11th May 2007

NEWS RELEASE

International policy advisor Peter Brown, a Professor at McGill University in Canada, challenges New Zealanders to help create a responsible economy for Spaceship Earth.

Renowned academic and advisor to government departments in the USA and Canada on ethics, governance and the environment, Professor Peter Brown starts a tour of New Zealand today organised by the Council for Socially Responsible Investment.

Professor Brown will be meeting with local government politicians in Auckland and MP’s and parliamentary advisors in Wellington as well as holding public events in Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin and Christchurch. Details are available on http://www.csri.org.nz/events.htm

Dr Robert Howell, CEO of the Council for Socially Responsible Investment, says that Professor Brown’s visit is particularly timely as the Government and opposition parties seek policies which will redirect the economy towards a more responsible model – one which also considers our position in the world economically and geographically:

“As a small country on the other side of the world from most of the developed world, we can be a leader in this. But it is imperative that Government funds are only invested in companies which actively recognize their social and environmental impacts. This is why we have supported MP Maryan Street’s Private Members Bill on ethical investment and encourage the Government to adopt it as a Government Bill.”

“Internationally responsible investment is gaining support. This means the economy is and will continue to change and we have invited Professor Brown to New Zealand to talk about what this means for us.”

Professor Brown believes that our society continues to be dominated by an economic order that is incoherent in several respects.

“Much economic growth creates negative side effects like natural resource depletion but current measures don’t take this into account. We have no means of saying when growth has become uneconomic. The current economic regime rests on taking sunlight from the past that has been stored in fossil fuels, soils and forests and spending it on current consumption.”

“Globally we have a two deck spaceship – one for the haves and one for the have nots. The accepted trade model encourages developing countries to waste their natural capital such as forests or fisheries so they have something to exchange in global markets but a better way would be not to move goods long distances because of GHG emissions.”

“Whilst some governments adopt the polluter pays principle - this is not the best way to look at the problem of waste because it effectively says that you can pollute my lungs as long as you are willing to pay for it. A much better way is to internalise pollution itself, not only its costs. We can move in this direction through interest rate incentives, ecological taxes and pollution trading regimes coupled with new and developing technologies.”

On a personal level Professor Brown will also be taking a keen interest in our NZ$2 billion forestry industry as a Certified Quebec Forest Producer with a tree farm in Maryland which is managed under Forest Stewardship.

ENDS

The Council for Socially Responsible Investment was formed in response to a growing demand from ordinary people and investment institutions for help in making ethical investment choices. The Council is a charitable trust which:
• promotes ethical, sustainable investment
• helps people and organisations to develop guidelines, investments and methods for socially responsible investment
• researches, educates, promotes and advocates.

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