THE region’s corporate sector must reject a “business as usual stance” if economic and social sustainability is to be achieved, Barbados Ambassador to the United States Michael King has said.

Speaking at the Jamaica Institute of Environmental Professionals (JIEP) third annual Conference on the Environment at the Jamaica Pegasus on Tuesday, Ambassador King said institutions like the University of the West Indies (UWI) had an important role to play in “harnessing the skills of Caribbean professionals for sustainable business”.

“The UWI needs to fully exercise the leadership role that is expected of it and urge the adoption of the critical and timely policy reforms that are required for sustainable business,” he said, adding that the institution was “a veritable and outstanding success story”.

He was speaking to the conference theme ‘Business & Sound Environmental Management in the Caribbean – What Makes it Work?’ According to King, businesses cannot become sustainable by themselves but relied heavily on innovation, imagination and skills, as well as vision and values to create a potent strategy.

He said in order to develop its graduates, the university has to lead by example by ‘going green’ by adopting sustainable energy policies and practices, by implementing waste recycling, reuse and recovery programmes and by setting up an active renewable energy research programme across the region.”

The ambassador also called for the negotiating skills of Caribbean professionals in the area of sustainable development, to be developed along the lines of what currently obtains in the area of trade negotiations.

In her remarks, JIEP president, Denise Forrest said she hoped “the conference will move the dialogue into a new understanding of synergies, opportunities and challenges that await businesses” that adopt environmentally friendly practices.