He was the first Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme and, some 20 years after Stockholm he organized and ran the Rio Earth Summit or UN Conference on Environment and Development. That event not only produced the UN convention on climate change, but spawned this very newspaper to cover it. During the eight years since Rio, Strong had a stint in the private sector running the company Ontario Power before moving onto the Earth Council. As journalists asked him about the temperature of the debate here at the world conference on climate change one could tell he has seen this issue come full circle. Though Strong spent the majority of his efforts trying to convince governments of the concerns of climate change it s the corporations who have recognized global warming as a threat and are moving ahead on the issue.
Industry is now interested and industry is now engaged.
In some respects business leaders are ahead of governments. They have moved ahead by recognizing that there are new opportunities for business. They are ready to go into the field, but they don t have the rules of the game. While business is ready and capable, the future of the environment largely depends on whether developing countries such as China and India will develop their economies in a sustainable manner, says Strong. Mobilizing funds to promote cleaner technologies in developing countries is crucial, he says.