SPEECH BY BUDAPEST CHARGE D'AFFAIRES ROBERTSON NOV. 18
USIA
18 November 1998
TEXT: SPEECH BY BUDAPEST CHARGE D'AFFAIRES ROBERTSON NOV. 18
(At symposium on environment, business opportunities) (1230)
Budapest -- Thomas Robertson, charge d'affaires at the U.S. embassy in
Budapest, spoke at a symposium here November 18 that focused the
growing field of business and environmental cooperation. One purpose
of the meeting, he noted, was "to increase public awareness that
environmental stewardship not only improves the quality of life for
ourselves and our children. It also makes good business sense."
Robertson urged Hungarians to look to environmental technology, not
just for the benefits it provides for the country's environment, but
for the potential profit that such products can provide as well.
"The environmental businesses that emerged as a result of the
environmental protection effort created two million new jobs in the
U.S. alone during the last few decades," he said. "We are engaged with
the Regional Environmental Center (REC) and other partners in efforts
to foster similar opportunities in this region."
He stressed the importance of public-private partnerships in which
"governments, private companies, environmental organizations and
international financial institutions cooperate to find new ways to use
natural resources more efficiently and to clean up pollution and
hazardous waste."
Robertson noted that the United States signed the Kyoto Protocol last
week in Buenos Aires. "We believe that the market-based mechanisms
which will fuel the Kyoto Process are of great relevance to this
gathering," he said. "Transferable credits for projects that reduce or
sequester greenhouse gas emissions will open up numerous avenues for
private investment in energy efficiency and nature conservation, while
reducing the costs of compliance."
Robertson also pointed to the U.S.-Eurasian Partnership Program,
which, he said, "will promote innovative environmental technology in
Hungary and help share experiences between the U.S., Hungary and
neighboring countries."
Following is the text of his remarks:
(Begin text)
REMARKS BY THOMAS B. ROBERTSON
CHARGE D'AFFAIRES
U.S. EMBASSY BUDAPEST
TO THE PROJECT TECHCOM SYMPOSIUM
ON MINIMIZING ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS AND CREATING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
November 18, 1998
CO-SPONSORS: ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
FOUNDATION FOR THE TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS OF INDUSTRY
ASSOCIATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
Ladies, gentlemen, honored guests. The cooperative relations between
Hungary and the United States go very deep and encompass many
dimensions. Among the most promising of these dimensions is the
growing field of business and environmental cooperation. The
public-private partnerships that are the focus of this Techcom
Symposium are on the move, as governments, private companies,
environmental organizations and international financial institutions
cooperate to find new ways to use natural resources more efficiently
and to clean up pollution and hazardous waste.
Thus I am pleased and honored to welcome you to this symposium on
Minimizing Environmental Risks and Creating Business Opportunities. I
understand that this is the last of three fora co-organized by the
Rochester Institute of Technology and the Hungarian Foundation for
Industry, with partial financing from the Department of State. I want
to thank the Hungarian Cleaner Production Center and the other
conference sponsors for providing a forum to stimulate these
partnerships. In so doing, we also hope to increase public awareness
that environmental stewardship not only improves the quality of life
for ourselves and our children. It also makes good business sense.
During the past several years, the U.S. government has made a
conscious effort to move environmental concerns to the center of our
foreign policy agenda. This is due in part to the importance of
ongoing international negotiations on issues such as global warming,
biodiversity protection, the control of persistent organic pollutants,
and the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes. These and other
international environmental agreements have direct impact on our
economies while opening up new kinds of commercial opportunities.
Our experience shows that business enterprises as well as countries
that implement strategies to use their resources more efficiently,
thereby strengthen their international competitiveness. By reducing
competition between nations over scarce natural resources, such
strategies can also enhance political stability.
In Buenos Aires last week, the United States signed the historic
climate change treaty known as the Kyoto Protocol. The development of
an international trading system to implement the Kyoto Protocol will
require careful design and consensus-building. There are many
differences still to be bridged. There is the continuing challenge of
engaging the developing world, a concern which the U.S. shares with
Hungary. But we believe that the market-based mechanisms which will
fuel the Kyoto Process are of great relevance to this gathering.
Transferable credits for projects that reduce or sequester greenhouse
gas emissions will open up numerous avenues for private investment in
energy efficiency and nature conservation, while reducing the costs of
compliance.
In Hungary, environmental concerns were a key stimulus to the
democracy movement and the transition to open systems of governance.
The process of European Union accession is refocusing public attention
on the need for pollution prevention and energy efficiency. Hungary
and other applicants to the EU expect that massive investments will be
needed to harmonize regulations and performance with EU environmental
standards.
While much of the investment for EU approximation must come from
national sources, it is clear that governments cannot do the job
alone. It will require the creation of public-private partnerships to
improve water and waste services, restore damaged sites, and create
new efficiencies in the way that energy and natural resources are
used. Local governments can benefit from the business sector's
capital, technical and management expertise. These partnerships can
also stimulate broader public participation and accountability, a
major goal of the environment for europe process.
The U.S., as a leader of pollution-prevention technology and trading
mechanisms, has much to offer to this endeavor, even as direct
government assistance to the region is decreasing. Our experience has
shown that good environmental management is a fundamentally profitable
undertaking. The environmental businesses that emerged as a result of
the environmental protection effort created two million new jobs in
the U.S. alone during the last few decades. We are engaged with the
Regional Environmental Center (REC) and other partners in efforts to
foster similar opportunities in this region:
-- through USAID, we have worked with 24 communities south of Debrecen
to foster decentralized approaches to environmental infrastructure and
to joint municipal financing. We are also cooperating with the
U.S.-Hungary Joint Science Fund, the Plant Protection Service, and
local growers to promote environmental healthy methods of fruit
production in eastern Hungary.
-- as part of our eastern initiative, we plan to work with local,
county and national governments to identify trade and investment
opportunities, while addressing potential obstacles to their
development.
-- USAID is financing a 5-year, multi-country program to promote
market-oriented solutions to urban and industrial environmental
problems. This program will be implemented by the Institute for
International Education, the Department of Commerce, and the REC,
whose headquarters you will visit on Friday. While the focus of this
program will be on the less-developed countries of the region, the
U.S.-Eurasia Environmental Partnership Program will promote innovative
environmental technology in Hungary and help share experiences between
the U.S., Hungary and neighboring countries.
These and many similar programs and issues will be examined by the
Techcom Symposium. I encourage you in your deliberations, your
networking, and especially in the steps taken after the conference to
advance these new forms of cooperation. Thank you.
(End text)