TOMORROW’S ANSWERS TODAY

THE AKZONOBEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 7

AkzoNobel has become a full technology partner with the

McLaren Group after expanding the company’s current rela-

tionship with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. The announce-

ment of the new four-year deal coincided with the launch of

the new MP4-26 Formula 1 car in Berlin – being driven by

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton – which now features a

sophisticated, high gloss Sikkens system and the AkzoNobel

logo on the rear wing endplate.

Through Sikkens, AkzoNobel has been the official supplier of

paint solutions to McLaren’s team since 2008. Under the new

agreement, the companies will work closely together to further

develop the extreme environment technology for Formula 1 and

wider industrial applications. “Our innovative capabilities are

well suited to McLaren’s high performance requirements,” said

AkzoNobel CEO, Hans Wijers. “The shared knowledge we

have gained from the existing partnership has already enabled

us to translate 80 percent of the tailor-made solution supplied

to McLaren Racing into a commercial value proposition for

AkzoNobel customers.”

Driving innnoovatioonn

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AkzoNobel

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AkzoNobel

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Opinions in this magazine

do not necessarily represent

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responsibility for these

opinions. While the informa-

tion in this publication is

intended to be accurate, no

representation of accuracy

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WELCOME CHRIS WESTON

Just before Christmas I was in Zimbabwe, a country which, in the past few

years, has suffered enormous political turmoil and massive economic strife –

supermarkets with no food, petrol stations with no fuel, banks with no cash.

I was in the north of the country visiting a village school, where I met Ngame.

As well as his main teaching role, Ngame doubled up as the school’s

PE teacher. He was especially proud to show me the school’s “football field” –

a bumpy patch of dried mud with sticks for goals.

The legacy of South Africa’s hosting of the soccer World Cup has reached

far across the continent and, in this corner of Zimbabwe, it had struck a chord.

“We have formed a school team,” Ngame told me. “We are setting up a local

league with other schools and my boys are very excited and desperate to be

champions,” he continued. “We practice every day until the sky goes dark.”

This, he went on to tell me, despite the fact they didn’t yet have a ball.

I met the boys of the soccer team; their smiling faces beaming with pride

and hope. Here was a group of kids who had nothing, not even a ball, and yet

they were at that moment the happiest kids on Earth!

When asked to write the introduction for this health and well-being issue,

I was reminded that shortly after taking office, the new British Prime Minister,

David Cameron, announced plans to measure the happiness of people living

in the UK. The initiative was widely scoffed at and generally pooh-poohed and

yet, when you look into it more deeply, a measure of national well-being based

on something other than money is surely something we should applaud. The

idea isn’t even new, as highlighted in this issue’s article which looks at why,

according to one survey, Costa Rica is the happiest place on Earth to live in.

Money doesn’t buy happiness, the saying goes, nor does it guarantee

health. We face a looming global food crisis brought about by an ever-

expanding population, an issue which again is covered in these pages.

We need land to grow crops, but cutting down our forests to provide it (see

page 28), while a short-term fix, has potentially catastrophic consequences

for our children and our children’s children – not to mention the world’s wildlife.

In the years ahead, individually and collectively, we face many great

challenges. It is therefore important to remember that, when confronted by

adversity, it is not money that prevails. It is spirit, courage and endeavor – three

qualities in humans that thrive on our health and well-being.

Chris Weston is a wildlife photojournalist and co-founder of the wildlife conservation NGO,

Animals on the Edge.

Cover image: Lee Funnell

Yellow chrysanthemum by Lee Funnell

Contents

6 Different class

We look at how people in China have been

coping with epic events and changes brought

about by the country’s booming economy.

14 Living color

Feeling blue? Red with rage? Green with envy?

That’s because color has an irresistible impact

on our daily lives.

18 Feeding frenzy

Everyone needs to eat, but could the world be

running out of food?

24 Searching for the holy grain

Efforts to find the Holy Grail of salt substitutes

have been ongoing for some time. Now, our own

quest may be at an end.

28 Disappearing planet

A report on the efforts being made to reverse

deforestation and save endangered species such

as the tiger.

36 It’s only natural

Savvy consumers have created an entire industry

around eco-friendly products. An industry which

is growing by the day.

38 Handle with care

We examine the impact of the Bhopal disaster

and how the chemical industry responded to

the tragedy.

48 Has employee satisfaction gone too far?

When it comes to employee well-being and

providing for your workforce, how far is too far?

54 Nothing to sniff at

It might seem like just a tin of paint, but

sophisticated coatings now look after our

well-being as well as looking good.

60 The happiest place on Earth

According to the Happy Planet Index, if you’re

bursting with contentedness, you must live in

Costa Rica.

DIFFERENT CLASS

WORDS Jim Wake PHOTOGRAPHY Lionel Derimais

Things usually happen on a grand scale in China. The sudden appearance of an

emerging middle class – brought about by the country’s growth engine going into

overdrive – is a classic example, with millions having escaped poverty over the last

few years and millions more likely to join them.

