Strong, Maurice

<h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading">Maurice Strong</h1>

==<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chery">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chery</a>may 2010While the entire cable network world, thanks largely to The One Thing, now knows that <a href="http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/9629" title="Strong" style="text-decoration: none;">Strong</a> is on the <a href="http://www.chicagoclimateexchange.com/content.jsf?id=67" title="Chicago Carbon Credit Exchange board of directors">Chicago Carbon Credit Exchange board of directors</a>, it gets worse, much worse.It’s true that Strong explained that he had only fantasized the end of the world in his now famous interview with a Canadian reporter.  Unfortunately for the free world, the fantasy is Strong’s philosophy.As recently as 2006, speaking from an air conditioned boardroom somewhere in Communist China, Maurice Strong—the same man who would deny air conditioning for you to save the environment—was hatching his latest anti-American initiative. “Having cashed in his Kyoto credits and having launched his ManyOne Internet project from afar, Strong is back on the international scene, ready or not.  With his latest comeback, the elusive Strong is stepping back into the limelight after his alleged links to the UN Oil-for Food scandal took him off the radar screen for more than a year.  This comeback sees Strong teaming up in the biz world with George Soros.  The deadly duo aims to flood the American market with cheap Chinese-made cars. (<a href="http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/cover061506.htm" title="Strong & Soros in Business: A Partnership from Hell" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none;">Strong & Soros in Business: A Partnership from Hell</a>, CFP, June 15, 2006).“Strong’s public predictions that China would replace the United States, as world superpower is not happening fast enough.  So Strong and President George W. Bush malcontent George Soros are contemplating pouring hundreds of millions into a Communist China automaker that manufactures the “Chery”.”So Strong and Soros were working on anti-American schemes as far back as 2006.They had hoped to decimate Ford, Chrysler and GM by flooding the U.S. market with cheapo Cherys on a 2007 deadline.Well, we now know what happened to the American auto industry in 2009.But it doesn’t even begin or stop there.Maurice Strong has almost as much impact on average Americans as the air that they breathe.All that President Barack Obama is doing to transform America and the Free World over to One World Government begins and ends with one Maurice Strong. Soros is merely the financier.Here, in his own words, is what<a href="http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/6485" title=" Strong wants for the middle class" style="text-decoration: none;"> Strong wants for the middle class</a>: “It is clear that current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class—involving high meat intake, consumption of large amounts of frozen and convenience foods, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and work-place air-conditioning, and suburban housing—are not sustainable.  A shift is necessary towards lifestyles less geared to environmentally damaging consumption patterns.”  (1992 Rio Earth Summit 11).Strong’s portrayal as a Wizard Oz in a fog of ether was helped along by Canada’s state-owned, liberal and largest television network, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)lThe CBC 2004 special, <a href="http://www.mauricestrong.net/2008091027/video/video/lifeandtimes.html" title="The Life and Times of Maurice Strong" style="text-decoration: none;">The Life and Times of Maurice Strong</a>, features a visit by Strong to former Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev who gives Strong a CBC-described “glass saber full of the same brandy Stalin used to send Winston Churchill every week.” It was in an admiring way that CBC reporter Ann-Marie MacDonald described Strong as a sort of “cross between Rasputin and Machiavelli.”You could say that it’s downright Machiavellian how Strong and Gorbachev consorted back in 1997 to replace the Ten Commandments with the UN Earth Charter. Although it defies belief,  their jointly authored Earth Charter is carried around in a wooden chest called the Ark of Hope. The Ark of Hope is described as a “magnificent large sycamore chest, which was conceived as a visual message of peace, sustainability and concern for the Earth.” Gilt-covered and lavish in the looks department, the chest carries Temenos Earth masks.  The 96” poles of the 200-lb. chest are “unicorn horns which render evil ineffective”.The Ark carries Gorby’s and Strong’s Earth Charter, an international peoples‘ treaty, need of which was foreseen and initiated at the Strong-led Rio Earth Summit in 1992. At last count, the Ark was being carried into New York classrooms.Now you know, Glenn why Strong is too busy to write novels.  Besides, it must be so much more fun rewriting history.Lest you think CFP is pulling your leg, this is what <a href="http://www.canadafreepress.com/2002/un120902.htm" title="Gorbachev has to say about the Earth Charter" style="text-decoration: none;">Gorbachev has to say about the Earth Charter</a>: “The Ten Commandments are out of date.  They will be replaced by the 18 principles of the Earth Charter.”It is CFP’s belief that the way for The Messiah was cleared for Barack Obama by Maurice Strong and that Louis Farrakhan was right on the money when he said “before he was elected, he (Obama) was selected”.So how does Maurice Strong get away with it?By relying on the media-hyped conspiracy theory charges.  You know, those rednecks still waiting for the black helicopters.Meanwhile, when Glenn pulled the curtain back on International Man of Mystery Maurice Strong last night, he hit the motherlode.  <a href="http://canadafreepress.com/maurice-strong.htm" title="Maurice Strong Archives" style="text-decoration: none;">Maurice Strong Archives</a><a href="http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/print-friendly/23141">http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/print-friendly/23141</a>Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience in the print media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared on Rush Limbaugh, Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, and Glenn Beck.

===<h3 style="">Maurice Strong, George Soros, Chinese Cars in America</h3><h1 style="">Strong & Soros in business a Partnership from Hell</h1>By Judi McLeod  Thursday, June 15, 2006  From an air conditioned boardroom somewhere in Communist China, Maurice Strong--the man who would deny air conditioning for you to save the environment--has hatched another anti-American scheme.Having cashed in his Kyoto credits and having launched his ManyOne Internet project from afar, Strong is back on the international scene, ready or not, With his latest comeback, the elusive Strong is stepping back into the limelight after his alleged links to the UN Oil-for-Food scandal took him off the radar screen for more than a year. This comeback sees Strong teaming up in the biz world with George Soros. The deadly duo aims to flood the American market with cheap Chinese made cars.Strong's public predictions that China would replace the United States, as world superpower is not happening fast enough. So Strong and President George W. Bush malcontent George Soros are contemplating pouring hundreds of millions into a Communist China automaker that manufactures the "Chery".Strong and Soros hope to decimate Ford, Chrysler and GM by flooding the U.S. market with cheapo Cherys on a 2007 timeline.The "Poor Man's Wheels", the Chery originates from yet another copycat China endeavour. "The Chery is a knockoff of the South Korean Spark, sold in the U.S. in partnership with General Motors." (WorldNetDaily, June 12, 2006). "GM filed a lawsuit against Chery Automobile Co. for piracy of the car developed by its South Korean Daewoo.""The lawsuit launched in the name of GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co. Ltd., contends Chery's QQ copied the design of Daewoo's Matiz, while Chery claims it developed the QQ on its own. GM's investigation results showed the two vehicles "shared remarkably identical body structure, exterior design, interior design and key components."Meanwhile, the Chery QQ is replacing a lot of bicycles in Beijing. Some 50,000 sold in China last year and while Chery exports include Iran, Iraq, Bangladesh, Cuba, Syria and Malaysia, the Chery, which can be bought in China for $3,600, is coming to an American car dealer near you sometime soon.Strong and Soros are virtual icons to the anti-SUV legions. But SUVs from all other manufacturers and not the Chery Automobile Co. are of the gas-guzzling, polluting variety.According to WND, the list price on the Chery is expected to be around $20,000 in the U.S."The plan is to sell 250,000 Cherys in the U.S. in the first year through 250 dealerships, with a target of 1 million by 2010," states WND.The marketing meister working with Strong and Soros is Malcolm Bricklin, who brought you the failed 1980 introduction of the Yugo in America.The Strong-Soros get together makes for the business Partnership from Hell.Both are bitter septuagenarians and running dogs for the One World Order-pushing UN.Strong is on the public record for having stated that for humanity to survive, it may be necessary "for industrial civilization to collapse."After blowing $23 million to keep Bush from returning to the White House, spoiled sport Soros told reporters if Bush were to be re-elected, he planned to go away to "some kind of monastery to reflect on what is wrong with us."A promise he never kept, Soros went on to bankroll Moveon.org and to continue to carp at Bush and Company from the sidelines.Strong's forced industrial collapse remark could be written off as the public musings of a crackpot on a bad day. Problem is that crackpot, who is against single-family houses and air conditioning, went on to create the Earth Charter with sidekick Mikhail Gorbachev. At last count, The Earth Charter, which Strong and Gorbachev claim is a replacement for the Ten Commandments, was being carted from school to school in its goatskin covered gilded case by UN Staff.Soros has been increasingly embittered with George W. Bush in the White House.Strong lost clout in the humiliating defeat of Canada's scandal-plagued Prime Minister Paul Martin last January. So pumped when Martin made it to the Canadian PMO, Strong teared up when talking about it on a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) special on his life.Meanwhile, the attempt of the two to play havoc with the American automobile market may be doomed to failure because business smarts trumps bitterness.

