APLA ’08: Director calls for chems responsibility

18 November 2008 16:20  [Source: ICIS news]

RIO DE JANEIRO (ICIS news)--Chemical companies need to stop treating environmental groups as adversaries and work with them toward the common goal of sustainable development, Leo Schlesinger of US wood products manufacturer Masisa said on Tuesday.

Entrepreneurship and non-profit advocacy were both needed to ensure that innovations are not made at the expense of the environment and disadvantaged citizens, said Schlesinger, general director of Masisa’s Mexico subsidiary, at the 28th Latin American Petrochemical Annual Meeting (APLA).

“The competitive nature of humans sometimes does not allow us to see the effect we having on the things around us,” Schlesinger said.

“Business should deal with its externalities as an area of economic opportunity rather than philanthropy.”

For example, Schlesinger said that 4bn people in the world are living on less than $1,500 a year. If those people could be lifted out of poverty, their collective spending power would be enormous.

Some companies have looked at this situation as a business opportunity, including Banco Grameen, which has developed microcredit for business owners in Bangladesh, and mobile phone makrer Nokia, which has invested in expanding communication networks in rural communities around the world.

Similarly, the best way to limit the environmental impacts of chemical production is for companies to internalise those costs in order to develop low-cost methods of mitigating external impacts.

“Increasing the economic value of a company for its shareholders should not be our only motivation,” Schlesinger said. “Social responsibility can also increase the value of a company.”

The three-day conference ends on Tuesday.

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By: Greg Holt
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