8

9

Previous spread: A new Mercedes car

tempts a man into the driver’s seat

at the Shanghai motor show.

Left: Shoppers take a break inside

Beijing’s IKEA store.

Below: Chinese youth now have

much more in common with young

people in Europe and the US.

They’ve never done things on a small scale in China. From

the Great Wall, to the Grand Canal, to the Long March,

to the 2008 Olympics, Chinese history is characterized by

great projects, grand gestures and grand movements.

Now, two movements of unprecedented scale are taking place

simultaneously and the impact is being felt – and will continue to

be felt – not just in China, but all across the globe.

One of these movements is what we might call the Great

Migration – a flow of hundreds of millions of the rural poor to

China’s industrial cities which could well be the greatest move-

ment of people over a relatively short period of time in human

history. It began as a movement to the newly opened up cities

of southern China in the late 1970s and then extended to other

coastal cities in the east. But the government is now trying its

best to encourage development in second, third and fourth tier

cities across China to ease the enormous pressure on the

southern and eastern mega-cities that have been a magnet for

these economic migrants over the past decades.

The other movement can be described as the Great

Escape, as in escape from poverty. It’s no secret, of course,

that the Chinese economy is booming. It’s been growing at a

rate of close to 10 percent a year for most of the last decade.

GDP, barely $1 trillion in 2000, nearly doubled by 2005 and

reached about $5.75 trillion last year. In human terms, that

growth translates into an emerging middle class of hundreds of

millions of Chinese citizens. It is estimated that at least 200

million people have escaped from poverty. Today, the Chinese

middle class – which was practically non-existent even 15 years

ago – numbers 300 million people. Another 250 to 300 million

more (some estimate as many as half a billion) will enter the

middle class in the next 15 years.

What these two great movements mean – for Chinese

society in social, cultural, economic and political terms; and for

the rest of the world in terms of its political and economic

relationships with China – is a matter for much speculation.

However, at least a few things are clear. For the Chinese govern-

ment, managing the changes will be a daunting challenge.

For the rest of the world, challenges, and even threats, are also

likely. But there’s also the prospect of huge opportunities.

The changes that have come to China are so huge and

have happened so swiftly that one result has been a huge

divide between parents and children. The parents, who sur-

vived famine and uncertainty in the 1960s and 1970s, are

inclined to save much of what they earn; saving, indeed, has

been considered a virtue in Chinese culture since long before

most Western cultures existed. The children may have heard

from their parents about deprivation and hard times, but they

can hardly understand what it was like. They have much more

in common with young people in Europe and the US – listening

to the same kinds of music, embracing the same sense of fash-

ion and craving the same “stuff” that young people all over the

world crave, be it cars (18 million new cars were sold in China

last year), smart phones, video games, or brand name shoes

and accessories.

10

The gap recalls a similar generation gap in the 1960s in the West,

when baby boomers were growing up in a period of unprece-

dented affluence; their parents (my parents, to put things in their

proper context) of course, had grown up in the Depression and

lived through World War II. But if the rebellious youth of the 60s

eschewed materialism and embraced “love, peace and happi-

ness”, the mantra of China’s 20 and 30-somethings these days,

is more likely “love, peace and having things”.

“The Chinese middle class is very much into luxury goods,”

says Helen Wang, the Chinese-born author of The China

Dream: The Rise of the World’s Largest Middle Class and

What it Means to You. “Many Chinese prefer Western prod-

ucts because of their quality and the brand. They feel the

brands elevate their social status, which the Chinese care a lot

about.” The opportunity has not gone unnoticed, she adds.

“European luxury brands such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton are

creating an alternative growth engine for themselves, espe-

cially when their home markets are stagnating.”

The cultural changes that accompany China’s new-found

wealth are inevitable, claims Mary Boyd, Director of the

Economist Group’s Corporate Network in China. A former

Canadian diplomat who has been watching China’s evolution

since she studied there in the late 1970s, she says that China’s

rapid urbanization and the contact that Chinese have with the

rest of the world as a result of travel are two powerful influ-

ences on China’s development. “The possibility of travel now

11

Two Chinese girls photograph

each other in the lobby of the

trendy Ullens (UCCA) gallery

in Beijing.

12

13

Flowers being planted outside a

store in the stylish Sanlitun Village

shopping district in central Beijing.

is so widely available. That brings with it the possibility of find-

ing out what others in the world are up to. That’s going to open

up all kinds of new vistas for people, and as that happens, the

more traditional culture inevitably will change. What you see is

that it’s manifested at both a private level – within a household,

you’ve got that generational change – but also on the street,

where you’ve got the growth of a sort of youth culture.”

Like the youth of the 60s, China’s youth seem refreshingly

idealistic (and sometimes endearingly naïve). “I feel the caring of

my generation,” says JoJo Chen, a recent university graduate

now working in communications for AkzoNobel in China. “Back

in college, almost every student in my journalism school took

part in all kinds of social activities like teaching in rural areas and

trying to figure out what’s wrong with society when we did

social research.

