Globally Sown, Locally Grown: An Introduction

Abstract

Browse the store shelves, check out the ads on television or in a magazine, and surf the Web: products certified or labeled as environmentally friendly, or green, are everywhere. Coffees and chocolates are rainforest friendly. Dishwasher soap is biodegradable or river-friendly, with a stamp from a conservation group. Tuna is dolphin safe, and wild salmon is labeled so that customers can avoid farmed salmon that are linked to river and ocean pollution. Wooden furniture and paper towels come from sustainably managed forests or are chlorine free. Tags on high end clothing explain how bamboo and organic cotton are earth friendly.

Our industry was established initially in the developed world, but it now encompasses developing nations and economies in transition, and our members in these regions work closely with their local companies to aim for high standards, especially in safety, health, and environmental aspects, in everything that we do.

Chairman of the International Chemical Councils Association, in a 2006 UNEP report on the global chemicals sector

For most companies nothing has changed. It’s playing one game instead of another. I tell you one thing. If there is a big industrial environmental disaster, a big accident or scandal, not only in Argentina but anywhere, they will look closely at the preventative system in place, all these audits and certifications, and these programs like Responsible Care, and it will be very bad for all of them.

Manager at a chemical plant in Buenos Aires, Argentina, interviewed October 13, 2004