Environmentalists and builders. To most they are as compatible as bulls and china shops, but Ian Kiernan is living proof that they are not always opposites.
TOKYO — Environmentalists and builders. To most they are as compatible as bulls and china shops, but Ian Kiernan is living proof that they are not always opposites.
Best known for his founding of Australian nonprofit environmental organization Clean Up Australia, the former multimillionaire Sydney builder wears many hats, ranging from philanthropist to company director to yachtsman.
It was in his role as a green technology promoter that the 64-year-old Australian recently came to Japan as head of the Australian government's environment products and services mission to 2005 World Exposition Aichi.
Speaking to his team of businesspeople and trade officials ahead of their departure to Aichi Prefecture, Kiernan himself pointed out the seemingly inherent conflict between business and the environment.
"I guess you'd find it a bit odd that someone in the construction industry would become an environmentalist, but what that means is anyone can become an environmentalist," he said.
Highlighting the threat posed by global warming, Kiernan said business "has a huge role to play in the salvation of the environment. It is business that is going to see opportunities in fixing environmental problems and making money at the same time, and that's a very good equation to me." Such talk may be heresy to the more extremist members of the green movement. But for someone who has dirtied his hands in cleaning up countless beaches, harbors and rivers, Kiernan and his NPO see business as part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Green for growth Later, in an interview with The Daily Yomiuri, Kiernan said he had jumped at the chance to lead the mission of 10 Australian environmental technology firms to an exposition based on the idea of learning from nature. Rather than just selling products though, he was selling a whole philosophy.
"If I just change five people's attitudes to make them realize the huge opportunities in sustainable business practices, in cleaning up the environment, if I can do that then I'm doing my job," he said.
The already huge opportunities in Japan's ecobusiness market are set to get even bigger.
According to the Japan External Trade Organization, a 2003 Environment Ministry survey forecast that the market would grow from ¥28.9 trillion in 2000 to ¥47.2 trillion in 2010, aided by a 2000 law on the development of a recycling-based society. With 450 million tons of waste generated every year, there are considerable opportunities in environmental technology, something the government identified in 2001 as one of Japan's eight most important business sectors.
As the host of the Kyoto Protocol, Japan has played a leading role in addressing climate change, and the Japanese business community has been catching on fast. JGC Corp., Marubeni Corp. and Daioh Construction Co. have announced a ¥1 billion investment to acquire greenhouse gas emission rights from China, while Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.'s groundbreaking work on fuel-cell cars has led the global industry.
While Australia's environmental technology sector may be dwarfed by Japan's, Kiernan and Austrade official Elizabeth Dwyer, an export adviser in major projects and infrastructure, said innovative Australian firms of all sizes could tap into niche areas.
Six Australian environmental technology firms were among the recipients of Aichi Expo's Global 100 Eco-Tech Awards, including Medivac Ltd., which offers clinical waste management services for hospitals, and Origin Energy Solar, a manufacturer of photovoltaic solar cells.
Among those on the mission, Dwyer said HydroDec had developed a way of commercializing PCB-contaminated oil, enabling companies to reuse it without polluting the atmosphere.
Amid an increased focus on corporate costs, Kiernan hailed the work of Rotary Heat Exchangers, a firm that takes the energy out of air conditioners and uses it as power to cool down buildings.
"Just in building management, if companies do this heat transfer through air-conditioning, it will save them millions of yen. It's about smart management--you're reducing greenhouse gases and improving your bottom line," he said.
For those in big business unwilling to face reality, Kiernan had a harsh message.
"Climate change is happening--we're going to see rising sea levels. What are they going to say to their investors, shareholders and stock markets when the four-wheel drives are floating around in the car park and there's 300 millimeters of water in the marble foyers of their multistory buildings?" he asked.
Dirty about rubbish Kiernan gained international fame after organizing a cleanup of Sydney Harbour in 1989. Appalled by the rubbish he saw in the world's oceans during his participation in a round-the-world yacht race, he was determined to make a difference in his own backyard.
When 40,000 volunteers turned out, he found that the rest of the community shared his concern. Next month, Clean Up the World, the global arm of Clean Up Australia that is supported by American actress Bette Midler, among others, expects to see 35 million volunteers removing rubbish in 110 countries in the Sept. 16-18 event.
Now decorated as an officer of the Order of Australia, Australian National Living Treasure and recipient of the U.N. Sasakawa Environment Prize, Kiernan is using his influence to pursue new areas, including helping businesses address the problem at the source. As chairman of the government-funded Community Research Centre for Waste Management and Pollution Control, in addition to serving as a director of venture capital firm CVC Reef Ltd. and other bodies, he has pushed green technology at every opportunity.
Backed by Japanese companies including Duskin Corp., Toyota and Canon Inc., his NPO has grown to pursue new areas such as the Fix Up campaign, which he described as "the community coming to us with an environmental problem and then us going to the owners of the problem, going to industry and seeing if we can resolve it using technology." Sydney's landmark Taronga Zoo was one such beneficiary, with the group helping it to build a state-of-the-art wastewater system that has saved it 200,000 Australian dollars (U.S.$150,000) a year in freshwater purchases.
"When I think with my simple builder's mind of the cause of environmental problems, I get back to two basic factors: greed and ignorance. Ignorance is the opportunity for us to change behavior through education. Greed is more difficult, but if you can manage greed so a company does better in business because it lifts its environmental practice, and puts more pressure on the bigger polluter, then that's a model I really like," he said.
Saving the world couldn't sound any simpler.
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Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Businss News
