Miljøvernminister Thorbjørn Berntsen

The sustainable paper cycle

Executive briefing - Opening address

World business council for sustainable development Bedriftsøkonomisk institutt - Oslo 15.11.1996

Ladies and Gentlemen.

As you know, I take a strong personal interest in making production and consumption more sustainable. It is in the poor countries that the environmental problems are most serious. It is the poor who will suffer most if the global climate changes. It is the poor who carry the biggest burden as biodiversity is lost. The United Nations Development Programme has found that air and water pollution are the two main causes of lives lost in the developing countries.

We need raw materials and industry to meet basic needs. Today, paper helps us meet many of these basic needs. Countries that do not have paper for schoolbooks cannot give education to all. A world where the poor can neither read nor afford newspapers makes democracy more difficult. Packaging is needed to protect food and for many other vital needs.

To me, it is a paradox to see the mountains of waste that our rich countries throw away each day while others lack the basic necessities for life. Our policy must aim at fulfilling basic needs for all, not just today, but far into the future.

We are here today because the World Business Council for Sustainable Development has mobilized the paper industry to fund a study of the complete lifecycle impact from paper. The study was done by an independent institute with an excellent reputation: the International Institute for Environment and Development, I am pleased to say that the study has shown that paper can be produced in a sustainable way.

Still, there is work left to do.

• It is not enough to know that we can harvest trees without destroying natural forests: we have to protect the biodiversity in the forests we already have.
• It is not enough to know that the paper industry can operate almost without any pollution escaping: there are large numbers of old fashioned factories that need to be rebuilt.
• It is not enough to know that paper can be recycled or used for energy purposes. Today, much too much of the paper is buried in landfills where it rots and produces the climate gas methane.

Industrys work for Eco-Efficiency is extremely important, but in some fields, more efficiency may not be enough. The decline of ocean fisheries has shown us that some resources are finite: consumption cannot rise forever. Water resources drying up have shown many countries that consumption has to be matched to the worlds resources. If we want to achieve our aims we have to analyze both production and consumption.

Yesterday, the OECD discussed how to make paper use more sustainable; I understand that their work will lead on to policy recommendations. The best result of todays meeting would be for industry, science and voluntary organizations to continue to cooperate to make this work a success.

I wish you success, not just in this meeting, but in continuing to reduce the impact of industry on the environment.