Stora Enso, the huge Finnish-Swedish multinational paper products
group, which has acquired 34,000 hectares of land in China’s Guangxi province,
is linking up with the United Nations Development Programme to improve its environmental and social corporate practice.
The project, due to last five years, follows an environmental and
social impact assessment of Stora Enso’s forest plantation in the
province. It aims to conserve biodiversity and foster social
development through information centres and health, water, hygiene,
education and skills programmes.
At the same time more than 100 international business leaders and
government representatives have met in Beijing to tackle the HIV and
Aids problem under the auspices of the United Nations Development
Programme, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and
the Global Business Coalition.
Staff and workplace policies were high on the agenda, including the
need to educate people on discrimination against employees with
HIV/AIdss. Constance Thomas, director of the International Labour
Organization for China and Mongolia, said: ‘The workplace is an
important and ideal setting where reliable information on HIV and Aids
prevention can be disseminated to the working people, especially to
those who may be engaging in behaviour that puts them at risk of
becoming infected by HIV.’
