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The Tokyo Appeal:
Towards an Industrial Agenda for Sustainable Development

Tokyo, 10 September 1993

At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, the United Nations adopted Agenda 21, a blueprint for concerted action to achieve sustainable development, and in its Chapter 30 called on industry and business to "be [full partners] in the implementation of sustainable development," a strategy for social and economic development which does not jeopardize the Earth's environmental integrity.

We recognize that in recent years, business and industry have made significant efforts towards reducing the impact of industrial activities on the environment, including the investment of considerable resources into the development of environmental management systems and environmentally benign technologies. Yet, we acknowledge the need to further define the role of business and industry in implementing policies for sustainable development.

The next step for business and industry, one year after the Rio Earth Summit, is to operationalize their role towards achieving Sustainable Development by creating an Industrial Agenda 21 which includes quantifiable and measurable objectives.

The Industrial Agenda 21 should be set by the industry of each country taking into account cultural, social and technological differences, and the needs of other sectors. These efforts might eventually lead to a Global Industrial Agenda 21.

We believe that the challenge of sustainable development requires not only improved in-house environmental performance, but also active and responsible involvement by corporations in their local communities and at the regional and global levels. As a part of this involvement, we believe that the development of creative partnerships between small and large companies and between business and other sectors is essential to the successful implementation of the Industrial Agenda.

For example, we encourage co-operation with local authorities worldwide, recognizing their efforts to implement Local Agenda 21. We also recognize the special needs of developing countries and call upon industry to encourage capacity-building. In addition, governments need to help create a stable economic and political framework compatible with the goals of sustainable development, and which is introduced in reasonable and predictable steps.

Therefore, we call upon all interested corporations and industrial and commercial organizations to participate in a process of dialogue to define this agenda, and encourage individual business sectors or corporations to create their own Industrial Agendas for Sustainable Development.

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