‘Time for a sustainable world is running out’ says Maurice Strong in his visit to Brazil

Maurice Strong, former under-secretary general of the United Nations and the first executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme - UNEP (1972), returns to Brazil. Earlier this year for Rio+20 he contributed to a book by Felix Dodds and Michael Strauss 'Only One Earth - the Long Road via Rio to Sustainable Development' which reviewed the last forty years and the challenges for the future. Mr. Strong is presently advisor to the Chinese government for sustainable development.

Invited by the Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo (Industrial Federation of São Paulo State) Mr. Strong gave yesterday a presentation on the Brazilian sustainable perspective in a globalized world.  He calls the attention for the need we change path in order to achieve a more sustainable way of life. Mr. Strong says ‘we must change course, otherwise humankind will be at risk’. ‘We must manage the way we want our future’, he adds. According to him, ‘time is running out, but we have yet the opportunity to change the conditions of human live’. The world is facing now a security issue and, says Mr. Strong, climate change is the critical concern. According to him, ‘over consumption is also an issue: 5% of the world’s population consuming 50% of the resources is not sustainable’. 

Given the opportunities to change the impact on the environment, the business, and particularly the industrial sector, is the center of the so called new economy, affirms Mr. Strong. ‘The economy and the environment are the same side of a coin. They are intimate linked’, he adds. To his audience, predominantly industrial leaders, Mr. Strong gave a piece of advice: ‘the industrial sector must look in depth to improve efficiency in the use of natural resources, energy and capital, and, consequently, to improve profitability and sustainability. This is not an easy task and it requires a lot of work’.