“Those of us in the younger generation have experienced

the two extremes of modern Chinese society,” she continues in

nearly flawless English, “because our parents are coming from

difficult times like the Great Leap and the drought and we’re

experiencing dramatic change. So basically we can see the two

ends of the world, from the poorest to the richest. The words

I use to describe how I feel are ‘unique paradox’, because we

continually receive information about our promising future and

everything seems so positive. But meanwhile, we see unfair-

ness in society, corruption and mistrust. We see the struggle

between those two sides every day. But I think this will give us

more compassion when we think about the future.”

Still, she and many others who have grown up in the last

20 years seem quite accepting of the gradual evolution of

Chinese society that has taken place since Deng Xiaoping first

introduced political and economic reforms 30 years ago. They

also give the government much credit for doing a good job

managing the changes that have accompanied the economic

boom. “The last thing the government needs is social unrest

and social unrest can start from disparity between haves and

have-nots,” notes AkzoNobel’s China Country Director Colin

Tan, who came to China from his native Singapore seven years

ago. “So the government has been very good with that. They

have clear plans to try to distribute wealth as much as they

can to third and fourth tier cities. In my work, I mingle with both

the haves and the have-nots. Obviously, the haves are happy.

But coming from where they were before, the have-nots are

pretty happy as well.”

Recently, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao announced during an

online forum that the government wanted to slow economic

growth in order to rein in inflation, which has been hitting the

rural poor and low income migrants especially hard. He also

acknowledged that growing inequality was a threat to stability

and promised to take measures to slow down the rapid rise in

housing prices, which has put home ownership in China’s

booming cities out of the reach of many in the middle class.

What the government hopes to achieve – and what both

business and governments in the West are hoping for – is a

fundamental shift in the character of the Chinese economy,

from one based on low-cost production for export to one driven

by domestic consumption. In other words, the mass of middle

class citizens has to start spending like Western consumers do.

That sort of transition is already evident, says Mary Boyd,

especially in pockets of affluence in interior cities, with shopping

malls sprouting up in many urban centers all over the country.

But even if prosperous young people in China’s cities are enthu-

siastic consumers, the deep-rooted thriftiness of the Chinese

will certainly not disappear anytime soon. “Getting away from

the centrally planned economy also meant getting away from

the cradle-to-grave social welfare net, so people felt they had to

save as an insurance policy,” she explains. “Now we’re seeing

the government putting back some of those protections,

basically to reassure households that they don’t have to save

50 percent of their income against adversity.” If that does occur,

it won’t just be a few luxury brand names cashing in. If a thriving

middle class of half a billion or more starts buying everything

from toothpaste to technology from global producers, the

much-decried trade gap could even reverse itself.

In the West, many view China as a threat, pointing to the

trade gap and the migration of manufacturing jobs. A more

measured analysis allows for the fact that without China, the

financial crisis of 2008 might have been much worse, and that

those hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers entering

the middle class could well be the engine to drive global

economic prosperity for some time to come.

50

We make hundreds, maybe thousands, of decisions every day.

Many are influenced by our susceptibility to certain colors, but

what is it that triggers our responses? And is red really as wicked

as some make it out to be?

WORDS Brian Guest

LIVING COLOR

51

We’re constantly being bombarded with a cease-

less chatter of information and face an ongoing

barrage of lurid images from the world around us.

The question is, how much influence can all of this

have on our inner psyche and the way we behave? When US

market researcher James Vicary first coined the phrase “sub-

liminal messaging” back in 1957, it caused uproar. Vicary

claimed he could prompt moviegoers to drink Coca-Cola and

eat popcorn by flashing ultra-fast invisible messages on-

screen that penetrated people’s subconscious and encour-

aged them to act upon what they had seen.

Since then, there has been endless speculation regarding

the degree to which people unconsciously process emotional

information such as pictures, faces, words and colors. Can

they be prompted to act upon messages shown to them for a

fraction of a second, sometimes as lightning fast as a 50th of

a second? Evidence suggests they can. Once out in the open,

the implications of the power of auto-suggestion were huge.

They immediately prompted fears that wayward governments

and cults would use the technique to brainwash innocent civil-

ians to carry out instructions they couldn’t resist.

Not that the implanting of ideas is anything new. But in a

decade dominated by McCarthyism, with its “reds under the

beds” paranoia about the subversive power of emotional sug-

gestion, it was like a red rag to a bull. Funny really, because

the media industry – film, television and publishing – has been

employing similar techniques for years. Black is bad, white is

good, red suggests a risk, green envy. Colors help to implant

stereotypical ideas. Take Hollywood, for example. From the

black-clad Heathcliff astride his black mare, thrashing the

poor beast as he gallops across the downs to get his wicked

way with the wretched Cathy; to cowboy films such as Shane,

where the baddies can clearly be identified as the surly looking

men in black hats, while the solitary good guy can’t be anyone

other than the virginal dude in white.

