2007'02.01.Thu
UNDP Joins Hands with Multinational Company Partnering for Sustainable Development

March 29, 2006

UNDP Teams up with Stora Enso to Promote Sustainable Development and Social Welfare in Local Communities in Guangxi
NANNING, Guangxi, China, March 29 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- To strengthen Public-Private Partnerships and promote the contributions of the private sector to sustainable development in China, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed today in Nanning, Guangxi between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Stora Enso, a multinational company of paper products. Through the MoU, a framework of cooperation (2006-2010) will be established between UNDP and Stora Enso, focusing on promoting sustainable development in local communities in the following areas: conservation of biodiversity in Guangxi, social engagement through rural communication and information centers, and improving community social well-being in areas of health, safe water, hygiene practice, basic education and skills development. This initiative is an immediate follow-up of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) conducted by UNDP on Stora Enso's forest plantation project in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. A multi-stakeholder dialogue was also held following the signing in which the methodology, process and key findings of the ESIA were presented to the representatives from the local government, academic and local community. "UNDP's decision to undertake this ESIA was based on our previous experience in ESIA analyses and on our poverty alleviation and environmental experience in China during the past 26 years," said Renaud Meyer, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in China. "We would like to use this opportunity to demonstrate the potential of these ESIAs to promote sustainable development and the importance of public and private partnerships to China's development." He noted that environmental and social impact assessments are still relatively new in China. "We hope that the ESIA will prompt interest from other large scale commercial and public projects and serve as a model for similar ESIAs to be conducted in other places in the country." The ESIA report does not highlight any major social and environmental `show-stoppers' but identifies issues in the social dimension of the Stora Enso project while the potential environmental impacts relate to plantation operations and therefore could be mitigated through good management. Top priorities in the social area include the need for Stora Enso to intensify communication with local communities (potentially 100,000 households in land leasing alone) to ensure that information reaches all levels of affected communities effectively and transparently. Meyer emphasized that community-oriented investments are crucially important to create local employment and wealth, while sustaining the environment. "UNDP hopes the ESIA and the MOU can help Stora Enso make a positive contribution to the expanding estate of commercial plantations in China and offer a benchmark for operational best practices for large-scale investment projects. It may also play a role in Chinese Government's goal of establishing criteria for "Green GDP," a development concept strengthening effective biodiversity management, and mainstreaming biodiversity in the planning and investment process," he said. For more information, please contact: Zhang Wei United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Tel: +86-10-6532-3731 ext.228 Fax: +86-10-6532-2567 Email: wei.zhang@undp.org SOURCE United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
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