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<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/05/03/03climatewire-sale-of-chicago-climate-exchange-to-ice-reinfo-362.html?pagewanted=all">http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/05/03/03climatewire-sale-of-chicago-climate-exchange-to-ice-reinfo-362.html?pagewanted=all</a>

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hmn

<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" width="70%" align="center" border="0" style="letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" align="left">www.DiscoverTheNetwork.org</td><td valign="top" align="right">Date: 7/29/2013 4:37:37 PM</td></tr><tr><td valign="top" colspan="2">

</td></tr><tr><td valign="top" colspan="2">CHICAGO CLIMATE EXCHANGE (CCX)</td></tr><tr><td valign="top">190 South LaSalle Street - Suite 1100

Chicago, Illinois

60603

</td><td valign="top">Phone :(312) 554-3350

Email :icehelpdesk@theice.com

URL :http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/

</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" valign="top">

<ul>

<li>Describes itself as "North America's only cap-and-trade system for all six greenhouse gases"</li>

<li>Received startup grants totaling $1.1 million from the Joyce Foundation in 2001-02, when Barack Obama sat on the foundation's board</li>

<li>Closely tied to Al Gore's company, Generation Investment Management</li>

<li>A key Chicago Climate Exchange board member is Maurice Strong, who has a history of insider-trading transgressions.</li>

</ul>

When it was launched in 2003, the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) became <a href="http://science.howstuffworks.com/chicago-climate-exchange.htm">the world's first carbon-emissions trading company</a>, equipped to regulate all transactions made under <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=826">cap-and-trade</a> energy plans designed to restrict and tax greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by U.S. companies.

The earliest roots of CCX can be traced back to 2000, when Dr. <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2467">Richard Sandor</a> – an economist, a research professor at the Northwestern University, and the former head of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange – began to study the feasibility of initiating a cap-and-trade system in the United States. At that time, Sandor owned a firm called Environmental Financial Products (EFP). <a href="http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=531731">He also knew</a> Illinois state senator <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1511">Barack Obama</a>, who, in addition to his legislative duties, was a board member of the Chicago-based <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/funderprofile.asp?fndid=5310&category=79">Joyce Foundation</a>, which had long been a major donor to radical environmental groups and causes. In 2001, Obama <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/25/obama-years-ago-helped-fund-carbon-program-pushing-congress/">helped steer</a> a <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/25/obama-years-ago-helped-fund-carbon-program-pushing-congress/">$347,600</a> Joyce Foundation grant to Sandor's EFP. The foundation's president, Paula DiPerna, <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/25/obama-years-ago-helped-fund-carbon-program-pushing-congress/">stated</a> that this grant was intended to “suppor[t] the design of a pilot phase for a carbon dioxide emissions trading market, called the Chicago Climate Exchange.”

In August 2001, Carlton Bartels, a partner at Cantor Fitzgerald and the chief executive officer of a company named CO2e.com, filed for a patent on the software technology that would eventually equip CCX to properly monitor the trading of residential carbon credits. But before he could secure the patent, Bartels was killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. His widow subsequently located a buyer for the software technology: Franklin Raines, CEO of <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/funderprofile.asp?fndid=5197&category=78">Fannie Mae</a>, the mortgage-lending giant whose practice of purchasing risky mortgages from banks – and then bundling and selling them to its investors as mortgage-backed securities – would eventually send the U.S. housing market into steep decine. Raines not only oversaw that practice for six years, but he also manipulated profit-and-loss reports so as to enable himself and other Fannie Mae executives to earn gargantuan bonuses – nearly $100 million for Raines alone – even as the mortgage lender was imploding. Raines would eventually serve as the conduit through which Bartels' software would find its way to CCX.

In November 2001, Paula DiPerna stepped down from her post as Joyce Foundation president and joined CCX, where she went on to become executive vice president in charge of corporate recruitment and public policy, as well as president of an affiliated company, CCX International.

In 2002, a second Joyce Foundation grant – for <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/25/obama-years-ago-helped-fund-carbon-program-pushing-congress/">$760,100</a> – was used to finance the 2003 “launch” of CCX with its 14 <a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2086494/posts">founding members</a>, the most prominent of which were such corporate giants as DuPont, the Ford Motor Company, and Motorola.

In November 2002, <a href="http://newsessentials.blogspot.com/2010_04_29_archive.html">Franklin Raines and nine partners collaborated</a>, on behalf of Fannie Mae, to apply for a patent on the software technology they had purchased from Carlton Bartels' widow. One of those partners was former Fannie Mae vice president Scott Lesmes, who was responsible for the aforementioned mortgage-bundling scheme. Another was Robert Sahadi, also a onetime Fannie Mae VP, who now runs GreenSpace Investment Financial Services out of his 5,000-square-foot Maryland home.

The U.S. Patent and Trade office approved the patent on November 7, 2006, the day after the <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6214">Democrats</a> took control of Congress. The patented technology, which is now utilized by CCX, bundles CO2 and other GHGs in a manner similar to how Fannie Mae bundled toxic mortgages under Raines and Lesmes. The patent summary describes how carbon “and other pollutants yet to be determined” will be “combined into a single emissions pool” and traded.

Today CCX bills itself as “North America's only cap and trade system for all six greenhouse gases” – meaning carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, perfluorocarbons, and hydrofluorocarbons. Under a cap-and-trade system, every business is assessed a tax on how much CO2 it produces (i.e., the size of its so-called "carbon footprint," which purportedly contributes to global warming). If a company produces less CO2 than its allotted limit, it earns a Carbon Credit, which then can be traded on the CXX exchange. Meanwhile, if another company exceeds its allotted CO2 limit, it can purchase that Carbon Credit and thereby "offset" its own carbon footprint and reduce its tax liability.

CCX now has roughly 300 multinational members representing <a href="http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/content.jsf?id=64">a wide array of industries</a> such as automotive, manufacturing, chemicals, electronics, pharmaceuticals, steel, and transportation. Among the more well-known members are Bank of America, Dow Corning, DuPont, Ford Motor Company, Honeywell International, IBM, Intel Corporation, Kodak, Motorola, Safeway, and Sony.

CCX <a href="http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/content.jsf?id=72">members</a> are defined as entities that produce “direct GHG emissions” in the course of their normal business activities. These members agree to make a “legally binding emission reduction commitment” to lower their aggregate emissions by at least 6 percent over a six-year period. CCX says that in return for this, the members will be “internationally recognized as environmentally progressive leaders in their industries.”

<a href="http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/content.jsf?id=921">Associate members</a> comprise a separate classification of CCX participants; these are “office-based businesses or institutions” that “generate negligible direct emissions but do generate indirect emissions through electricity use and business travel, among other activities.” As CCX associate members, such companies “make a legally binding commitment to offset 100% of their annual indirect emissions” over a six-year period. Among CCX's more notable associate members are the <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/funderprofile.asp?fndid=5311&category=79">Nathan Cummings Foundation</a>, the <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7054">Rainforest Alliance</a>, and the <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7070">World Resources Institute</a>.

CCX global affiliates now include the European Climate Exchange, Montréal Climate Exchange, and Tianjin Climate Exchange (in China). Moreover, CCX itself has become the subsidiary of a London-based firm, Climate Exchange PLC, which also owns European Climate Exchange and is headed by CCX founder Richard Sandor.

By Sandor's reckoning, cap-and-trade represents a <a href="http://www.thepoliticalclass.com/2010/04/10-trillion-dollar-per-year-scam-the-chicago-climate-exchange.html">$10 trillion</a>-per-year market. Recognizing the enormous profit potential, Generation Investment Management (GIM) – a carbon-offset company whose chairman and founding partner is <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2140">Al Gore</a> – purchased a 10 percent stake in CCX and became the company's fifth largest co-owner. In 2006, Goldman Sachs also purchased a 10 percent share of CCX.

CCX grew in its national and international influence. Stuart Eizenstat, former President <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=644">Bill Clinton</a>’s lead climate-treaty negotiator, became a director. <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2461">Maurice Strong</a>, the father of international environmentalism at the <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7147">United Nations</a>, also joined the board, <a href="http://www.apknews.com/05/maurice-strong-chicago-climate-exchange.html">bringing</a> with him a host of top UN officials such as:

<ul>

<li>Rajenra Pachauri, head of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</li>

<li>Elizabeth Dowdeswell, former head of the UN Environmental Program</li>

<li>Michael Jammit Cutajar, former head of the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change</li>

<li>Thomas Lovejoy, former World Wildlife Fund Executive Vice President and a science adviser to the UN Environmental Program.</li>

</ul>

Strong had previously served as Secretary General of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and was a leading architect of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement that set binding GHG-reduction targets for 37 industrialized countries. Strong has a history of insider-trading transgressions.