As in fiction, so in life. Depending on the cultural context,

the historic setting or the social background, colors carry

meaning and connotations that can have a life-enhancing or

debilitating effect on psychological functioning and, ultimately,

health and well-being. Yet they are clearly not all things to

all men. A good example is the color red. In a recent study,

US researchers set out to identify the color most associated

with sexual attraction. One clear winner emerged – red. In

China, where red represents luck and prosperity, this would

surely have raised eyebrows. In the West, however, red has

traditionally been about sex and power. And power means

status and well-being. Red light districts, scarlet ladies and

Lolitas with red sunglasses are the first stereotypes to spring

to mind. Delve further into history and its links with the high-

est echelons of power and prestige become self-evident.

The men in red – the coccinati – Kings, cardinals and the

nobility all wore it, red carpets are still rolled out and we still

talk about red letter days. At the same time, it also symbolizes

danger – hence the color of traffic lights, warning signs on

medicines and flashing red lights on fire engines and ambu-

lances. When red’s around, either a risk or something risqué

is about to happen.

So is popular culture predominantly shaping attitudes to

color and well-being? The reality is far more complex, accord-

ing to Per Nimer, AkzoNobel’s color expert. “Cultural prefer

ences and personal taste play a huge role,” he says. “But the

reality is that people, wherever they are, naturally respond to

changes in the physical world and seek solace, comfort and

protection in the color hues employed in the living spaces,

working environments and products surrounding them. And

this has an impact on their well-being and health.”

48

Yellow

Positive associations:

The sun, light, illumination,

dissemination and

comprehensive generalization,

magnanimity, intuition, intellect,

supreme wisdom, highest

values, divinity, ripening grain

Negative associations:

Treachery, cowardice

Purple

Positive associations:

Power, spirituality, royalty,

love of truth, loyalty, empire,

patience, humility, nostalgia,

memories

Negative associations:

Sublimation, martyrdom,

mourning, regret, penitence,

humility

Orange

Positive associations:

Fire and flames, marriage,

hospitality, benevolence,

celestial fruit, pride and

ambition, earthy wisdom

Negative associations:

Malevolence, Satan

Red

Positive associations:

Blood (life), fire (warmth),

passion, sentiment, valor,

patriotism, revolution,

Christ, liberty

Negative associations:

Blood (spilled), fire (burning),

death throes and sublimation,

wounds, surging and tearing

emotions, passions, war,

anarchy, revolution, martyrdom,

danger, the devil

Nimer – who has just been asked to produce a new, more

socially inclusive color design for New York’s homes for

the vulnerable and elderly – says that the attack on the

Twin Towers in 2001 was one of those seismic moments in

history that triggered a major shift (particularly in the US) in

how people perceive the living spaces around them and the

role of color in making them feel more secure and confident

as they go about their daily lives. “People clearly want to feel

more secure and yet, at the same time, less anonymous and

stressed in their lives,” he explains. “Buildings have to look

imposing and secure. At the moment, the hottest residential

color is graphite, dark gray or black, signaling strength and

safety. At work, you want to be in a safe, comfortable environ-

ment that is conducive to being productive.”

It’s not unusual for people to want to abandon the frivolous

for security. It’s happened throughout history. After the Refor-

mation, bright colors were frowned upon as being bad for a

“believer’s” health. Even in the mid-1800s, the naturally vivacious

Italians abandoned vivid colors to mimic the dark respectable

hues of the dominant power on the continent at the time – the

British. For an architect, it’s important to respond to these

changes, says Nimer. “When you build a place of work you

want the people who are going to work there to empathize with

the workplace and feel content, but not to be totally relaxed

because you want them to be productive,” he continues. “This

means using colors they like, but also adding combinations that

encourage productivity and create a feeling of creativity and

optimism. The closer the supporting color is to the main color in

terms of hue, saturation and value, the calmer the combination

achieved. Hence a monochromatic scheme – two similar colors

– creates the calmest effect. The further colors are away from

each other, the more tension is created. In the home, well-being

is created by using more personal, calmer colors and grays to

engender a feeling of comfort. The best colors are soothing

colors: beiges, off-whites, yellows and grays. The easiest colors

to combine are blue and red, the hardest blue and green.”

