12 May 2004	Wednesday	21 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

LAHORE, May 11: Worldwide Fund for Nature, Pakistan, Director General, Ali Hassan Habib on Tuesday said that the free market ignored environmental issues.

Speaking on Corporate Governance and Environment Trends in Pakistan during the concluding session of the two-day Centenary Conference of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants at the Lahore University of Management Sciences here on Tuesday, the WWF Chief said that the GDP used as indicator of vibrancy of the economy took only the quantitative economic growth into consideration without considering the depletion of natural resources which also required to be accounted for.

He said the world outlook towards nature was changing and it had started thinking about sustainable development through controlled utilisation of natural resources. He said that the natural resources were also a kind of capital like the human, financial capitals and manufacturing capitals but the industrial system benefited only from the last three kinds of capital at the cost of the first.

Pakistan's countryside was getting dirtier with the passage of time because of increased use of plastic products instead of the biodegradable materials used previously.

He said that a survey of 150 industrial units in the four provinces had revealed that their emissions exceeded the National Environment Quality Standards. Gwadar Port project had been started without environmental impact assessment.

Many businesses were keen to cater to environmental problems but were of the view that the NEQs were too stringent. The maximum temperature for industrial effluents at the time of discharge had fixed at 37 C whereas the summer temperature in some areas crossed 50 C.

He said awareness about environment protection was increasing in Pakistan with the passage of time. The largest earth filled dam had been built at Tarbela in 1976 without any environment impact assessment but Wapda had been directed to assess the environmental impact of Sadpara Dam near Skardu.

Thermal power unit sponsors had been directed to plant trees, and industries had been asked to monitor the effluent pollution levels under the AMART Programme.

Speaking on Corporate Social Responsibility Engro Chief Executive Officer Asad Umer said that the businesses did not exist for social responsibility. The stakeholders had their own interests.

The government wanted the businesses to pay the taxes and consumer wanted quality products at fair prices. The businesses did not know as to whose sets of values they should follow.

He said that the businesses used to be judged only on the basis of economic performance in the past. Environmental and social responsibility now formed the basis of performance assessment. He said that the social responsibility compliance was rewarded in the form of brand equity and improved community relations but many considered it charity.

Acca Head of Risk Management and Corporate Governance Paul Moxey said that a country could attract investment only by adopting strong corporate governance practices and investor's confidence.

No market had a divine right to investor's capital. Official policies specified what management's say should happen but culture determined what actually happened and which rules were followed, bent or ignored.

He said that the offices of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman had been separated in the UK for ensuring good corporate governance and at least half the boards comprised independent non-executive directors.