Sustainability with profits and vice-versa

Economics apart, sustainable development formed the theme of the conference, with speakers attempting to reconcile maintaining profitability with the need for environmental and social responsibility. But far from being mutually exclusive, claimed ICIchief executive Charles Miller Smith, the two are in fact dependent upon each other.

Ever since the early 1970s, environmental improvement has been seen as a cost by the chemical industry, Miller Smith argued. It's only in the last year or so that companies have realised that they can actually increase their profits by improving the efficiency of their process so that they produce less waste and consume less energy, he added. Even so, environmental spending is now a fact of life, 'of the order of 5 per cent of turnover, and will continue to rise.' All the more reason for good profits, he commented.

There are still barriers to companies exploiting this potential, he warned. Governments must give companies room to move, by avoiding overzealous regulatory and fiscal policies. 'What is needed is steady growth that does not suppress profits and investment,' he said.