In 2009 an Atlanta-based group, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), bought a 4.8 percent stake in CCX. <a href="http://www.chicagobreakingbusiness.com/2010/04/ice-buys-chicago-climate-exchange.html">In April 2010</a>, ICE agreed to pay $604 million for Climate Exchange PLC, the London-based operator of CCX and the European Climate Exchange.

</td></tr></tbody></table>

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ventura conspr theory uses GW Hunt

baker attended

The 4th World Wilderness Congress convened in September, 1987 (Denver and Estes Park, Colorado, United States) with 2,000 delegates from 64 countries. Proceedings: <a href="http://www.wild.org/wild-store/for-the-conservation-of-earth/" target="_blank">For the Conservation of Earth</a>, edited by Vance G. Martin, published by Fulcrum, Inc., 1988.

Proposed the establishment of a world conservation bank, or fund, the first call for new conservation finance mechanisms, which eventually led to the $1.1 billion Global Environment Facility.  <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Environment_Facility">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Environment_Facility</a>

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Established in 1991, the GEF is today the largest funder of projects to improve the global environment. The GEF has allocated $9.2 billion, supplemented by more than $40 billion in cofinancing, for more than 2,700 projects in more than 165 developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Through its Small Grants Programme (SGP), the GEF has also made more than 12,000 small grants directly to nongovernmental and community organizations, totalling $495 million.

partners w/ UN, world bank etc ?

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In addition to working sessions which determined the 4th WWC action agenda, the cultural programme was rich and varied, including classical Indian dance, the International Youth Choir, art shows, cowboy poets, concerts…all inspired by wilderness. U.S. secretary of the treasury, James Baker, was the first finance minister to open a major conservation conference, calling for integration of economics and environment.

The first world wilderness inventory, prepared for the WWC by the Sierra Club.

Continued to advocate inclusion of wilderness as a separate and specific classification under the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Categories of Protected Areas, which was accepted by the IUCN in 1994.

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<a href="http://www.thebigbadbank.com/">http://www.thebigbadbank.com/</a>  agenda 21 kinda stuff

By George Washington Hunt

<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=5xhaoJ3VfvIC&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=world+conservation+bank+strong+1987&source=bl&ots=COl767j8Dz&sig=mrdvSUiKYtXlRl-tW20k7tGgKM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=G-QyT8ifOMzYiAKahPG1Cg&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=world%20conservation%20bank%20strong%201987&f=false">http://books.google.com/books?id=5xhaoJ3VfvIC&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=world+conservation+bank+strong+1987&source=bl&ots=COl767j8Dz&sig=mrdvSUiKYtXlRl-tW20k7tGgKM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=G-QyT8ifOMzYiAKahPG1Cg&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=world%20conservation%20bank%20strong%201987&f=false</a>

<div id="siteSub">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div>

</div>

Maurice F. Strong, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_Privy_Council_for_Canada" title="Queen's Privy Council for Canada">PC</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Canada" title="Order of Canada">CC</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Manitoba" title="Order of Manitoba">OM</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society_of_Canada" title="Royal Society of Canada">FRSC</a> (born April 29, 1929 in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Lake,_Manitoba" title="Oak Lake, Manitoba">Oak Lake, Manitoba</a>) is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadians" title="Canadians">Canadian</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneur" title="Entrepreneur">entrepreneur</a> and a former under-secretary general of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations">United Nations</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-0">[1]</a> Strong's first name is pronounced "Mor'ris" with the accent on the first syllable.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-BBC-1">[2]</a>

Strong had his start as an entrepreneur in the Alberta oil patch and was president of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Corporation_of_Canada" title="Power Corporation of Canada">Power Corporation of Canada</a> until 1966. In the early <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970" title="1970">1970s</a> he was Secretary General of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Conference_on_the_Human_Environment" title="United Nations Conference on the Human Environment">United Nations Conference on the Human Environment</a> and then became the first Executive Director of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Environment_Programme" title="United Nations Environment Programme">United Nations Environment Programme</a>. He returned to Canada to become Chief Executive Officer of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petro-Canada" title="Petro-Canada">Petro-Canada</a> from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976" title="1976">1976</a> to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978" title="1978">1978</a>. He headed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_Hydro" title="Ontario Hydro">Ontario Hydro</a>, one of North America's largest power utilities, was national President and Chairman of the Extension Committee of the World Alliance of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YMCA" title="YMCA">YMCAs</a>, and headed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Water_Development_Incorporated&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="American Water Development Incorporated (page does not exist)">American Water Development Incorporated</a>. He served as a commissioner of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brundtland_Commission" title="Brundtland Commission">World Commission on Environment and Development</a> in 1986.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-2">[3]</a> and is recognised by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Union_for_Conservation_of_Nature" title="International Union for Conservation of Nature">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a> as a leader in the international environmental movement.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-3">[4]</a>

He was President of the Council of the United Nations's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_for_Peace" title="University for Peace">University for Peace</a> from 1998 to 2006. UPEACE is the only university in the UN system able to grant degrees at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_degree" title="Masters degree" class="mw-redirect">masters</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctorate_degree" title="Doctorate degree" class="mw-redirect">doctoral</a> level. Today Strong is an active honorary professor at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_University" title="Peking University">Peking University</a> and Honorary Chairman of its Environmental Foundation. He is Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Institute for Research on Security and Sustainability for Northeast Asia.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-PRC-4">[5]</a>

<table id="toc" class="toc"><tbody><tr><td><ul><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#Personal_life">1 Personal life</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#Childhood_and_youth">1.1 Childhood and youth</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#Business">2 Business</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#American_Water_Development">2.1 American Water Development</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#United_Nations_work">3 United Nations work</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#Stockholm_Conference">3.1 Stockholm Conference</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#Earth_Summit">3.2 Earth Summit</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#2005_Oil-for-Food_scandal_and_hiring_practice_criticisms">3.3 2005 Oil-for-Food scandal and hiring practice criticisms</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#UN_Secretary_General.27s_tribute">3.4 UN Secretary General's tribute</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#Honours_and_awards">4 Honours and awards</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#References_and_notes">5 References and notes</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#External_links">6 External links</a></li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maurice_Strong&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Personal life">edit</a>] Personal life</h2>

<h3>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maurice_Strong&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Childhood and youth">edit</a>] Childhood and youth</h3>

Maurice Strong was a child of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression" title="Great Depression">Great Depression</a>, enduring serious poverty; his father was laid off at the beginning of the depression era and thereafter supported his family on odd jobs; his mother, overcome by struggle, succombed to mental illness and died in a mental hospital. He was born in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Lake,_Manitoba" title="Oak Lake, Manitoba">Oak Lake, Manitoba</a> a small town on the Canadian prairie on the mainline of the Canadian Pacific.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-5">[6]</a>

<h2>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maurice_Strong&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Business">edit</a>] Business</h2>

In 1948, when he as nineteen Strong was hired as a trainee by a leading brokerage firm, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Richardson%26_Sons,Limited" title="James Richardson & Sons, Limited" class="mw-redirect">James Richardson & Sons, Limited</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg" title="Winnipeg">Winnipeg</a> where he took an interest in the oil business winning a transfer as an oil specialist to Richardson's office in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary" title="Calgary">Calgary</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta" title="Alberta">Alberta</a> the hottest play in Canada; there he made the acquaintance of one of the most successful leaders of the oil industry, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gallagher_%28geologist%29" title="John Gallagher (geologist)">Jack Gallagher</a> who hired him as his assistant. At Gallagher's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dome_Petroleum" title="Dome Petroleum">Dome Petroleum</a>, Strong occupied several key roles including Vice President of Finance, leaving the firm in 1956 and setting up his own firm, M.F. Strong Management, which assisted investors in locating opportunities in the Alberta oil patch.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-6">[7]</a>

In the 1950s he took over a small natural gas company, Ajax Petroleum, and built it into what became one of the leading companies in the industry, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norcen_Resources&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Norcen Resources (page does not exist)">Norcen Resources</a>. This attracted the attention of one of Canada’s principal investment corporations with extensive interests in the energy and utility businesses, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Corporation_of_Canada" title="Power Corporation of Canada">Power Corporation of Canada</a>. It appointed him initially as its Executive Vice President and then President from 1961 until 1966.

In 1976, at the request of Prime Minister <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Trudeau" title="Pierre Trudeau">Pierre Trudeau</a>, Strong returned to Canada to head the newly created national oil company, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petro-Canada" title="Petro-Canada">Petro-Canada</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-7">[8]</a> He then became Chairman of the Canada Development Investment Corporation, the holding company for some of Canada’s principal government-owned corporations.

