum for addressing critical issues related to globalization. It was launched in 2000 and calls on companies to embrace nine universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour standards and the environment.

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