Friday, November 25, 2011

WWF launches green business network

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has launched the Malaysian chapter of its Heart of Borneo Green Business Network, a new initiative for rallying the private sector towards conserving and protecting the environment.

WWF-Malaysia Executive Director and CEO, Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma, said the Green Business Network (GBN) was part of their effort to encourage business entities to assume the leading role towards creating greener economic growth.

“We know that we cannot save the valuable Heart of Borneo forests without the support of the private sector. Tonight, we’re reconfirming our commitment to work together with business towards green growth,” he said.
The launch was held here last night in conjunction with the International Conference on ‘Sabah Heart of Borneo Green Economy and Development: Engaging Business for Environment’, one of the largest green economy conferences ever held in the region.

The GBN was aimed at raising awareness and to act as a catalyst in sustainability within the private sector in the context of a green economy in the Heart of Borneo (HoB), providing tools and support to those companies willing to lead towards a future in which people and nature thrive.
Sabah Forestry Department (SFD) director Datuk Sam Mannan when speaking at the launch, said it was fitting to close two days of intense conference discussion on green economy with an equally intense and more importantly practical initiative, which aims to support the participation of businesses.
A report entitled: ‘Green Business Solutions – Delivering the Heart of Borneo Declaration’, the result of six months of intensive research and interviews of nearly 200 businesses, was also released during the launch.
The report found that only 54 per-cent of the respondents had heard of the trilateral government-led Heart of Borneo Declaration, many were willing to be involved and felt that business would have an important role to play once they had more information on the HoB and the opportunities offered by a green economic approach.
“This is why we are launching the Green Business Network this evening, to support businesses that want to be on the leading edge of an emerging new green economy in the HoB,” said Dr Sharma.
Over 40 per cent of the Heart of Borneo’s area is currently managed by the forestry, palm oil and mining sectors.

According to WWF’s HoB Initiative team leader, Adam Tomasek, it was necessary to create practical economic arguments for conservation and develop solutions that show how the biodiversity, forests and ecosystems of the HoB can become the engines for green growth and sustainability into the future.
“The Business Solutions report outlines a number of sector specific opportunities which can lead to low carbon and sustainable practices, developed together with businesses operating in the HoB,” he said.
The report is complemented by the Green Business Network and website, which is dedicated to collaborating and communicating the information that companies need to build green businesses in the HoB.
Mr Sanjeev Chadha, CEO of Sabah Forest Industries and speaker at the Green Economy conference, said the setting up of the GBN was highly welcomed; it would help the private sector learn from each other’s experience and assist in the development of cost effective solutions to green economy business challenges.
An HoB Declaration was signed by the governments of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia in February 2007 to protect an area of more than 220,000 square kilometres in the centre of the island of Borneo and bordering all three countries.

The declaration emphasized that these tropical rainforests have strategic, global, national and local functions, not only for citizens of the three countries but for the global human race.
It is supported under important regional and international agreements such as Association of East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East Asia Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC), and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD).

Green Sabah says: The private sectors, the Non-governmental Organizations and the government all played an important role in going green. This is a good initiative to encourage more private sectors to be involved in Green Business. Hopefully with the cooperation with all walks of life, we are able to take steps to achieve a greener and cleaner Sabah.

11 comments:

Mohd Ishak said...

Harap WWF akan teruskan usaha untuk pemuliharaan dan pemeliharaan hutan simpanan ini.

Mohd Ishak said...

Harap semua pihak tidak kira kerajaan ataupun swasta akan menyumbangkan usaha dalam pencapaian teknologi hijau dalam negeri.

Smookiekins said...

Rakyat Sabah harus menyokong usaha ni. Mengekalkan kehijauan Sabah adalah usaha yang sihat dan menjimatkan tenaga.

Anonymous said...

semoga hutan kita akan terus terpelihara.

Anonymous said...

semua pihak termasuk kerajaan, NGO serta rakyat Sabah perlu menyokong dan bekerjasama dengan WWF bagi memudahkan mereka mencapai matlamat mereka..

joey said...

semua harus sentiasa bekerjasama agar teknologi hijau akan terus berkembang.

joey said...

usaha-usaha untuk pemeliharaan dan pemuliharaan hutan harus disokong.

Anonymous said...

sama2lah kita menyokong pelaksanaan green business network. kemajuan dan penjagaan alam sekitar biarlah bergerak seiring.

binocular said...

Kesedaran semua pihak akan kepentingan amalan hijau ini amat perlu dalam menjayakan apa2 saja usaha amalan hijau di Sabah.

binocular said...

Kempen amalan hijau perlu diperhebatkan.

Bujang Senang said...

Teruskan kempen menjada alam sekitar Negeri Sabah. Ini akan dapat mengekalkan keindahan alam yang terdapat di Sabah.

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