Research into the therapeutic use of color only started to

come into its own in the 20th century. Expanding upon ideas

first espoused by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in his The-

ory of Colors, the Austrian philosopher and founder of the

anthroposophy movement, Rudolf Steiner, argued that human

happiness was only possible if man could create an organic

equilibrium between mind, body and soul. Colors and combi-

nations of colors allied to shape could either have a destructive

17

Blue

Positive associations:

The sky, the calm sea, thinking,

religious feeling, devotion,

innocence, truth, constancy,

justice, charity, cold

Negative associations:

Dark blue relates to night and

the stormy sea, doubt and

discouragement

Green

Positive associations:

Vegetation, nature, fertility

of the fields, sympathy,

adaptability, prosperity,

hope, life, immortality, youth,

freshness, auspicious,

recognition of soul, wisdom

Negative associations:

Lividness, envy, jealousy,

disgrace, sinister, opposition,

moral degradation, madness

or positive effect on living organisms. In the schools inspired

by Steiner’s thinking, students still work in classrooms painted

and designed to match their personal stage of development. In

1947, Max Lüscher, a professor at Basle University, developed

the Lüscher Color Test in which he claimed it was possible

to obtain accurate psychological information about a person

through their choices and rejection of colors. Lüscher believed

that the significance of color for well-being originated in man’s

early history. Living in unison with the rhythms of nature and the

cycle of the sun and moon was vital. Other scientists and re-

searchers, such as the Russian S.V. Krakov and the American

Robert Gerard, carried out pioneering work on how colors – in

particular red and blue – influence the nervous system.

The affect of color on health is widely documented. Blood

pressure rises under a red light and decreases under a blue

light. Respiration has also been found to respond to different

colors: quickening when influenced by a yellow light, slowing

under black. In 1990, scientists at the annual conference of

the American Association for the Advancement of Science

reported that blue light had been successfully used in the

treatment of a range of psychological problems, varying from

addictions to eating disorders and impotence. Businesses

have cottoned on quickly to the power of color in managing

behavior. Snack bars are decorated in a way to entice cus-

tomers in and then prompt them to leave, thus ensuring a fast

turnover. Coffee bars and restaurants seek to achieve the

opposite. All are designed to have a targeted impact, although

sometimes unforeseen effects can be achieved. One example

concerns a prison which underwent renovation. Each of the

four wings was painted in different colors. After a while, staff

noted that the behavior of the inmates varied greatly. Those

housed in the red and yellow sections were inclined to be more

violent, those in the blue wings more placid. Proof of color’s

power to influence all of our emotions and well-being.

And, according to Nimer, color’s role as an active propaga-

tor of health and well-being is growing in importance for both

AkzoNobel and its customers. “It’s not just about the improve-

ment in the products themselves,” he states. “This morning

I had a meeting with a window manufacturer who operates

in northern Europe. The first thing he asked was how his

products can be part of well-being. Now, when a window man-

ufacturer starts talking about well-being, it shows you just how

much awareness is growing about how color can impact on

people’s lives.”

WORDS Jim Wake

Could it ever happen? Could the world run out of food? If populations continue

to boom, demand might start to outstrip supply. While opinions may differ on the scale

of the problem, it’s clear that our basic need to eat is leaving us hungry for answers.

More than 40 years ago, a revolution began in India

with little fanfare. Farmers in the state of Punjab

received a variety of wheat which yielded so

much more than ever before that the harvest piled

up in the grain storehouses. India, which had been prone to

catastrophic famines, eventually became a grain exporter. And

while poverty wasn’t eliminated, mass starvation was no longer

a constant threat. It was the start of what has been called the

Green Revolution, and it probably had as great an impact on

the welfare of the world as the Industrial Revolution.

Of course, there have been crop failures and famines in

the intervening years. The Green Revolution has not spread to

every corner of the planet and hunger has not been eliminated

– in fact, nearly a billion people still go to bed hungry and another

billion are malnourished. But hunger is no longer the scourge

that it has been throughout human history. With higher yields,

improved distribution systems and emergency aid programs,

starvation on a massive scale can mostly be avoided (except

when governments themselves impede humanitarian assis-

tance, or when conflict causes a breakdown in the distribution

system). And with greater and more reliable supplies of staple

food crops, prices have also gradually declined over the last

40 years. Or at least, they had been steadily declining up until

2007. Since then, prices have spiked twice and agricultural

economists are sounding alarms. The Earth’s population (cur-

rently approaching seven billion), will probably increase to

around nine billion by 2050. But it’s not certain that we’re doing

what we need to be doing in order to ensure that we’ll keep up

with the rising demand.

It’s not just a matter of more mouths to feed, it’s a matter of

forces on both the supply and demand side that are pushing and

pulling in different directions. In January, a British government

think-tank called Foresight released a study entitled The Future

of Food and Farming which sounded the alarm bells. “The

global food system,” the report concluded, “will experience an

unprecedented confluence of pressures over the next 40 years.”

In addition to a growing population, the report warns that

“many people are likely to be wealthier, creating demand for a

more varied, high quality diet requiring additional resources to

produce. On the production side, competition for land, water

and energy will intensify, while the effects of climate change will

become increasingly apparent. The need to reduce greenhouse

gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate will become

imperative. Over this period, globalization will continue, expos-

ing the food system to novel economic and political pressures.”