<h3>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maurice_Strong&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: American Water Development">edit</a>] American Water Development</h3>

On December 31, 1986 American Water Development Incorporated (AWDI), a corporation controlled by Strong and his associates, filed an application with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Water_Courts" title="Colorado Water Courts">District Court for Water Division 3</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamosa,Colorado" title="Alamosa, Colorado">Alamosa, Colorado</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-AvA-8">[9]</a> for the right to pump underground water from the lands of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Maria_Baca_Grant_No.4" title="Luis Maria Baca Grant No. 4">Luis Maria Baca Grant No. 4</a> and other lands in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saguache_County,_Colorado" title="Saguache County, Colorado">Saguache County, Colorado</a> in Colorado's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Luis_Valley" title="San Luis Valley">San Luis Valley</a> and sell it to water districts in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_Range_Urban_Corridor" title="Front Range Urban Corridor" class="mw-redirect">Front Range Urban Corridor</a> of Colorado. The project was opposed by neighboring water rights owners, local water conservation districts, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Department_of_Natural_Resources" title="Colorado Department of Natural Resources">Colorado Department of Natural Resources</a>, and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Park_Service" title="National Park Service">National Park Service</a> who alleged the project would affect others water rights and cause significant environmental damage to nearby wetland and sand dune ecosystems by reducing the flow of surface water. After a lengthy trial, Colorado courts ruled against AWDI and required payment of the objectors' legal fees, $3.1 million.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-AvA-8">[9]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-9">[10]</a>

<h2>] United Nations work</h2>

Strong first met with a leading UN official in 1947 who arranged for him to have a temporary low-level appointment, to serve as a junior <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_officer" title="Security officer" class="mw-redirect">security officer</a> at the UN headquarters in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Success,_New_York" title="Lake Success, New York">Lake Success, New York</a>.

<h3>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maurice_Strong&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Stockholm Conference">edit</a>] Stockholm Conference</h3>

</div>

In 1971, Strong commissioned a report on the state of the planet, entitled “Only One Earth: The Care and Maintenance of a Small Planet” <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-10">[11]</a> and co-authored by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Ward" title="Barbara Ward">Barbara Ward</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rene_Dubos" title="Rene Dubos" class="mw-redirect">Rene Dubos</a>. The report summarized the findings of 152 leading experts from 58 countries in preparation for the first UN meeting on the environment, held in Stockholm in 1972. This was the world's first "state of the environment" report.

The Stockholm Conference established the environment as part of an international development agenda. It led to the establishment by the UN General Assembly in December 1972 of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Environment_Programme" title="United Nations Environment Programme">United Nations Environment Programme</a> (UNEP), with headquarters in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nairobi" title="Nairobi">Nairobi</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya" title="Kenya">Kenya</a>, and the election of Strong to head it. UNEP was the first UN agency to be headquartered in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_world" title="Third world" class="mw-redirect">third world</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-11">[12]</a> As head of UNEP, Strong convened the first international expert group meeting on climate change.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-12">[13]</a>

Maurice Strong was one of the commissioners of the World Commission on Environment and Development, set up as an independent body by the United Nations in 1983.

<h3>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maurice_Strong&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Earth Summit">edit</a>] Earth Summit</h3>

His role in leading the UN’s famine relief program in Africa was the first in a series of UN advisory assignments, including reform and his appointment as Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Environment and Development—best known as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Summit" title="Earth Summit">Earth Summit</a> held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 June to 14 June 1992.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-13">[14]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-14">[15]</a> According to Strong participants at the Rio Conference adapted sound principles but did not make a commitment to action sufficient to prevent global environmental tragedy, committing to spend less than 5% of the $125 billion he felt appropriate for environmental projects in developing nations. He was seconded in that opinion by U.N. Secretary General <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boutros_Boutros-Ghali" title="Boutros Boutros-Ghali">Boutros Boutros-Ghali</a> who stated to the delegates, "The current level of commitment is not comparable to the size and gravity of the problems,"<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-15">[16]</a>

After the Earth Summit, Strong continued to take a leading role in implementing the results of agreements at the Earth Summit through establishment of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Earth_Council&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Earth Council (page does not exist)">Earth Council</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Charter" title="Earth Charter">Earth Charter</a> movement, his Chairmanship of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Resources_Institute" title="World Resources Institute">World Resources Institute</a>, Membership on the Board of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=International_Institute_for_Sustainable_Development&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="International Institute for Sustainable Development (page does not exist)">International Institute for Sustainable Development</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Environment_Institute" title="Stockholm Environment Institute">Stockholm Environment Institute</a>, <a href="http://www.aaionline.org" class="external text" rel="nofollow">The Africa-America Institute</a>, the Institute of Ecology in Indonesia, the Beijer Institute of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Swedish_Academy_of_Sciences" title="Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences">Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences</a>, and others. Strong was a longtime Foundation Director of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Economic_Forum" title="World Economic Forum">World Economic Forum</a>, a Senior Advisor to the President of the World Bank, a Member of the International Advisory of Toyota Motor Corporation, the Advisory Council for the <a href="http://www.cid.harvard.edu" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Center for International Development of Harvard University</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Business_Council_for_Sustainable_Development" title="World Business Council for Sustainable Development">World Business Council for Sustainable Development</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Conservation_Union" title="World Conservation Union" class="mw-redirect">World Conservation Union</a> (IUCN), the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wildlife_Fund" title="World Wildlife Fund" class="mw-redirect">World Wildlife Fund</a>, <a href="http://www.rff.org" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Resources for the Future</a>, and the <a href="http://eisenhowerfellowships.org" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Eisenhower Fellowships</a>. His public service activities were carried out on a pro bono basis made possible by his business activities, which included Chairman of the International Advisory Group of <a href="http://www.ch2m.com/corporate" class="external text" rel="nofollow">CH2M Hill</a>, Strovest Holdings Inc., Technology Development Inc., Zenon Environmental Inc., and most recently, <a href="http://www.cosmosus.com" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Cosmos International</a>, and the China Carbon Corporation.

Strong lobbied to change <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGO" title="NGO" class="mw-redirect">NGO</a> perspectives on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank" title="World Bank">World Bank</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-16">[17]</a>

In 1999, at the request of then UN Secretary-General, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_P%C3%A9rez_de_Cu%C3%A9llar" title="Javier Pérez de Cuéllar">Javier Pérez de Cuéllar</a>, he took on the task of trying to restore the viability of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_for_Peace" title="University for Peace">University for Peace</a>, headquartered in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica" title="Costa Rica">Costa Rica</a>, established under authorization of the UN General Assembly.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-17">[18]</a> The UN’s reputation was at risk as the organization had been subjected to severe mismanagement, misappropriation of funds and inoperative governance. As Chairman of its governing body, the Council, and initially as Rector, Strong led the process of revitalizing the University for Peace and helped to rebuild its programs and leadership. He retired from the Council in the spring of 2007.

From 2003 and 2005, Strong served as the personal envoy UN Secretary-General <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kofi_Annan" title="Kofi Annan">Kofi Annan</a> to lead support for the international response to the humanitarian and development needs of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_People%27s_Republic_of_Korea" title="Democratic People's Republic of Korea" class="mw-redirect">Democratic People's Republic of Korea</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-18">[19]</a>

<h3>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maurice_Strong&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: 2005 Oil-for-Food scandal and hiring practice criticisms">edit</a>] 2005 Oil-for-Food scandal and hiring practice criticisms</h3>

In 2005, during investigations into the U.N.'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil-for-Food_Programme" title="Oil-for-Food Programme">Oil-for-Food Programme</a>, evidence procured by federal investigators and the U.N.-authorized inquiry of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Volcker" title="Paul Volcker">Paul Volcker</a> showed that in 1997, while working for Annan, Strong had endorsed a check for $988,885, made out to "Mr. M. Strong," issued by a Jordanian bank. It was reported that the check was hand-delivered to Mr. Strong by a South Korean businessman, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongsun_Park" title="Tongsun Park">Tongsun Park</a>, who in 2006 was convicted in New York federal court of conspiring to bribe U.N. officials to rig Oil-for-Food in favor of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein" title="Saddam Hussein">Saddam Hussein</a>. Mr. Strong was never accused of any wrongdoing.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-check-19">[20]</a> During the inquiry, Strong stepped down from his U.N. post, stating that he would "sideline himself until the cloud was removed".

