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02 December 2006
State Department To Lead Partnership for Sustainable Development
Will chair organization that supports entrepreneurs for environment and development
Washington – The U.S. Department of State has assumed chairmanship of an innovative public-private partnership for sustainable development known as Seed (Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and Development), according to a December 1 announcement.
Seed, which derives from of the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, seeks to build support for local entrepreneurial initiatives and partnerships around the world that balance requirements for environmental protection with the need for sustainable economic growth. Seed participants include the World Conservation Union, the U.N. Environment Programme, the U.N. Development Programme, Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Swiss Reinsurance Company.
Jonathan Margolis, U.S. special representative for sustainable development, will serve a one-year term as chairman of the Seed board of directors.
“As host organization, the World Conservation Union wishes to congratulate Mr. Jonathan Margolis of the United States Department of State as incoming chair on his election and underline our strong commitment to the Initiative,” Ibrahim Thiaw, acting director-general of the World Conservation Union, said December 1.
“By supporting locally driven, sustainable partnerships, the Seed initiative is an important vehicle to practically advance the goals agreed under the Millennium Declaration and Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. We expect that the United States will seek to further enhance the operations and outreach of Seed in order to make it even more successful in achieving these goals,” Thiaw added.
Additional information about Seed is available on the organization’s Web site.
The full text of the announcement is available on the State Department Web site.
For more information on the U.S. role in promoting sustainable development, including a State Department fact sheet, see Sustainable Development Partnerships.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
