Sustainability key to success

Two votes in recent days suggest the public and business are warming to making sustainability the driving force in our economy. The reality, though, is more complex and less optimistic.

Last Saturday the public had their say. As a result, the Greens lifted its share of the party vote to 10.62% from 6.4% in 2008. With 13 MPs in the new parliament it will become a more powerful advocate for the environment in the political arena.

Super city option in report to mayors

Turning the Wellington region into a super-city with one ruling council is among options suggested in a new report commissioned by mayors.

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The PricewaterhouseCoopers report – the first to explore the region's governance structure – also suggests downtown Wellington could have special status in relation to other CBDs. The significance of this is not made clear.

The paper focuses on issues and opportunities facing all nine councils in the region, but not on the development of different council structures – although six options are floated.

The key conclusion is that the current structure "is not a sustainable option in the longer term".

Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown would not rule out any of the options in the report. "At this stage I'm neither ruling out keeping the existing political boundaries nor the possibility of change.

"I am sceptical about any wholesale amalgamation but will wait to see what the public has to say."

Wellington City Council's website would link to the report and from today people were invited to give views in an unofficial consultation period extending through to February, Ms Wade-Brown said.

17th ASEAN Summit promotes sustainable development

The 17th ASEAN Summit and other related meetings from October 28-30 is highly significant for the on-going process of building an ASEAN community by 2015.

The three-day event will see 11 major meetings, including the 17^th ASEAN Summit, the regular ASEAN+1 Summit with partners, such as including China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and India, as well as with Russia, Australia, New Zealand and the United Nations; the ASEAN+3 Summit (with China, Japan and the Republic of Korea), and the fifth East Asia Summit.

The summit will be attended by 18 leaders of ASEAN member countries and the bloc's partners plus the United Nations Secretary General. For the first time, the Russian Foreign Minister and the US Secretary of State will also attend the East Asia Summit as special guests.
At these summits, ASEAN and its partners will discuss ways of developing each country and for the sake of peace and stability in the region and the world.
ASEAN 17- the last ASEAN summit in 2010, will build on previous achievements and the theme of 'Toward an ASEAN community – from vision to action'.
ASEAN leaders will discuss measures to accelerate the creation of an ASEAN community, strengthen regional connections and implement the ASEAN Charter.
The summit will discuss how to cement ties between ASEAN and its partners. It will also discuss and work out measures to raise the bloc's capacity to cope with emerging challenges such as post-economic crisis recovery, sustainable development, climate change, natural disasters, epidemics, and environmental degradation.
At other related meetings, they will mull over practical measures to maintain the ASEAN+1, ASEAN+3 and the East Asia Summit (EAS) in which ASEAN plays a central role. Especially, at the EAS summit as ASEAN leaders will officially invite Russia and the US to take part from 2011. >>>