12.04.2003 ET

(CSRwire) Vancouver, B.C. - The Globe Foundation of Canada is very pleased to announce Canadian businessman and environmentalist Maurice Strong as the chair of the opening plenary at GLOBE 2004 - March 31 - April 2 in Vancouver, B.C, Canada. The inclusion of Strong, who yesterday became the first non-American to win the prestigious Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal, reaffirms GLOBE as the most important conference on business and the environment.

"Maurice has been a strong supporter of GLOBE for many years and we have always valued his contribution and admired his commitment to international cooperation," said President and CEO John Wiebe. "Maurice is one of the most influential men in the world, and his involvement as a plenary speaker will be of significant value to our delegates. In the past thirty years, no single person has done more for the environment movement." On Wednesday, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences named Strong as this year's winner of its Public Welfare Medal. The announcement makes Strong the first foreign recipient of the medal, which the academy has awarded annually since 1914 to people who best use science to improve public welfare. The academy chose Strong because by linking scientific and technological resources, he demonstrated international leadership on environmental concerns.

Strong is currently the President of Council, University for Peace, San Jose, Costa Rica & Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations. He has also held the position of former senior advisor to the President of the World Bank and has had senior level positions in various companies, including Petro-Canada and Ontario Hydro. Strong has served as undersecretary general of the United Nations since 1985 and has worked closely with the scientific community on environmental and economic issues. In 1972, Strong was chief organizer and Secretary General of the UN Conference on the Environment in Stockholm, and later held the position of Secretary General of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro that led to international conventions on climate change and biodiversity.

GLOBE 2004 will be held from March 31 to April 2, 2004 at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre. GLOBE is the world1s largest environmental business summit, held biennially in Vancouver, Canada. GLOBE 2004 is the eighth in the GLOBE series, and represents the largest gathering of corporate leaders, policy makers and scientists in the "business of the environment."

For further information on GLOBE, visit www.globe2004.com.

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