Shortly after this, Strong moved to an apartment he owned in Beijing.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-check-19">[20]</a> He said that his departure from the U.N. was motivated not by the Oil-for-Food investigations, but by his sense at the time, as Mr. Annan's special adviser on North Korea, that the U.N. had reached an impasse. "It just happened to coincide with the publicity surrounding my so-called nefarious activities." He insists: "I had no involvement at all in Oil-for-Food . . . I just stayed out of it."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-check-19">[20]</a>

<h3>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maurice_Strong&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: UN Secretary General's tribute">edit</a>] UN Secretary General's tribute</h3>

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary-General_of_the_United_Nations" title="Secretary-General of the United Nations">Secretary-General of the United Nations</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kofi_Annan" title="Kofi Annan">Kofi Annan</a>, near the end of his term, paid the following tribute to Maurice Strong:

<div>Looking back on our time together, we have shared many trials and tribulations and I am grateful that I had the benefit of your global vision and wise counsel on many critical issues, not least the delicate question of the Korean Peninsula and China’s changing role in the world. Your unwavering commitment to the environment, multilateralism and peaceful resolution of conflicts is especially appreciated.</div>

</blockquote>

<h2>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maurice_Strong&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Honours and awards">edit</a>] Honours and awards</h2>

Maurice Strong has received a number of honours, awards and medals. He has received 53 honorary doctorate degrees and honorary visiting professorships at 7 universities.

Among the honours and awards:

<ul>

<li>2005: He was Awarded the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Manitoba" title="Order of Manitoba">Order of Manitoba</a> the Highest Award in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_Canada" title="Provinces of Canada" class="mw-redirect">Province</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manitoba" title="Manitoba">Manitoba</a>.</li>

<li>2003: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Welfare_Medal" title="Public Welfare Medal">Public Welfare Medal</a> from the US <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Academy_of_Sciences" title="United States National Academy of Sciences">National Academy of Sciences</a>: First Non-US Citizen to receive the medal, 2007<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-20">[21]</a></li>

<li>2002 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Fraser_University" title="Simon Fraser University">Simon Fraser University</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jack_P._Blaney_Award_for_Dialogue&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue (page does not exist)">Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-21">[22]</a></li>

<li>2002: Carriage House Center on Global Issues: Candlelight Award<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-22">[23]</a></li>

<li>1999: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companion_of_the_Order_of_Canada" title="Companion of the Order of Canada" class="mw-redirect">Companion of the Order of Canada</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-23">[24]</a></li>

<li>1998 he was given the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Southern_Cross" title="Order of the Southern Cross">Order of the Southern Cross</a> by the Government of Brazil<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-24">[25]</a></li>

<li>1996: Swedish Royal <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Polar_Star" title="Order of the Polar Star">Order of the Polar Star</a>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a>]</li>

<li>1995: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IKEA_Environmental_Award&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="IKEA Environmental Award (page does not exist)">IKEA Environmental Award</a>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a>]</li>

<li>1994: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Asahi_Glass_Foundation_Award:_Blue_Planet_Prize&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Asahi Glass Foundation Award: Blue Planet Prize (page does not exist)">Asahi Glass Foundation Award: Blue Planet Prize</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-25">[26]</a></li>

<li>1994: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru_Award_for_International_Understanding" title="Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding" class="mw-redirect">Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-26">[27]</a></li>

<li>1993: International St. Francis Prize for the Environment[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a>]</li>

<li>1993: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexander_Onassis_Delphi_Prize&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Alexander Onassis Delphi Prize (page does not exist)">Alexander Onassis Delphi Prize</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-27">[28]</a></li>

<li>1997: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Pittier" title="Henri Pittier" class="mw-redirect">Henri Pittier</a> Order of Venezuela[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a>]</li>

<li>1989: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearson_Medal_of_Peace" title="Pearson Medal of Peace">Pearson Medal of Peace</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-28">[29]</a></li>

<li>1981: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_A._Lindbergh_Award&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Charles A. Lindbergh Award (page does not exist)">Charles A. Lindbergh Award</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-29">[30]</a></li>

<li>1976: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officer_of_the_Order_of_Canada" title="Officer of the Order of Canada" class="mw-redirect">Officer of the Order of Canada</a></li>

<li>1975: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Audubon_Society_Award&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="National Audubon Society Award (page does not exist)">National Audubon Society Award</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-30">[31]</a></li>

<li>1974: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tyler_Environmental_Prize&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Tyler Environmental Prize (page does not exist)">Tyler Environmental Prize</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-31">[32]</a></li>

</ul>

Other honours and awards include:

<ul>

<li>The Brazilian National <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Southern_Cross" title="Order of the Southern Cross">Order of the Southern Cross</a></li>

<li>Commander of the Order of the Golden Ark (Netherlands)</li>

<li>International Saint Francis Prize, Fellow</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_Society" title="The Royal Society" class="mw-redirect">The Royal Society</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-32">[33]</a></li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society_of_Canada" title="Royal Society of Canada">Royal Society of Canada</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-33">[34]</a></li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Architectural_Institute_of_Canada" title="Royal Architectural Institute of Canada">Royal Architectural Institute of Canada</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-34">[35]</a></li>

<li>Honorary Board Member, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Suzuki_Foundation" title="David Suzuki Foundation">David Suzuki Foundation</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-35">[36]</a></li>

<li>Distinguished Fellow, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=International_Institute_for_Sustainable_Development&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="International Institute for Sustainable Development (page does not exist)">International Institute for Sustainable Development</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_note-36">[37]</a></li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ralston_Saul" title="John Ralston Saul">John Ralston Saul</a> dedicated his polemic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Voltaire%27s_Bastards:_The_Dictatorship_of_Reason_In_The_West&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason In The West (page does not exist)">Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason In The West</a> to Strong.</li>

</ul>

<h2>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maurice_Strong&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: References and notes">edit</a>] References and notes</h2>

<li id="cite_note-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-0">^</a> <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rGxIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xYIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2928,8434969" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rGxIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xYIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2928,8434969</a> Article in The Vindicator June 30, 2000</li>

<li id="cite_note-BBC-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-BBC_1-0">^</a> Mike Williams (December 12, 2010). <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00c7r3x" class="external text" rel="nofollow">"Strong warnings and long tunnels"</a> (One Planet Radio interview). BBC. Retrieved June 9, 2011.</li>

<li id="cite_note-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-2">^</a> <a href="http://www.canadasworld.ca/timeline/19841993" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.canadasworld.ca/timeline/19841993</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-3">^</a> <a href="http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/report_of_maurice_strong_environmental_dialogue.pdf" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/report_of_maurice_strong_environmental_dialogue.pdf</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-PRC-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-PRC_4-0">^</a> <a href="http://www.mauricestrong.net/2008072115/strong-biography.html" class="external text" rel="nofollow">"Short Biography"</a>. www.mauricestrong.net. Retrieved 2010-05-14.</li>

<li id="cite_note-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-5">^</a> Strong, Maurice; Forward by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kofi_Annan" title="Kofi Annan">Kofi Annan</a> (2001). Where on Earth are We Going (Reprint edition ed.). New York, London: Texere. p. 48-55. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number" title="International Standard Book Number">ISBN</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-58799-092-X" title="Special:BookSources/1-58799-092-X">1-58799-092-X</a>. "The Depression was one of the great shaping forces in my life..."</li>

<li id="cite_note-6"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-6">^</a> Strong, Maurice; Forward by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kofi_Annan" title="Kofi Annan">Kofi Annan</a> (2001). Where on Earth are We Going (Reprint edition ed.). New York, London: Texere. p. 75-89. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number" title="International Standard Book Number">ISBN</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-58799-092-X" title="Special:BookSources/1-58799-092-X">1-58799-092-X</a>. "The Depression was one of the great shaping forces in my life..."</li>

<li id="cite_note-7"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-7">^</a> <a href="http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12032003" class="external text" rel="nofollow">"Maurice F. Strong Is First Non-U.S. Citizen To Receive Public Welfare Medal, Academy's Highest Honor"</a>. National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2008-01-20.</li>

<li id="cite_note-AvA-8">^ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-AvA_8-0">a</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-AvA_8-1">b</a> Colorado Supreme Court (Decided: May 9, 1994). <a href="http://co.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.%5CSAC%5CCO%5C1994%5C19940509_0040691.CO.htm/qx" class="external text" rel="nofollow">"American Water Development Inc. v. City of Alamosa"</a> (Court decision). Retrieved June 9, 2011.</li>

<li id="cite_note-9"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-9">^</a> <a href="http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=350" class="external text" rel="nofollow">"Rural area beats back water diversion plan"</a> article by Barry Noreen, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Country_News" title="High Country News">High Country News</a> May 30, 1994</li>

<li id="cite_note-10"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-10">^</a> Ward Barbara Dubos Rene. Only One Earth. May 25, 1972. Andre Deutsch Ltd.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0233963081" class="internal mw-magiclink-isbn">ISBN 0233963081</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-11"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-11">^</a> <a href="http://www.unep.org" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.unep.org</a> Website of the United Nations Environment Programme</li>

