April 24, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 06, 1428

ISLAMABAD, April 23: The adoption of environmental standards in manufacturing plants can open the door to increased trade in international market, said Minister of State for Environment Malik Amin Aslam Khan.

“All too often environmental and social innovations are undermined by claims that they will impose unnecessary costs and act as a barrier to trade and competitiveness,” the minister said this while speaking at the fifth ACCA-WWF Pakistan Environmental Reporting Awards here on Monday.

On the contrary, he said improvements in environmental and sustainability reporting can often open the door to increase trade and improved supply chain access, as organisations gain a reputation for ethical behaviour and for good corporate governance. He said the initiative of awards would help raise awareness of reporting environmental, social and sustainability information in the annual reports. He was of the opinion that a strong business case exists for environmental, social and sustainability reporting as more stakeholders’ awareness has resulted in suggestions for more transparent reporting.

“We would like more companies to participate in ACCA-WWF Pakistan Environmental Reporting Awards so that we reach a state where sustainability and environmental reporting becomes the norm,” he added.

The reporting awards were launched in 2001. The main aim of these awards is to recognise and reward those organisations which report and disclose environmental, social or full sustainability performance; to encourage best practices in environmental, social and sustainability reporting and to raise awareness of corporate social responsibility issues and performance.

“A triple bottom line approach to modern businesses was a step towards achieving business nirvana. The fundamental drivers are stakeholder engagement, transparency, accountability and probity”, said the head of ACCA Pakistan, Arif Masud Mirza.