Today Online, Singapore : Shaming can lead to change, says Champion of the Earth

Today Online, Singapore : Shaming can lead to change, says Champion of the Earth

PUBLIC shaming might be an outdated practice in some countries, but it has been proven to work in the Philippines when tackling industries that pollute the environment.

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There are now strict environmental requirements for cities bidding to host the Olympic Games — compared to "10 years ago when the environment had very little to do with sports", said Mr Achim Steiner, Unep's executive director.

— Gracia Chiang

PUBLIC shaming might be an outdated practice in some countries, but it has been proven to work in the Philippines when tackling industries that pollute the environment.
The Ecowatch programme, which pushes for public disclosure of a company's environmental performance, helped Mrs Elisea ("Bebet") Gillera Gozun win a Champions of the Earth award, a yearly honour given out by the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep).
In town for the ceremony, the chairman of the Earth Day Network in the Philippines said: "Shame is something that people in Asia respond to."
Mrs Gozun worked on a colour-coding system that signalled how much damage a company was doing to the environment. Businesses would be given an initial confidential rating and six months to do something about it, and this usually saw "tremendous changes".
The former secretary for the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources also cited another public shaming exercise in the 1980s called "Dirty Dozen", where 12 of the most environmentally-unfriendly companies in the country had their owners' names splashed across newspaper front pages.
Out of embarrassment, the children of the owners of one textile company refused to go to school. The impact on the family was so "powerful" that the company went on to set up a voluntary organisation of industries for a clean environment.
Another award winner was Mr Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee since 2001, for his work in advancing the sport and environment agenda.
There are now strict environmental requirements for cities bidding to host the Olympic Games — compared to "10 years ago when the environment had very little to do with sports", said Mr Achim Steiner, Unep's executive director.
The other five award winners are Jordan's Prince Hassan bin Talal, former United States Vice-President Al Gore, Sweden's Ms Viveka Bohn, Algeria's Mr Cherif Rahmani and Brazil's Ms Marina Silva. — Gracia Chiang

PUBLIC shaming might be an outdated practice in some countries, but it has been proven to work in the Philippines when tackling industries that pollute the environment.

.

There are now strict environmental requirements for cities bidding to host the Olympic Games — compared to "10 years ago when the environment had very little to do with sports", said Mr Achim Steiner, Unep's executive director.

The other five award winners are Jordan's Prince Hassan bin Talal, former United States Vice-President Al Gore, Sweden's Ms Viveka Bohn, Algeria's Mr Cherif Rahmani and Brazil's Ms Marina Silva. — Gracia Chiang

PUBLIC shaming might be an outdated practice in some countries, but it has been proven to work in the Philippines when tackling industries that pollute the environment.

.

The Ecowatch programme, which pushes for public disclosure of a company's environmental performance, helped Mrs Elisea ("Bebet") Gillera Gozun win a Champions of the Earth award, a yearly honour given out by the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep).

In town for the ceremony, the chairman of the Earth Day Network in the Philippines said: "Shame is something that people in Asia respond to."

.

Mrs Gozun worked on a colour-coding system that signalled how much damage a company was doing to the environment. Businesses would be given an initial confidential rating and six months to do something about it, and this usually saw "tremendous changes".

The former secretary for the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources also cited another public shaming exercise in the 1980s called "Dirty Dozen", where 12 of the most environmentally-unfriendly companies in the country had their owners' names splashed across newspaper front pages.

.

Out of embarrassment, the children of the owners of one textile company refused to go to school. The impact on the family was so "powerful" that the company went on to set up a voluntary organisation of industries for a clean environment.

Another award winner was Mr Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee since 2001, for his work in advancing the sport and environment agenda.

.

There are now strict environmental requirements for cities bidding to host the Olympic Games — compared to "10 years ago when the environment had very little to do with sports", said Mr Achim Steiner, Unep's executive director.

The other five award winners are Jordan's Prince Hassan bin Talal, former United States Vice-President Al Gore, Sweden's Ms Viveka Bohn, Algeria's Mr Cherif Rahmani and Brazil's Ms Marina Silva.

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