Viva green.Sustainable development Sustainable development is a socio-ecological process characterized by the fulfilment of human needs while maintaining the quality of the natural environment indefinitely. The linkage between environment and development was globally recognized in 1980, when the International Union , the idea that economic growth need not destroy the environment, has found a champion in Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. in Swiss business mogul Stephan Schmidheiny This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. . The 56-year-old philanthropist, environmentalist environmentalist a person with an interest and knowledge about the interaction of humans and animals with the environment. and business leader announced in Costa Rica Costa Rica (kŏs`tə rē`kə), officially Republic of Costa Rica, republic (2005 est. pop. 4,016,000), 19,575 sq mi (50,700 sq km), Central America. the creation of a new trust fund of US$1.1 billion in stock to finance community development, natural resource management and education projects in the Spanish-speaking world. Schmidheiny is creating the Viva Trust Fund from his own personal fortune. More than 70% of the fund--$800 million in stock--is coming from the transfer of all of Schmidheiny's shares in GrupoNueva, his Costa Rican conglomerate of construction, forestry and industrial companies that operates in 17 Latin American countries. The other $300 million in stock is being donated from other holdings in his personal investment portfolio. The fund will receive its liquid capital from dividends generated by GrupoNueva, which employs 15,000 people throughout Latin America and generates annual sales of $1 billion. The AVINA Foundation, Schmidheiny's 12 year-old sustainable development initiative, will manage Viva Trust. "By doing what I am doing, I hope to have the chance to experience in my lifetime [that] ideas like Viva spread," Schmidheiny says. |
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