JANUARY 2005 HEADLINES

Gleick Op-Ed in San Francisco Chronicle

The nations hit hardest by the recent tsunami face months if not years of rebuilding. But after those efforts wind down, areas of Asia and Africa will still face a serious water crisis that every year kills far more people than even the terrible tsunami disaster. An opinion essay by the Pacific Institute's President, Dr. Peter H. Gleick, makes the case that the United States, and other nations, should greatly increase long-term funding for water and sanitation projects to the region.

The essay, published in the January 5 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle, is now available on our website.

Top 10 Stories for 2004: Business Risks of Water

In other media news, the Pacific Institute was honored that our recent report on the business risks of water was included in GreenBiz founder Joel Makower's top-ten list of 2004 stories. "Water Becomes a Business Issue" was the number three story of 2004 according to Mr. Makower's list.

Institute Launches Pilot Project to Provide Public Access to Draft ISO Standards

As the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) continues to create new standards in the areas of corporate social responsibility and environmental management, the ability of the public and NGOs to participate becomes increasingly important. In an effort to improve public access to such standards, the Pacific Institute has reached a landmark agreement with ISO that makes draft ISO standards publicly available on the Institute's INNI website. The agreement creates a one-year pilot project that will conclude with a Pacific Institute report to ISO that tabulates downloads and evaluates lessons learned during the project.

"This agreement is a landmark victory for public interest organizations," said Jason Morrison, Director of the Institute's Economic Globalization and the Environment Program and Secretary for the International NGO Network on ISO (INNI), "because it is ISO's first recognition that as it moves into these new areas of social and environmental standardization, it faces a higher bar in terms of transparency and public accountability."

The ISO Draft International Standards are available from the Pacific Institute's INNI website.

ISO Approves Workplan to Improve NGO Participation

As a recent report by the Pacific Institute demonstrated, consultants and standards bureaucrats -- along with industry -- dominate the membership of the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) environmental management committee, Technical Committee 207. In part because of this, there has been growing recognition that ISO must bring more non-governmental organizations into the fold and in mid-December the national member bodies of TC 207 voted by a large margin to support Phase I of a workplan that seeks to enhance NGO involvement in the forum.

Key elements include establishing attendance metrics to track participation at TC 207 meetings according to stakeholder groups and compiling examples of successful efforts at the national level to incorporate the views of NGOs.

The work plan, developed by a task group chaired by Jason Morrison of the Institute and consisting of NGOs and representatives of the committee's leadership, will be implemented over the course of 2005 and is available online.