<li id="cite_note-12"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-12">^</a> <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM.20070307.wcoclimate07%2FBNStory%2FClimateChange%2F&ord=4762007&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true" class="external text" rel="nofollow">"A super agency?"</a>. Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2008-01-14. Member account login required to access full article.</li>

<li id="cite_note-13"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-13">^</a> <a href="http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/agenda21/index.htm" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio, 1992</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-14"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-14">^</a> Tribute Special Supplement: On the Road to Rio. (1991). World Media Institute, Ottawa, Canada</li>

<li id="cite_note-15"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-15">^</a> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/04/AR2007120401739.html" class="external text" rel="nofollow">"Rio Organizer Says Summit Fell Short:"</a> Environmental Principles Approved", article by Michael Weisskopf and Julia Preston in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post" title="The Washington Post">The Washington Post</a> June 15, 1992, accessed September 8, 2010</li>

<li id="cite_note-16"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-16">^</a> <a href="http://www.mauricestrong.net/2008072115/strong-biography.html" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.mauricestrong.net/2008072115/strong-biography.html</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-17"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-17">^</a> <a href="http://www.scienceblog.com/community/older/archives/L/2000/B/un001921.html" class="external text" rel="nofollow">"University of Peace Makes New Appointments and Agrees on Major Expansion"</a>. Science Blog. Retrieved 2008-01-05.</li>

<li id="cite_note-18"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-18">^</a> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2916473.stm" class="external text" rel="nofollow">"UN urges North Korea-US talks"</a>. London: British Broadcasting Corporation. April 4, 2003. Retrieved 2008-01-05.</li>

<li id="cite_note-check-19">^ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-check_19-0">a</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-check_19-1">b</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-check_19-2">c</a> Rosett, Claudia (October 11, 2008). <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122368007369524679.html" class="external text" rel="nofollow">"Maurice Strong: The U.N.'s Man of Mystery - WSJ.com"</a>. online.wsj.com. Retrieved 2010-03-16.</li>

<li id="cite_note-20"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-20">^</a> <a href="http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12032003" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12032003</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-21"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-21">^</a> <a href="http://www.sfu.ca/dialogue/study+practice/blaney+recipients.html#strong" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.sfu.ca/dialogue/study+practice/blaney+recipients.html#strong</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-22"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-22">^</a> <a href="http://www.ewire.com/display.cfm/Wire_ID/1307" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.ewire.com/display.cfm/Wire_ID/1307</a> Retrieved on December 27, 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-23"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-23">^</a> <a href="http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=1624" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=1624</a> Retrieved on December 27, 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-24"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-24">^</a> <a href="http://www.gazette.gc.ca/archives/p1/1998/1998-06-27/pdf/g1-13226.pdf" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Canada Gazette Part I, Vol. 132, No. 26</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-25"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-25">^</a> <a href="http://www.af-info.or.jp/index/index_e2.html" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.af-info.or.jp/index/index_e2.html</a> Retrieved on December 27, 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-26"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-26">^</a> <a href="http://mea.gov.in/pressbriefing/2004/07/09pb01.htm" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://mea.gov.in/pressbriefing/2004/07/09pb01.htm</a> Retrieved on December 27, 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-27"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-27">^</a> <a href="http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/headsup/archives/mar_1999.cfm?attr=20" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/headsup/archives/mar_1999.cfm?attr=20</a> Retrieved on December 27, 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-28"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-28">^</a> <a href="http://www.unac.org/en/news_events/pearson/1989.asp" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.unac.org/en/news_events/pearson/1989.asp</a> Retrieved on December 27, 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-29"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-29">^</a> <a href="http://www.lindberghfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=42&Itemid=55" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.lindberghfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=42&Itemid=55</a> Retrieved on December 27, 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-30"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-30">^</a> <a href="http://www.audubon.org/local/index.html" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.audubon.org/local/index.html</a> Retrieved on December 27, 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-31"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-31">^</a> <a href="http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/tylerprize/previous.html" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/tylerprize/previous.html</a> Retrieved on December 27, 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-32"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-32">^</a> <a href="http://royalsociety.org/page.asp?id=1737" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://royalsociety.org/page.asp?id=1737</a> Retrieved on December 27, 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-33"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-33">^</a> <a href="http://www.rsc.ca/index.php?page_id=70&lang_id=1" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.rsc.ca/index.php?page_id=70&lang_id=1</a> Retrieved on December 27, 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-34"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-34">^</a> <a href="http://www.raic.org/index_e.htm" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.raic.org/index_e.htm</a> Retrieved on December 27, 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-35"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-35">^</a> <a href="http://www.davidsuzuki.org/About_us/Board_of_Directors.asp" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.davidsuzuki.org/About_us/Board_of_Directors.asp</a> Retrieved on January 13, 2008</li>

<li id="cite_note-36"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong#cite_ref-36">^</a> <a href="http://www.iisd.org/about/staffbio.aspx?id=381" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.iisd.org/about/staffbio.aspx?id=381</a> Retrieved on January 13, 2008</li>

</ol>

</div>

<h2>External links</h2>

</div>

=

hmmn/bs/ discover the networks

<li style=" list-style-position: inside; padding-left: 16px;">Called the “godfather of the U.N.’s 1997 Kyoto treaty”</li>

<li style=" list-style-position: inside; padding-left: 16px;">Leading figure in the international environmental movement and in “cap and trade”</li>

<li style=" list-style-position: inside; padding-left: 16px;">Received $1 million from the regime of Saddam Hussein, when it was facing UN sanctions </li>

</ul>

Born in 1929, Maurice Strong grew up in Manitoba, Canada, and went on to hold top positions in some of North America’s largest energy corporations. Most prominently, he served as President of the Power Corporation of Canada; CEO of Canada’s national oil company, Petro-Canada (which he also <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090722/pdf/460454a.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;">helped to found</a>); and head of Ontario Hydro, North America’s largest utility company.

In 1947, Strong <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu_XGuP_LY8&feature=player_embedded#at=25" style="text-decoration: none;">took</a> his first job as a clerk at the <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7147" style="text-decoration: none;">United Nations</a> in New York. There, he befriended David Rockefeller, who helped to advance Strong and provided him with a network of influential contacts.

In 1970, after becoming one of Canada’s most successful corporate leaders, Strong returned to the UN to assume a succession of high-level appointments. In 1972 he headed the Stockholm Conference, which was the world body’s first environmental conference; out of this event, the<a href="http://www.unep.org/" style="text-decoration: none;">United Nations Environment Programme</a> (UNEP) was born. On December 15, 1972, the UN General Assembly <a href="http://www.unep.org/ourplanet/imgversn/85/strong.html" style="text-decoration: none;">elected</a> Strong the first Executive Director of the new program.

During the three years that he led UNEP, Strong <a href="http://www.unep.org/ourplanet/imgversn/85/strong.html" style="text-decoration: none;">worked to establish</a> the agency's Earthwatch network and its foundational programs: the Global Environment Monitoring System (GEMS), the Global Resource Information Database (GRID), the International Environmental Information System (INFOTERRA), and the International Register for Potentially Toxic Chemicals (IRPTC). All of these were created to assess and regulate industry.

In addition, Strong’s UNEP quickly established its socialist credentials. For instance, in the 1976 report from the first World Conference on Human Settlements, UNEP <a href="http://sovereignty.net/p/gov/rise/g_part05.html" style="text-decoration: none;">stated</a>: “Private land ownership is a principal instrument of accumulating wealth and therefore contributes to social injustice. Public control of land use is therefore indispensable.” Accordingly, “[p]ublic ownership of land is justified in favor of the common good, rather than to protect the interest of the already privileged.” In 1976 Strong <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:rN5tCizvtd8J:www.taxtyranny.ca/images/HTML/Maurice-Strong/article1.html+%22a+socialist+in+ideology,+a+capitalist+in+methodology%22&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration: none;">described</a> himself as "a socialist in ideology, a capitalist in methodology." He also advocated a “collectivist global government.”

In the 1990s, Strong continued to promote the possibility of a new global order in terms of environmentalism. From 1990 to 1993, he served as Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Environment and Development. In 1992, he <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090722/pdf/460454a.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;">chaired</a> the UN’s Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, a conference which shaped new international agreements on climate change and provided the foundation for the Kyoto Protocol. Strong opened the Summit with a speech,<a href="http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/6485" style="text-decoration: none;">declaring</a> that the problem of late 20th-century capitalism was that industrialized countries had “developed and benefited from the unsustainable patterns of production and consumption which have produced our present dilemma.” He claimed that the world’s environmental ills were caused by middle-class lifestyles, including "high meat intake, consumption of large amounts of frozen and convenience foods, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and work-place air-conditioning, and suburban housing." Asserting that such features of modern life were "not sustainable," Strong said: "A shift is necessary toward lifestyles less geared to environmentally damaging consumption patterns."

