"
For the past ten years, Orée has been bringing companies
and community authorities together to reflect on how these participants
can consider the needs of the environment, particularly through
environment management and its application on a territorial
scale.
"
One of the driving forces of this activity consists in aiding
small and medium-sized companies and industries to integrate
this parameter over the long term, particularly by involving
them in community actions.
"Orée brings together all the parties involved in
this work, particularly environment protection and consumer
affairs associations, along with economic, public, and institutional
organizations.
"Orée
coordinates campaigns to promote an economy that is in the service
of human beings. It is a constructive site for dialogue and
collaborative action by all parties concerned, as well as a
source of information about and assistance with integration
of environment protection and social criteria in decision-making
mechanisms, with due consideration for economic realities; involvement
in collaboration processes that respect differences among the
members of society; promotion of experiments that may demonstrate
the legitimacy of proposals made by the members as well as by
other parties involved and assist in the sharing of good practicies
that may have been identified; and representation of embers,
expression of their concerns, and formulation of proposals on
the institutional level.
"Groups of activities constituting a meeting point for
companies, authorities, associations, and managers also represent
for Orée and its members a ‘vast laboratory of
analysis and detection’ of intersecting themes: community
management, collaboration, transportation media, and risks...This
synergy between enterprises and community authories enables
Orée to assist enterprises, particularly small and medium-sized
companies and industries, to develop their environment protection
policies, which include ways of increasing awareness on the
part of personnel, suppliers, and sub-contractors, furnishing
information to consumers, involving sites and subsidiaries,
and considering environment protection needs in the designing
of products...
"Orée offers assistance and tools for effective
action in environment management, including a department dedicated
to activities and industrial ecology,...assistance with land-use
issues and implementation of group activities, and thematic
networks for national, European and international exchanges."
(Excerpted from the Web site at www.oree.org)
As
part of its sustainable development activity, SMA has decided
to further reduce its impact on the environment and to complete
the consistency of its action by offsetting the greenhouse gas
emissions resulting frfom its activity, in order to become CO2
neutral.
The
Firm has thus become a member of Climat Mundi (www.climatmundi.fr).
By purchasing reductions equivalent to its annual level of CO2
emissions, the Firm contributes to the funding of highly efficient
cooking stoves in Eritrea by replacing traditional wood cooking
stoves by highly efficient wood stoves for Eritrean people with
low resources, thus improving the living conditions of families
and allowing to fight against desertification.
The
bearer of the action is the Energy Research and Training Centre
(ERTC), which is part of the Eritrean Government's Department
of Energy. The CO2 reduction calculations are carried out by
the Berkeley Lab, of the University of California, according
to a methodology based on the tools provided by The united Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
"
Plant for the Planet : Billion Trees Campaign"
A campaign lead by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Savin
Martinet Associés along with Planete Urgence, has committed
itself to thiscampaign, by financing the plantation of 2008
trees in Indonesia and 2008 trees in Mali as part of the following
projects :
-
"1
million trees in Mali" Project
Objectives : improve life quality and living conditions
of local populations; diversity vegetation; prepare the
population and nature for climate changes.
-
"5 million trees in Indonesia, Sumatra"
Project
Objectives : rehabilitate mangrove zones; ensure environmental
sustainability; sensitize the populations to the protection
of their ecosystem.
"
Achats Concept Éco is an organizer, promoter, and facilitator
of ecologically responsible procurement. Our eco-citizen reference
center develops a simple, unique, and pragmatic response to
the question of how to reconcile cost containment and needs
for improvements on the environmental, ethical, and social levels.
"We
begin by drafting rigorous specifications, and then apply environment-protection
criteria in selecting for our members suppliers in areas as
varied as office management, transportation, printing, office
supplies and furnishings, energy, cleaning, vehicles, and any
other vital service or goods.
"As in the case of any reference center, the work of Achats
Concept Eco is based on the establishment of cooperative arrangements
for non-strategic and general procurement in order to negotiate
preferential terms and conditions and save precious time for
its members.
"Approved
suppliers are chosen on the basis of their overall sustainable
development strategy, the ecological characteristics of their
products and services, their orientation toward clean and renewable
sources of energy, and their commitment to waste recycling.
"Approved suppliers sign an annual standard contract in
which they agree to comply with the clauses of the approval
charter, and specifically, to offer products that are respectful
of the environment and which are manufactured under conditions
that respect human dignity, to encourage their own suppliers
to support the cause of environment protection, to make commitments
with respect to the quality of the products offered, and to
allow their customers to be contacted by Achats Concept Eco
for purposes of evaluating the quality of their service."
(Excerpted from the Web site at www.achats-eco.com
)
The
Savin Martinet Associés law firm is a member of Agrion,
an association which purpose is to federate all the professionals
concerned and interested in issus regarding energy, materials
and sustainable development, with an objective of worldwide
development. agrion is managed directly by its members who define
together the subjects and formats of the commissions and publications.
"The
Comité français pour l'environnement et le développement
durable [French Committee for Sustainable Development and the
Environment] was established in 1995 to promote Agenda 21 in
France. This program of activities for the twenty-first century,
ratified at the Rio Earth Summit, calls upon the international
community to participate in the changes needed in order to preserve
the planet and to design a sustainable development process that
is more responsible, more equitable, and more humane.
"As
its contribution to the realization of Agenda 21 in France ,
Comité 21 has mobilized decision-makers on the public,
private, and association levels of French society, and has organized
them into panels composed of companies, territorial authorities,
associations, public institutions, research and education organizations,
and the media. Its missions are to promote participation by
every member of society in the sustainable development process,
assist its members in implementation of the process, and encourage
them to increase their commitments.
"To
carry out these tasks, Comité 21 assists its members
in implementating sustainable development processes, including
increasing national awareness, identifying strategic and managerial
goals, selecting participants from within the network of members,
and participating in territorial and academic Agendas 21.
"Comité 21 leads groups composed of representatives
of each panel concerned with high-quality environment-protection
standards in buildings, approaches to climatic changes, implementation
of Agenda 21 on the territorial level, corporate/community partnerships,
collaboration in enterprises with participants, durable procurement
and sustainable development management, education for sustainable
development, and other aspects.These groups help to create bonds
of cooperation among members and to identify the most innovative
exchanges of experiences.
"Comité 21 is a source of proposals for its members.
Its proposals have included The Charter of Decentralized Cooperation
for Sustainable Development, developed together with the Association
française du conseil des communes et régions d'Europe
(AFCCRE) [French Association for the Council of Municipalities
and Regions of Europe] and Cités Unies France (2003);
the Comité 21 Charter (2004); and the Declaration of
Responsible Procurement (2005). Its books and publications include
the International Atlas of Sustainable Development
(Editions Autrement); Achats et développement durable:
enjeux, méthodologie et initiatives [Procurement
and Sustainable Development: Goals, Methods, and Initiatives]
(Editions AFNOR), and Les territoires inventent l'avenir
[Inventing the Future: The Work of the Territories] (Dexia
et Victoires Editions).It sponsors two series: Entreprises
et développement durable [Sustainable Development
for Companies] and Territoires et développement durable
[Sustainable Development for the Territories], with three
volumes published to date.It organizes monthly meetings and
discussions that bring members together with institutional,
economic, and scientific decision-makers, including government
ministers, corporate and association executives, politicians,
and other key figures...." (Excerpted from the Web site
at www.comite21.org
)
