LAHORE, July 25: The World Summit on Sustainable Development, only a month away, will review the progress made by the members countries, Pakistan included, for their adoption of environment friendly technologies, Federal Minister for Environment, Barrister Shahida Jameel, said here on Thursday.

She was speaking at a seminar on Environmental Technology and Trade Show. Since the Earth Summit in 1992 at Rio de Janeiro, global commercial and industrial world has come under increasing pressure to opt for environment-friendly technologies, and the pressure will only grow after September 2002 summit at Johannesburg, South Africa, she predicted.

The trade show, the minister said, signifies an important step towards cleaner production and helping Pakistan retain its position in a highly competitive world by enabling it to enter the ranks of the nations complying with ISO 14000 standards and the WTO requirements.

In fact, the entire world is moving towards a transformation in the pattern of production and consumption as global warming and climate change are hurting societies world over. Production activities have played a major role in environmental disturbances, he said. That is why, the government is trying very seriously to motivate businesses and manufacturing to move towards compliance of ISO 14000. This would not only help local businesses retain their international market but also create a better environment in the country, she said. Globalization has opened the door of intense competition among nations and Pakistan has to market products that meet the challenges of global competition.

Such trade shows provide an excellent opportunity to environmental actors in the country to deliberate upon their potential and demonstrate their achievements in waste minimization and introducing cleaner and recycling technologies. Such technologies are hardly known in the local market. Such shows and seminars help indigenize the technologies, she said.