Also in 1992, Strong <a href="http://www.earthcouncilalliance.org/en/about/maurice-strong.html" style="text-decoration: none;">founded</a> the Earth Council Alliance and became its longtime chairman. Through the council, Strong worked with Mikhail Gorbachev (acting as chairman of the Green Cross International) <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=MXvBs2PqkUcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=False+dawn+Lee+Penn&source=bl&ots=hbRb0IVe8V&sig=hPSaSwcYGuVOiZbQFaIynz8QqMc&hl=en&ei=9noQTIvBMcL68Abv3YiKBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false" style="text-decoration: none;">to create</a> the Earth Charter which called for a “sustainable global society founded on the principles of respect for the Earth and life in all its diversity, economic and social justice, and a culture of peace and non-violence.” Strong declared that “the real goal of the Earth Charter is that it will in fact become like the Ten Commandments.”

Strong and Gorbachev have <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=MXvBs2PqkUcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=False+dawn+Lee+Penn&source=bl&ots=hbRb0IVe8V&sig=hPSaSwcYGuVOiZbQFaIynz8QqMc&hl=en&ei=9noQTIvBMcL68Abv3YiKBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false" style="text-decoration: none;">urged</a> the UN to adopt the Charter, which they call a “citizen-based initiative.” They point out, however, that if the Charter is implemented, it will not "be subservient to the rules of state sovereignty, demands of the free market or individual rights." Strong himself <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XueBqv_dpM" style="text-decoration: none;">has long urged</a> global governance at the expense of national sovereignty. Environmental mandates, he says, necessitate the eventual dismantling of the power of the nation state: “It is simply not feasible for sovereignty to be exercised unilaterally by individual nation-states, however powerful. It is a principle which will yield only slowly and reluctantly to the imperatives of global environmental cooperation.”

In 1995 Strong headed a Massachusetts-based company called <a href="http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/9629" style="text-decoration: none;">Molten Metal Technology, Inc.</a> (MMTI), which claimed to have invented a process for recycling metals from waste but had failed to demonstrate that the technology could work on a commercial scale. Another MMTI leader was Peter Knight, the firm’s registered lobbyist and <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2140" style="text-decoration: none;">Al Gore</a>’s former top Senate aide. On “Earth Day” in April 1995, Gore traveled to MMTI's headquarters and praised the firm for its environmentally responsible work. At that time, MMTI had already received more than $25 million in U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) research-and-development grants. And although the company had no other sources of revenue, Gore's laudatory speech caused its stock value to soar to $35 per share.

But in March 1996, MMTI's corporate officers learned that the DOE was planning to drastically cut back its funding in the near future. Between March and October 1996, seven MMTI officers—including Maurice Strong—quietly sold off $15.3 million in personal shares in the company, whose per-share value continued to hover around $35. Then on October 20, MMTI issued a press release announcing, for the first time, that its DOE subsidies would be scaled back dramatically. The next day, MMTI's stock plunged by 49%, and it eventually dwindled to a mere $5 per share. In early 1997, stockholders filed an insider-trading class action suit against MMTI and its officers. The suit closely resembled a <a href="http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/9629" style="text-decoration: none;">previous</a> insider-trading lawsuit in which Maurce Strong had also been involved.

Also during the 1990s, Strong was a member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum, eventually becoming the board’s co-Chair. In 1995 he was named Senior Advisor to the President of the World Bank. In 1997 he became Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and served as a special advisor to <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=796" style="text-decoration: none;">Kofi Annan</a>, the head of the UN at that time.

During this period, Strong became involved in the <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6529" style="text-decoration: none;">UN’s Oil for Food Program</a>. In 1997 he chaired Annan’s reform panel which <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122368007369524679.html" style="text-decoration: none;">reorganized</a> the scattered Oil-for-Food administration into one centralized office. That same year, Strong received a $988,885 check, issued by a Jordanian bank and financed by <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1344" style="text-decoration: none;">Saddam Hussein</a>'s regime, which was then facing UN-imposed economic sanctions. The check was personally delivered to Strong by Tongsun Park, a South Korean businessman, who was eventually convicted in New York federal court of conspiring to bribe UN officials.

It was not until 2005 that Strong’s actions were scrutinized. Strong <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122368007369524679.html" style="text-decoration: none;">denied</a> any involvement: “I had no involvement at all in Oil-for-Food ... I just stayed out of it.” He initially denied any knowledge of the check as well. But when investigators showed it to him, endorsed with his own signature, Strong stated that the money was intended for a legitimate investment. Strong was never charged in the matter, but his involvement did cast a shadow over his UN career.

Strong was a leading architect of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement that set binding greenhouse gas (GHG)-reduction targets for 37 industrialized countries.

In 2000 and 2001, the <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/funderprofile.asp?fndid=5310&category=79" style="text-decoration: none;">Joyce Foundation</a>, on whose board <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1511" style="text-decoration: none;">Barack Obama</a> sat at that time, mage a grant of $1.1 million to establish the <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7526" style="text-decoration: none;">Chicago Climate Exchange</a> (CCX), which describes itself as “North America’s only cap and trade system for all six greenhouse gases, with global affiliates and projects worldwide.” Today, Maurice Strong is one of CCX's nine <a href="http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/content.jsf?id=67" style="text-decoration: none;">directors</a>. <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2140" style="text-decoration: none;">Al Gore</a>’s <a href="http://www.generationim.com/" style="text-decoration: none;">Generation Investment Management</a>, a carbon offset company, also <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/25/obama-years-ago-helped-fund-carbon-program-pushing-congress/" style="text-decoration: none;">exerts</a> considerable influence over CCX and other carbon credit trading firms. Strong is a longtime friend of Gore and remains a silent partner in Gore’s company.

Today Strong serves, along with <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2194" style="text-decoration: none;">Paul Ehrlich</a> and others, as an <a href="http://www.davidsuzuki.org/about/board/" style="text-decoration: none;">honorary board member</a> of the<a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7691" style="text-decoration: none;">David Suzuki Foundation</a>.

<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122368007369524679.html" style="text-decoration: none;">The U.N.'s Man of Mystery</a>

By Claudia Rosett

October 11, 2008

<li class="articleSection first" style="margin: 0px 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; float: left; letter-spacing: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; line-height: 0.9em; border: none;"><a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/search?article-doc-type=%7BThe+Saturday+Interview%7D&HEADER_TEXT=the+saturday+interview" style="text-decoration: none; outline: none; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1em;">THE WEEKEND INTERVIEW</a></li>

<li class="dateStamp" style="margin: 0px 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em; float: left; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 0.9em; border-left: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153);">October 11, 2008</li>

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<h5 style="font-style: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; display: block; text-transform: uppercase;">MAURICE STRONG</h5>

<h1 style="font-style: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 90px 0px 0px; font-weight: normal; width: 571px; line-height: normal; font-variant: normal; display: inline-block; background-image: none !important; min-width: 0px !important;">The U.N.'s Man of Mystery</h1>

<h2 class="subhead" style="margin: 4px 0px; padding: 0px 90px 0px 0px; font-weight: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; text-transform: none; width: 571px; display: inline-block;">Is the godfather of the Kyoto treaty a public servant or a profiteer?</h2>

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<li style="text-align: left; list-style: none;">By CLAUDIA ROSETT</li></ul>

Beijing

"I don't trust you, and I also question your integrity." Thus did Maurice Strong offer me a seat on his living room sofa.

Often described as an "international man of mystery," Mr. Strong during his long, globe-trotting career has been one of the most influential architects of the opaque cross-border bureaucracy that is today's United Nations. He is probably best known as godfather of the U.N.'s 1997 Kyoto treaty, and as a former U.N. top adviser who in that same year received a check for almost $1 million, bankrolled by the U.N.-sanctioned regime of Saddam Hussein. (Mr. Strong told me that at the time he did not know the money came from Baghdad.)In his most recent stint at the U.N., from 1997-2005, Mr. Strong served as an Under-Secretary-General and special adviser to former Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He was point man on matters ranging from U.N. reform to environmentalism to North Korea. By some accounts, including his own, he has been a benevolent toiler in the multilateral trenches, a friend of Mikhail Gorbachev and Al Gore, networking to save the planet.

By other accounts, he's a self-dealing and self-declared socialist who has parlayed his talents into a push for collectivist global government. These days he is living in China, where he says his ties go back "40 years."

The apple-faced Mr. Strong was born in 1929 in rural Canada. He grew up with a hankering to see the world. His travels took him to New York, where he spent a few months working in 1947 as a junior security officer at the U.N. He went on to tour Africa, and returned home to climb the corporate and public-sector ladders in Canada. In 1970 he returned to the U.N. for the first in a series of high-level incarnations that included organizing the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the environment, founding and becoming the first head of the U.N. Environment Program, and chairing the 1992 Rio summit on the environment.

