FOURTH ANNUAL 'CLEAN UP THE WORLD' CAMPAIGN TO BE HELD OVER WEEKEND OF 20-22 SEPTEMBER

13 June 1996

Press Release
HE/934

FOURTH ANNUAL 'CLEAN UP THE WORLD' CAMPAIGN TO BE HELD OVER WEEKEND OF 20-22 SEPTEMBER

19960613 More Than 40 Million People from 110 Countries to Participate

NAIROBI, 12 June (UNEP) -- "As we move towards the start of the new millennium it is essential we begin to make amends for the environmental atrocities we have inflicted on the earth over the course of recent human history", Ian Kiernan said today, as he announced that the fourth annual Clean Up the World campaign would be held over the weekend of 20 to 22 September. Mr. Kiernan is Founder and Chairman of the event, which is organized in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

"Clean Up the World will strive to involve every country on earth by the year 2000 in the largest community event ever staged in human history", Mr. Kiernan said. More than 40 million people from towns and communities across at least 110 countries are expected to participate in the campaign this year. This year's campaign was officially launched by Mr. Kiernan and the Australian Federal Minister for the Environment, Senator Robert Hill, at the Australian National Maritime Museum today.

"The environment knows no boundaries", Mr Kiernan said. "We share the same oceans and the same air -- therefore it is essential we all take action to improve the state of our planet. We must ask ourselves what kind of world we want to live in -- and what kind of environment we wish to pass on to our children.

"The start of the new millennium is the perfect time to reflect on what we have done to our environment -- and what we can do to fix it. It will take the involvement and commitment of every country in the world if we are to address the environmental problems facing us -- which is why we will attempt to involve every nation in Clean Up the World by the year 2000", he said.

"The message of Clean Up the World is one of global citizenship -- a world of people caring for each other and for the world in which we live", Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme said. "Whoever we are, wherever we are and whatever we may do, we

all have an important stake in the success or failure of the environmental movement."

The campaign is funded this year for the second time through sponsorship by KPMG, an international financial services firm. "We are pleased to have KPMG as our principal sponsor", Mr. Kiernan said. "Its influence is broad-reaching and it is an excellent way of bringing the efforts of people to the attention of the business community." He also announced that the Discovery Channel, the world's largest producer of non-fiction entertainment, had become a supporting sponsor of Clean Up the World, joining QANTAS, Compaq and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia.

John Harkness, Executive Chairman of KPMG, pledged the firm's commitment to the environment and to support for the campaign. "It is vital that we respond to community needs and aspirations and demonstrate that we can make a positive contribution to our immediate community and to the world. It is important to be seen to be green, but even more so to stand by the ideological principles behind it", he said.

Mr. Kiernan is a solo yachtsman who became Chairman and Founder of Clean Up the World. Acting on the belief that the individual can make a difference, he has transformed the campaign, in seven years, from a local endeavour to the level of global community action. Speaking at today's ceremony, he welcomed a number of new countries to the campaign, including the Russian Federation. Also participating this year are Poland, Sierra Leone, the Netherlands Antilles, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.

More than two million Poles are expected to undertake a massive clean-up of their country over the weekend of 20 to 22 September. Later in June, Clean Up the World will hold its first regional meeting of Eastern European participants at Warsaw. Thereafter, similar conferences will be staged annually in different regions of the world.

In Sierra Leone, organizers plan to conduct a series of workshops involving community groups, teachers, government staff and religious leaders, to highlight the link between poor rubbish disposal and diseases such as malaria and cholera. In the Netherlands Antilles, tourism is vital to the economy of Bonaire. For that reason, locals plan to launch a major blitz on rubbish, which threatens to destroy the island's natural environment.

In Zimbabwe, the campaign continues to grow from strength to strength. In 1993, some 1,000 people were involved. Last year, that figure jumped to 1 million, and this year's figure is expected to be even higher. In Sri Lanka, university students in several regions will visit households to explain how waste dumped in the street can be reduced through composting or recycling.

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Many nations have also formed permanent organizations to work on longer-term strategies to tackle environmental problems. Under the banner of EcoPeace, several countries in the Middle East, including Jordan, Israel and Egypt, are working together to improve the state of the multi-bordered Gulf of Aqaba.

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Note:For further information, please contact Suzanne Houweling, Jacinta Lenehan or Kim McKay, at Clean Up the World, Australia. Phone: 61-2-552-2255. Fax: 61-2-562-1750.