IUCN will host over 100 events at World Summit

7 August 2002 - Daily Futures Dialogues, business opportunities, special launches and press events are some of the activities that will be going off at the IUCN Environment Centre in Johannesburg, a stone's throw from the Summit conference site.

Daily Futures Dialogues - open debates with leading figures from civil society and the public and private sector - on controversial and pertinent issues on the Summit agenda. Among the participants are Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, the chairman of Business Action for Sustainable Development, acclaimed Indian author and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy, and Green Cross President Mikhail Gorbachev.

The events will include:

• The Johannesburg Climate Legacy Ceremony to acknowledge corporate and individual commitments to offset the 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions generated by the Summit;
• Launch of the European Union Energy Initiative hosted by the Government of Denmark;
• Launch of the 2002 Reuters-IUCN Media Awards: The Best Summit Story, a worldwide competition for excellence in environmental reporting with a USD 5,000 cash prize;
• Presentation of W.K. Kellogg Project "There's Another Way That Works" - eight enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa that are making a difference, paving the way, and practicing sustainable development;
• Launch of the 2003 World Parks Congress by its Patrons Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan and Nelson Mandela;
• Launch of the Species Information Service - an innovative tool to bring conservation knowledge within everyone's reach;
• Launch of the Great Apes Survival Project with Leonardo diCaprio, and
• A relaxing time with SEKA theatre group from Zambia and singer Oliver Mtukudzi.

The IUCN Environment Centre is located within the Headquarters of Nedcor Bank Limited on 135 Rivonia Road, Sandton, Johannesburg, which is a 10-minute walk from the Convention Centre; across the street from the Hilton Hotel where the Business Action for Sustainable Development exhibition will take place; and 15 minutes by bus from the Ubuntu Village. Please note that entry to the IUCN Environment Centre may be gained with UN accreditation or Global Forum registration.

The IUCN Environment Centre programme is available online.

For more information contact: IUCN Communications, Tel: +41 22 999 0127; Mobile: +27 73 235 55 07
E-mail: press@iucn.org; Web: http://iucn.org