At just about the same time as the Foresight report was re-

leased, the prominent American environmentalist Lester Brown

stated the danger even more starkly, over a much shorter

timeframe. “If the world has a poor harvest this year,” he wrote

in an opinion piece published in the International Herald Tribune,

“food prices will rise to previously unimaginable levels. Food riots

may multiply, political unrest could spread and governments

could fall. The world is now one poor harvest away from chaos

in world grain markets.”

In addition to the factors mentioned in the Foresight report,

Brown is particularly concerned about the diversion of grain

crops to ethanol production as a cause of shortages that drive

up prices. And he says that an over-reliance on ground water

for irrigation is now leading to falling water tables and a potential

collapse of agriculture in arid regions dependent on ground

water for irrigation.

How is it that a problem a lot of us thought we’d solved

is suddenly demanding urgent action? A failure to invest in

research in recent years is one of the main reasons, claims

Jerry Nelson, senior research fellow and lead climate change

researcher at the International Food Policy Research Institute

(IFPRI). “The decline in prices for agricultural commodities led to

complacency about the need to continue to fund research that

had been contributing to an increase in productivity,” he says.

“International organizations backed off support for research in

the public sector in both the developed and developing world.

In the developed world, that was picked up by the private sector,

but not in the developing world. The result is a backlog of tech-

nology that we’ve been drawing on and getting into the hands

of farmers, but it’s running down now. And as it runs down, then

you’re going to find things like what happened in 2008 and in

2010 – price spikes driven by a variety of things, such as high

heat in Russia and wheat export bans.”

He adds that one of the big problems facing agricultural

economists is that data on everything from land under cultiva-

tion, to production figures, to spoilage, to weather and rainfall

statistics is woefully inadequate. He suggests that developing

policies in the absence of good data could mean throwing good

money after bad. According to Nelson, there are only two ways

to increase the overall food supply – by expanding the area of

cultivated land and by increasing yields (see side story). But

the potential to put much more land under cultivation is limited,

and in any case, cutting down more trees to increase arable

land will only add to greenhouse effects that could accelerate

climate change. That in itself is at the very least disruptive to

agriculture; the jury is out on whether the overall effect of global

warming is “synchronous” climate change – which causes

weather events that lead to crop failures everywhere at once – or

“asynchronous” change that may adversely effect harvests in

one part of the world while boosting harvests in another.

While not necessarily endorsing Lester Brown’s warning

that we are “one harvest away from chaos”, Nelson does not

dismiss it out of hand either. “In 2008, when we had the price

spike, we had several governments lose power. I don’t know if

you can attribute what is going on in the Middle East today to

high food prices, but I suspect it’s a component of the continu-

ing unrest we’re seeing in the Arab world. You could imagine

20

21

Previous spread: A summer thunderstorm

approaches a wheat field in Kansas, US.

Photography: Keenpress/National Geographic Stock.

Above: Harvesting wheat fields in a village on

the west bank of the Nile in Egypt. Photography:

Kenneth Garrett/National Geographic Stock.

some serious disruptions, substantial migration of populations,

resulting violence from that, and serious problems with hunger

and malnutrition arising from problems with availability of food if

we have either synchronous weather events or you get govern-

ments, for whatever reason, essentially causing the same thing

to happen.

“I think we need to concentrate on two fronts to have some

hope of getting through this problem without major disruptions,”

he continues. “The first is that we just need to find ways to

increase agricultural productivity. We have to solve the supply-

side problem. Because on the demand side, we’re going to

continue to have population and income growth. That’s just

This page: According to food policy

analyst Devinder Sharma, 40 percent of

the food the world produces is wasted.

Photography: WRAP/wrap.org.uk.

Right: Farmers growing tomatoes using

drip irrigation to conserve water in San

Quintin Valley, Baja California, Mexico.

Photography: Annie Griffiths/National

Geographic Stock.

a fact we’re going to have to live with. We can tweak it and

change behavior in a variety of ways, but ultimately, it just

means more quantity, and we need to figure out how to do that

more sustainably. Number two is the data story – we need to

do a better job of understanding the nature of our challenges,

because we don’t have as good a handle on it as we should,

given how bad it could potentially be.”

Not everyone agrees with the conclusions of the Foresight

report or the dire predictions of people like Lester Brown.

Devinder Sharma, a food policy analyst with the Forum for

Biotechnology and Food Security in Delhi, India, calls the report

“a very clever camouflage to push genetically modified crops.”

On the day the report was released, he told the BBC: “I see

no reason why there should be panic created by the UK study.

Let’s be very clear. On the planet we have about 6.7 billion

people and we produce food for 11.5 billion people. Which

means we produce for double the population. So if by 2050

we are expecting the population to touch nine billion, where

is the crisis?” According to Sharma, the problem is that 40

percent of the food we produce is wasted, and food supplies

are distorted by speculation and the globalization of the grain

market. “There’s no denying that one part of the world is going

hungry and one part of the world is overfed, but that is what we

need to address.” Bringing more technology, he says, “is going

to do more damage to the environment, create problems for

water and global warming and so on.”

