SEED INITIATIVE LAUNCHES FIRST CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL SCHEME TO SUPPORT ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT ENTREPRENEURS

Seed Initiative Launches First Call for Submissions for International Scheme

to Support Environment and Development Entrepreneurs

(Reissued as received.)

NEW YORK, 27 April (UNEP) –- The Seed Initiative tonight launched the inaugural call for submissions for the Seed Awards –- a partnership development scheme to support entrepreneurship for environment and development.  The launch coincided with the twelfth Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and took place here at the German Permanent Mission to the United Nations.

Since its launch earlier this year with simultaneous events at the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India, and the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Seed Initiative –- a joint undertaking of IUCN – The World Conservation Union, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Stakeholder Forum -- has developed into a powerful partnership for “Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and Development”, from which the initiative takes its name.

At the launch reception, Jürgen Trittin, German Minister for the Environment, noted that the idea for the Seed Initiative had originated within his Ministry before the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg and congratulated the partners for their significant and rapid progress.

The speakers at the reception made clear that the Seed Initiative focuses on “business as unusual” –- a concept that captures the range of innovative action that is increasingly delivering solutions through cooperation among small and large businesses, local and international non-governmental organizations, women’s groups, labour organizations, public authorities, United Nations agencies, and others working in the field of sustainable development.

Through the Seed Awards scheme, intensive capacity-building, and a strong research agenda, the Seed Initiative will stimulate and build the capacity of nascent entrepreneurial partnerships working on the ground, create a conduit for investment into partnerships, disseminate good practice and lessons-learned, and generate evidence-based research to assist policy makers.

Speaking at the launch reception, UNEP Executive Director Klaus Töpfer said the Initiative “can serve as inspiration for others, displaying the business case for sustainable development at the local level”.  He added that the initiative would also make an invaluable contribution to the delivery of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and the World Summit for Sustainable Development Plan of Implementation.

In his address, Shoji Nishimoto, Assistant Administrator of UNDP and Leader of the agency’s Bureau for Development Policy, welcomed the Seed Initiative’s exciting approach to linking large and small entrepreneurs in developing countries and to building entrepreneurship “from the bottom up”.  He also noted that creation of a supportive political and economic environment for successful local entrepreneurship will be critical to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

In a detailed presentation on the Seed Awards scheme, IUCN Director-General Achim Steiner gave several examples of the types of creative partnership activities that the Seed Initiative will help to develop and thrive.  Among these examples was a network of women slum dwellers in India that is collaborating with British engineers and a French water company to improve water delivery in their communities.  In another case, a consortium of European companies is working with coffee farmers and the Ecuadorian Government to ensure that pesticides do not contaminate water supplies.  And in South Africa, small business owners are working with women’s cooperatives and the Government to test market solar technologies in rural areas.

Speaking at the event, Lord Holme, of Partnerships Central, and Felix Dodds, of Stakeholder Forum, stated that the Seed Initiative and the Seed Awards come at a perfect time.  There has never been a more urgent need for local entrepreneurial capacity-building and for recognition of those innovative partnerships that work together to ensure sustainable use of natural resources.  They also outlined the tremendous benefits that will be made available to Award-winning partnerships.  Whether they are community groups, businesses, workers’ organizations or local authorities, each winner will receive crucial support in developing business plans, seeking funding and setting up partnerships.

In addition to developing the Seed Awards scheme, the Seed Initiative will also incorporate a strong research and analysis stream.  This work will be undertaken by the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi), headed by Wolfgang Reinicke, and will build on, and learn from, emerging partnerships to reduce barriers and formulate new solutions to sustainability questions.

“Partnerships between non-governmental organizations, governments, and companies are generating new ideas on how to balance economic, social and environmental needs in a sustainable way”, said IUCN’s Achim Steiner.  “However, not many people know about their success, why they are important, or how partnerships may be useful in their own communities.”  The Seed Initiative will play a central role in spreading partnership success stories and in recognizing, documenting, and learning from new innovations.

The first deadline for submissions for the Seed Awards is 15 August 2004.

Background Notes

The Seed Initiative is itself a multi-sector partnership including the IUCN - The World Conservation Union, the United Kingdom-based non-governmental organization Stakeholder Forum for Our Common Future, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).  It is supported by the German Ministry for the Environment and the Global Compact Office of the United Nations Secretary-General.

The initiative is run in collaboration with Partnerships Central and GPPi.  Financial support for the Initiative is sought from the donor community.

Further Information for Journalists

For more information on the New York launch reception event, please contact Darian Stibbe, Seed Focal Point at tel.: +44 797 495 1892.  At UNEP, contact: Robert Bisset in Paris at tel.: +33 1 4437 7613, mobile: +33 6 2272 5842, e-mail: robert.bisset@unep.fr.  Full information about the Seed Award can be found at: http://seedinit.org/mainpages.

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