Foreword:

Rhodri Morgan, First Minister for Wales

“Promoting Environmental Sustainability”

We all now accept that our activities of 'today' have the potential to impact adversely on our ability to carry out our activities of 'tomorrow' - climate change, the depletion of resources and the impacts we have on the natural environment are becoming significant issues in respect of our future quality of life - our real standard of living.

Almost daily we are all being encouraged at home, work and in the community to take action so as to address this most challenging agenda. I believe that, here in Wales, we are ahead of the game not only through our own statutory duty to promote sustainable development but also through the many and effective partnerships which have been forged to improve our environmental & sustainability footprints.

I have no doubts that partnership will play a crucial role in tackling these challenges and opportunities. Our other initiatives in areas of energy management, resource efficiency and sustainable procurement are already providing practical solutions to improving our environmental sustainability.

Others are making significant contributions not least of which are businesses which are playing their part in responding positively to addressing their environmental & sustainable impacts; indeed, these Annual Awards have show-cased many examples of best practice here in Wales over the last decade or so. But as we all know, there is no quick fix - environmental sustainability will remain an enormous challenge for many years.

The future, however, remains bright - in Wales, we have the intellectual & business skills to exploit the opportunities arising specifically from the challenges of resource efficiency and climate change; we have the declared commitment of Government and the public sector to put in place the frameworks which will facilitate changed behaviour; and we have additional financial resources in the Regional Funds Programmes to support all these endeavours. The future is in our own hands.

I regret that I am unable to be with you in person but I wish you all an enjoyable evening and I take this opportunity to extend my own personal congratulations to all that are involved in the proceedings - whether as finalists, winners, sponsors and guests - and, of course, to ARENA Network who have organised the event since it was first launched some 10 years ago. Have a happy 10th anniversary.

Rhodri Morgan
First Minister for Wales