Sir John Beddington, who headed up the study as Chief

Scientific Adviser to the UK government, doesn’t dispute

Sharma’s assertion that waste and inequities in the distribution

system are problems, but he insists that focusing on them will

not alleviate what he fears could be a global catastrophe in the

next 20 to 40 years. “The question I posed to the Foresight

team was how can nine billion people be fed equitably, health-

fully and most importantly, sustainably?” he told the Economist

in January. “The problem is that the food system is fundamen-

tally not working because it’s not sustainable. The food we are

producing is being produced at the expense of degradation

of land, at the expense of biodiversity, at the expense of

issues to do with the overuse of fossil fuels, massive overuse in

certain areas of water, poor ways of animal husbandry, pollution

coming from pesticides and so on. So the sustainability of

the food system just isn’t there at the moment, and that’s the

absolute key issue that we’ve got to address.”

The report offers solid recommendations for action on the

climate change front, on addressing hunger, on improving the

global food production and distribution system (on both the sup-

ply and demand side, and the minimization of waste), and on

production, including the application of new technologies such

as genetic modification. “We have 20 years to arguably deliver

something of the order of 40 percent more food, 30 percent

more available fresh water and 50 percent more energy,” says

Beddington. Solving what is clearly a very complicated problem,

he suggests, will require a coordinated approach to tackle what

is clearly a complicated challenge. Beddington speaks in mea-

sured words, but the implication is clear: without action, the

world faces a doom scenario of food shortages, scarce water

and insufficient energy – a “perfect storm” with consequences

for the world order almost too frightening to contemplate.

23

The Green Revolution, which was so

crucial in alleviating mass starvation

beginning in the 1950s and 1960s,

was primarily about improving seed

strains and providing the basic

nutrients – nitrogen, potassium and

phosphate – to cultivated fields. But all

plants also require minute quantities of

micronutrients, primarily metals such as

iron, zinc, manganese and copper.

While micronutrients may be present

in the soil, efficient delivery to the plant

roots can be substantially improved with

products called chelates, chemicals

which serve as carriers of the micronutri-

ents, preventing them from reacting with

other elements or precipitating out of

solution when added to irrigating water

or other fertilizers.

AkzoNobel is a global leader in

chelate production. They are normally

used to capture metal ions or control

their behavior in water for applications

such as cleaning and pulp bleaching for

the paper industry. But chelating agents

in agriculture do the opposite – delivering

iron, zinc, copper, manganese and

magnesium to agricultural crops to

ensure healthy harvests.

“Micronutrients are essential,

especially in modern agricultural

techniques, where high yields are im-

portant,” explains Marcel Bugter, Market

Development Manager for Micronutrients

in AkzoNobel’s Functional Chemicals

business. “You simply can’t get those

yields without providing micronutrients,

and if the conditions aren’t right, our

products are one of the best ways to

achieve that.”

With more advanced farming

techniques such as drip irrigation,

the micronutrients can be effectively

delivered almost exactly where they

are needed in efficient doses, with very

little waste. Micronutrients are also

essential for hydroponics – cultivation

in which food crops are grown on

non-organic substrates and nourished

with the appropriate mix of nutrients.

Micronutrients can also be more directly

beneficial to humans as food additives,

as was highlighted in issue four of A

Magazine, when we published a feature

on Ferrazone®, an iron-containing

micronutrient produced by AkzoNobel’s

Chelates business. Ferrazone helps to

protect against anemia when added

directly to flour, powdered drinks and

other foods.

In addition to the micronutrients

we produce, our Surface Chemistry

business also supplies agro products,

primarily to improve the efficiency and

environmental safety of crop protection

chemicals, making intensive, high-yield

agriculture more sustainable. Of course,

crop protection products are beneficial

because they hold down weeds and

control harmful insects and plant

disease. But directing the right amount

of crop protection to the target crops

without waste has always been difficult.

And that’s where Surface Chemistry’s

adjuvants, such as the Adsee AB

series, can help. Adjuvants are inert

ingredients that improve the physical

and biological characteristics of crop

protection products, allowing more

effective delivery to the target. “When

farmers use our Adsee AB products,

they can reduce the dosage and still

achieve effective control,” notes August

San Diego, Global Business Director of

AkzoNobel’s Agrochemical Applications

business. “But each crop requires a

somewhat different approach, so our

R&D team has identified new adjuvant

platforms to develop.”

In fact, San Diego appears to take the

daunting task of meeting future needs

as a personal mission. “We cannot solve

the world’s food supply dilemma alone,”

he says. “However, our goal is to be a

sustainable partner for crop protection

companies. I am confident that our

technologies will enable them to meet

the challenge of feeding the world.”

GETTTTTTING G TTTOOOO TH T EEE R OOOOOT OOOF TTF HHEE PPR OBLEM

There’s been no mention of Camelot, and Monty Python

haven’t had a look in, but the quest to find the Holy Grail

of salt substitutes could well be at an end.

