Address by Mr Noel Treacy, T.D.,Minister for Science, Technology and Commerceat the 6th Forfás National Innovation Conferenceregarding ‘Innovation for Sustainability’on Monday 4th December 2000

I am very pleased to be with you all here today at the Sixth National Innovation Conference which is organised annually by Forfás. This year, you have selected a challenging topic – sustainable development – around which to base your discussions, and I have been listening with great interest to the outcome of those discussions.

As your Chairman Mr. Peter Cassells probably explained this morning – this Conference provides an opportunity for enterprises to share their views with those charged with both policy formulation and implementation.

As I listened to the Workshop Conclusions, so clearly and succinctly presented by your excellent Chairpersons, I was struck by what seemed to me to be the overall conclusion that, here in Ireland we still have some distance to go before society and the enterprise sector fully subscribe to an eco-efficient culture.

I commend Forfás for seeking to develop, through this National Innovation Conference, a shared understanding about ‘sustainable development’ which, despite the widely accepted Bruntland Commission definition can, I believe, still mean different things to different people.

Sustainability – or the capacity for continuance – is a concept of critical importance to all of us – whether as an individual wishing to leave to our children a clean and plentiful environment, or as a company aiming to have a long and purposeful future or even a government committed to the achievement of a peaceful, dignified and equitable existence for all of its citizens.

Significant further progress towards sustainable development based on high standards of living and quality of life will only be achieved through continued innovation in the ways that we live and the tools that we use to achieve an appropriate standard of living. In part, this innovation will be made possible through the developments in science and technology that can trigger step changes in approach when successfully brought to the market.

Technology must not be regarded simply as "hardware" but capability and knowledge embedded in people and institutions. Innovation incorporates not only the tangible knowledge provided by science but also the tacit knowledge created by experience. However, science and technology only makes change possible.

"Sustainable Development is development which meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

I would now like to turn to some of the measures which our Government has been taking to facilitate sustainable development:-

In 1997, this Government published a Sustainable Development strategy document for all sectors of Irish society. This represents a comprehensive statement of the Government’s commitment to addressing the issue of sustainable development.

We have set up Comhar, the National Sustainable Development Partnership, which advises Government on the implementation of the 1997 Strategy on Sustainable Development. Comhar is a forum for national consultation and dialogue on all issues surrounding Ireland’s pursuit of sustainable development.

Another recent Government initiative was the incorporation of the sustainable development principle in the planning process. The Planning Development Act, 2000 provides that planning authorities must take account of sustainable development issues in considering applications for development.

The Irish Government is strongly committed to addressing the causes of climate change, which has been so much in the news in recent weeks. Despite the unfortunate breakdown of the talks in The Hague, the Irish National Climate Change strategy, launched just over a month ago, must be implemented to ensure that Ireland complies with its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. While industry as a sector is not the major producer of greenhouse gases, considerable adjustment in the use of resources and business practices will be required. I am confident that Irish business will play their part in this process.

In this regard it is very heartening to see that so many Irish companies have put an Environmental Management System in place to improve their environmental performance while at the same time maintaining and improving business competitiveness. This shows an increasing awareness by companies across all sectors that an effective environmental management system will reap commercial and goodwill benefits.

The Sustainable Innovation approach has considerable effects on the total product development process. Most important is the stronger focus on consumer aspects and the increased involvement of strategic management. It is clear that there is a necessity for sustainable issues to be integrated at all levels of planning and decision making throughout the company. Only then can sustainability translate into enhanced shareholder value whether it is achieved through innovation, market advantages, cost efficiency or reputation.

I believe that we will continue to see a shift from a situation where the environment and sustainable development are seen as risk factors by Business to a situation where they are instead seen as opportunities and sources of competitive advantage.

The issue of sustainable development permeates all aspects of life and society. A current issue of concern to us all, and which I am happy to see Commissioner David Byrne taking decisive action on, is the question of the incidence of BSE in cattle and associated human health risks. From the start Irish Government policy in relation to BSE has been based on a transparent approach with consumers and the taking of the maximum action to ensure that human health is protected and that consumers can enjoy with confidence wholesome food produced here. Given that we are the largest exporter of beef in Europe it is imperative that the co-ordinated Europe-wide approach, which Commissioner Byrne has been initiating in order to eliminate BSE and to restore European consumer confidence in beef, is supported and pursued with the utmost vigour.

In the midst of our economic success, it is sometimes easy to overlook the enormity of the change that has taken place here in Ireland in a relatively short space of time. In less than a generation, we have effectively moved from being primarily a producer of agricultural commodities to one of the most vibrant, export-led, high-technology economies in the world with a portfolio of products from very diverse sectors, many of which did not even exist in this country a decade or two ago.

Today, the environment represents one of the biggest possibilities for technical and leadership-based innovation – and for profitable companies – which the world has ever witnessed.

So, there can be no ‘business as usual’. Innovative thinking is needed to address the challenges of the future including the challenge of sustainable development. As Albert Einstein said: "Today’s problems cannot be solved by thinking the way we thought when we created them."

Ladies and Gentlemen – I would like to thank all of the Speakers for giving of their time to address this Conference. I would like to thank all of the participants for taking part in the worthwhile discussions and finally, I would also like to thank Mr. Peter Cassells, Chairman of Forfás, Mr John Travers, Chief Executive of Forfás and all of the staff at Forfás for organising this conference.