Over the decades, Mr. Strong has had close ties to at least five former U.N. leaders, from U Thant to Mr. Annan, and he implies that even now, in Beijing, he is informally in touch on occasion with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: "I do get the odd message now and then." (Asked to confirm this, Mr. Ban's office did not respond). Along with his labors at the U.N., Mr. Strong has been engaged for years with a kaleidoscope of nongovernmental organizations and private business ventures. A collection of his papers donated to the Harvard Library, spanning the years 1948-2000 runs to 685 boxes. A theme throughout, he says, is that "I've spent my life trying to help the U.N."

Mr. Strong no longer has any official ties to the U.N., however. In 2005, at the height of the investigations into the U.N.'s corrupt Oil-for-Food relief program for Iraq, news emerged of the six-figure check from Iraq. Evidence procured by federal investigators and the U.N.-authorized inquiry of Paul Volcker showed that Mr. Strong in 1997, while working for Mr. Annan, had endorsed a check for $988,885, made out to "Mr. M. Strong," issued by a Jordanian bank. This check was hand-delivered to Mr. Strong by a South Korean businessman, Tongsun Park, who in 2006 was convicted in New York federal court of conspiring to bribe U.N. officials to rig Oil-for-Food in favor of Saddam.

Mr. Strong was never accused of any wrongdoing. Asked by investigators about the check, he initially denied he'd ever handled it. When they showed it to him with his own signature on the back, he acknowledged that he must have endorsed it, but said the money was meant to cover an investment Mr. Park wished to make in a Strong family company, Cordex, run by one of his sons. (Cordex soon afterward went bankrupt.) Mr. Volcker, in his final report, said that the U.N. might want to "address the need for a more rigorous disclosure process for conflicts of interest."

During the inquiry, Mr. Strong stepped aside from his U.N. post, saying he would sideline himself until the cloud was removed. But instead of returning to his native Canada, he decamped from New York to Beijing, where he appears to have settled in. He has given few interviews from China, and for the past three years has refused my periodic requests to answer questions by phone or email.

Mr. Strong may have left the U.N. behind, but his current office is a penthouse suite in a building that houses at least three U.N. agencies (UNIDO, UNFPA and UNHCR), plus such diplomatic tenants as the embassies of Mozambique, Cyprus, and the Bahamas, as well as the Venezuelan defense attaché. He received me at his nearby apartment wearing a striped blue polo shirt, dark slacks and in his stocking feet. There were photos of Mr. Strong posing amid a multitude of world leaders at the Rio summit, and a close-up of Mr. Strong gazing into the camera beside a smiling Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The latter photo was taken in her office a few years ago, when "I went to brief her on a couple of things."

A soft-spoken man with a Canadian accent, Mr. Strong starts by giving me a piece of his mind. Not only does he not trust me, but he's still incensed by an article I co-authored in February, 2007, with George Russell of Fox News. In it, we suggested that if Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wanted to clean up the U.N.'s "tangled nest of personal relationships, public-private partnerships, murky trust funds, unaudited funding conduits, and inter-woven enterprises," he might start by investigating the trail of Maurice Strong. Flourishing a printout of the piece, Mr. Strong protests that "everything I did, I checked it out carefully with the U.S." He also charges that we made "no mention of what I did in putting the environmental agenda on the map." (Actually, we gave him full credit for that, but questioned the extent to which -- as an unelected official -- he had manipulated the U.N. system to support his own agenda).

"You called for an investigation," says Mr. Strong, "Actually, I wouldn't mind." He hands me a draft report by a former Swedish diplomat, saying it has not yet been released, but "you can have it." The document, subtitled "A Study in Leadership," describes in flattering terms Mr. Strong's maneuvers over many years to shape a U.N. agenda in which public conferences became largely a façade for decisions already brokered behind the scenes by Mr. Strong.

"I've made mistakes here and there, yes," says Mr. Strong, but they've been "honest mistakes."

Talk skips around. He says that when he left New York in 2005, "I didn't just run away to China, I already had an apartment here." He adds that his departure from the U.N. was motivated not by the Oil-for-Food investigations, but by his sense at the time, as Mr. Annan's special adviser on North Korea, that the U.N. had reached an impasse. "It just happened to coincide with the publicity surrounding my so-called nefarious activities." He insists: "I had no involvement at all in Oil-for-Food . . . I just stayed out of it."

U.N. records show that he chaired Mr. Annan's 1997 U.N. reform panel, which among other items reorganized the initially ad hoc and scattered Oil-for-Food administrative apparatus into one big Office of the Iraq Program. That allowed Mr. Annan to appoint one man to directly manage the operation, the now-fugitive Benon Sevan, indicted in New York last year on charges of taking Oil-for-Food bribes. (Mr. Sevan has said he's innocent). Doesn't that early reshaping of the program qualify as involvement with Oil-for-Food?

"I chaired the process," says Mr. Strong, but "I got inputs from a whole series of people." On the creation of the office run by Mr. Sevan, "I didn't realize it had been done until someone pointed it out."

I have been waiting a long time to ask a further question, prompted by evidence that emerged in the Tongsun Park trial, showing that three years after delivering that Baghdad-funded check to Mr. Strong, Park was transferring money directly into Mr. Strong's personal bank account to pay the rent for a private office maintained by Mr. Strong in midtown Manhattan. Why was Mr. Park paying Mr. Strong's office rent? "He was paying his own rent," replies Mr. Strong, adding that the arrangement was a "sublet." "I had the U.N. office, so I didn't really need all that space . . . he wanted an address in New York."

But there were signs that the same premises were also used at some point as a New York office by the U.N.-chartered University for Peace (a small school headquartered in Costa Rica, which with Mr. Strong chairing its board from 1999-2006 developed an outsized interest in proposing U.N.-funded development projects for North Korea, and used U.N. facilities to arrange trips for North Korean officials to Europe). What was that about? "It was only interim," says Mr. Strong. "It was a motley office."

He grows irritable that I am "resurrecting all this." He talks much more cheerfully about his current projects. He says he is still Canadian, keeps a home in Canada, and pays taxes there. But most of his work right now is in China. His erratic health leaves him less interested in global travel. He says he suffers from diabetes, and has had five heart bypasses: "I have a cow's valve in my heart."

That hasn't slowed him down much inside China, where he holds appointments at three universities and serves as an adviser to the government. "My advice gets to the highest levels." he says. He has also been involved in setting up the Tianjin Climate Exchange for trading carbon credits: "the first climate exchange in China." It's a joint venture with several entities, including the Chicago Climate Exchange, where he holds a seat on the board.

At one point in our conversation, his cell phone rings, and while leaning back to chat with the caller about an environmental conclave he has just attended in the port city of Tianjin, he drops the name of China's prime minister: "I think the meeting with Wen Jiabao made a good impression."

Does Mr. Strong see any conflict in the fact that his signature U.N. product, the Kyoto treaty, grants big, profitable concessions to developing nations such as China -- and now here he is, involved in China's carbon trading and working as an adviser to the Chinese government? He replies that China when it signed on to Kyoto was not "the cause of the problem." He also says that his work for the Chinese government and universities is "all pro bono."

Asked whether he's involved in any private ventures these days, he says he was involved with the Chinese Chery Automobile Company, but as an adviser, not an investor, and he is now out of that. He says he's chairman of a company that's helping China earn emissions credits, the China Carbon Corporation. He's on the board of a U.S.-based engineering and construction firm CH2M Hill.

And what about the company listed on the business card his office assistant gave me: Cosmos International? He says it's a private firm, operating out of Beijing and Ottawa: "Just my little vehicle, it's just me and my son." He explains that he has two sons. Fred, who "does his own thing," and Ken, his youngest son, who is his business partner.

Mr. Strong has long been rumored to be a billionaire. I seize the chance to ask him how much he is really worth. He ducks: "Rumors of my wealth are greatly exaggerated. I have never been interested in money." OK, but how about a ballpark figure -- millions? Tens of millions? "Maybe a few millions, yes. I don't complain."

Is he planning to visit his old stomping grounds in New York City anytime soon? He hasn't been back in a couple of years, he says, "I'm just too busy." Speaking of which, another visitor has arrived at his apartment, and they have a lunch appointment. As we head down to the lobby, I ask if the building is new. Not really, he says, but he likes the place -- "It has its own internal air cleaning system." Donning his trademark trilby -- "white for summer, black for winter" -- he heads off into the haze of Beijing.

Ms. Rosett heads the Investigative Reporting Project at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and writes a weekly column on foreign affairs for <a class="" href="http://www.forbes.com/" target="_blank" data-ls-seen="1" style="text-decoration: underline; outline: none;">Forbes.com</a>.

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