[CivilSoc] Web Based Conference: The Financial Aspect of Cleaner Production

[Alison Evans]

EnviroDialogue 2001:
The Financial Aspect of Cleaner Production
The What, Why and How of Finance in Cleaner Production as Applied to
Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States
An initiative of: United States Agency for International Development
Bureau  for Europe & Eurasia
Environment and Natural Resources Division
Implemented by:
Environmental Information Systems Network
The United States Agency for International Development will be hosting a
series of free, on-line discussion sessions on the financial aspects of
cleaner production on July 31, September 11, and October 23, 2001 from
12:00 to 14:00 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).  The intention is to assist
people in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Newly Independent
States (NIS) in thinking about how to factor finance into their cleaner
production project planning.
Despite proven ability to cut costs and increase profits, cleaner
production projects are often difficult to sell to both company
management and financial institutions.  This is not only because of
misconceptions about them but also because these projects are often not
prepared with financial issues in mind.  Our aim is to explain the
various financial aspects of cleaner production to participants, and
allow them to discuss solutions to specific problems with expert
panelists.  We hope that, in the future, participants will take this
financial knowledge and factor it into their cleaner production project
planning.  We anticipate that this attention to the financial
perspective will elicit more favorable decisions by both company
management and financial institutions when considering these project
proposals.
The discussion sessions will be entirely cost-free and accessed through
a specially created web site, www.envirodialogue2001.net.  The web site
will also house a number of relevant case studies and an essay on each
of the three topic areas identified below.  The discussion session
themes and dates are listed below:
1. July 31: Getting Started, Management and Environmental Accounting
2. September 11: Money Saved is Money Made, Creating a Financial
Analysis of a Cleaner Production Project
3. October 23: Obtaining External Financing
Each discussion will be conducted from 12:00 to 14:00 GMT.
We invite all to participate, but would like to specifically invite
those from the CEE and NIS.  If you would like to participate go to
www.envirodialogue2001.net at the above time and dates.  To get the most
out of the discussions, we urge you to visit the website a week or two
beforehand to review the essays and case studies.  If you have any
questions about participating or any difficulty accessing the web site,
please contact Alison Evans at email: aevans@devtechsys.com, telephone:
202 223 4405 or fax: 202 223 4401.