Prosperity Needed to Ensure
Sustainable Development
The Parliamentary Commission
for the Environment’s (PCE) view that sustainable
development should be a higher priority than economic growth
is unwise and ignores fundamental realities of life, says
Tourism Industry Association Chief Executive John Moriarty.
In commenting on the PCE’s report “Creating our Future:
Sustainable Development for New Zealand”, Mr Moriarty says
that without business viability all concepts of sustainable
development take second place.
“While we welcome reports
that look at how to achieve balanced growth in New Zealand,
we suggest that these need to amplified with an
understanding that New Zealand must have growing prosperity
so that it continues to have the wealth to effectively
manage the environment that sustains us.”
Mr Moriarty says
that he is surprised that, based on TIANZ’s investigations,
no one in the tourism industry was consulted in the
preparation of the PCE report.
“In our industry, hundreds
of companies are already involved in tourism-specific
environmental initiatives, and our roadshows and conferences
are now ‘carbon neutral”. It is quite incomplete to suggest
that business is unaware of its responsibilities towards the
environment.”
Mr Moriarty urged the PCE to involve the
private sector more closely in its investigations.
“Such
involvement is critical to ensure that industry takes these
reports seriously, and has a stake in the recommendations of
any investigation. We don’t want reports gathering dust on
our
shelves.”
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