WORDS Jim Wake

Here’s something you’ve probably heard before.

Oranges are good for us. Why? Because they’re

bursting with all that healthy stuff we’re supposed

to include in our diets, such as fiber, amino acids,

vitamins and a whole range of other nutrients. Hang on though,

because too much of any soluble vitamin – such as A, D or

E – can lead to a variety of serious health problems.

And what about alcohol? We’re all aware of the dangers

of drinking to excess, yet studies have shown that moderate

drinking (of red wine in particular) can help to reduce the likeli-

hood of heart disease. Even the humble nut can be a minefield.

Yes they’re packed with protein, minerals, “good” monounsatu-

rated fats and other nutrients, but many are also loaded with

calories and they can cause constipation. Some people also

have serious nut allergies, so have to avoid them completely,

which is often easier said than done.

With so many things to consider and make decisions about,

you could say we’ve got a lot on our plate. It’s not surprising,

therefore, that many of us can’t stomach it anymore. We’re just

too confused about what we should and shouldn’t be eating

in order to stay as healthy as possible. There are established

guidelines, of course, that recommend daily amounts for most

vitamins and minerals, although many people are still a bit fuzzy

about what these actually are.

History shows that nutritional fads come and go, a bit like ice

cream flavors. The latest “superfood” seems to change almost

monthly – nobody could have been happier than me when it

was claimed that eating chocolate could be good for you. But

one issue which has been near the top of the health agenda for

a while now concerns something far more basic – the amount

of salt we consume. There’s a good chance you already know

(either because you’ve read about it or someone told you) that

the average adult shouldn’t consume more than 6g of salt per

day. But do you know how that translates into your daily diet?

Well, consider this. Half of a supermarket brand pepperoni piz-

za can contain around 2.3g salt. So it doesn’t take much for us

to reach that recommended daily limit.

The response from the food industry has been to introduce

low sodium or sodium replacement products. One of these,

Suprasel Loso OneGrain, has just been launched by Akzo-

Nobel’s Salt Specialties business. Potentially the Holy Grail of

salt substitutes, it is effectively a like-for-like salt replacement

which contains up to 50 percent less sodium. If you’ll excuse

the blatant advertising speak, we think it’s a major advance on

other available products. “With OneGrain it’s all in the name,”

explains Marketing Manager Sander Tierolf. “It grains like tra-

ditional salt and can be stored and used in exactly the same

way. Other low sodium products are a blend of several different

SEARCCHHINNGG FOOOR TTHHEEE

ingredients and might de-mix on storage, or dust might form

from the powdered flavorings. OneGrain is a like-for-like swap

in recipes. That’s the main advantage and what we believe will

make it attractive to customers. Even more importantly, we’ve

also had great feedback on the taste.”

The new product is aimed at food manufacturers for appli-

cation in a wide variety of products, ranging from bread to meat,

and from cheese to snacks. Adds Tierolf: “The rules change.

So the problem of using too much sodium, for example, is one

created by the authorities and consumer organizations, not

consumers themselves, who choose what they want to buy in

the supermarket. If we can offer a solution to manufacturers, it

makes their lives easier – they can get on with more exciting

and creative projects, such as developing new products.”

R&D Manager Eric Huisman adds that once Suprasel Loso

OneGrain becomes established with manufacturers, it could

smooth the way to a future launch on the consumer market.

So it’s the sensible way to go, especially when there’s so much

potential. “The pressure to reduce salt consumption is increas-

ing in many countries, especially the UK and the Netherlands.

Driven by scientific evidence on the link between salt intake and

cardio-vascular disease, the authorities and consumer organi-

zations are calling for action from the industry. Manufacturers

know they need to find solutions. But in some EU countries, this

realization is just starting to emerge and the subject is also re-

ceiving more attention in the US. The impact of OneGrain could

be huge there, and we haven’t even spoken about the sodium

intake in Asian countries yet.”

Of course, it’s important to remember that we do need

some salt in our diets simply to stay alive. Sodium is vital for

controlling the amount of water in our bodies, maintaining the

blood’s normal pH levels, transmitting nerve signals and helping

muscular contraction. But as processed foods have become

the norm – and the 6g recommended daily amount is really no

more than a teaspoon – it’s not surprising that the majority of

people consume nearer 9g. “After obesity, too much salt in our

diets is one of the hot topics, healthwise,” continues Huisman.

“With society’s increasing use of processed foods, it’s not going

to go away either.”

That’s why a like-for-like product such as OneGrain is ideal.

If we don’t want to forego our favorite treats – we’re back to

that pepperoni pizza again – then something that can make

them healthier, without losing any taste, has to be the answer.

Let’s face it, we’re all fairly intelligent. We’ve got at least a vague

idea of what we should and shouldn’t be eating. But if there’s

something out there that makes it easier to follow the rules of

healthy living, then the sooner food manufacturers will be gob-

bling it up.

26

AkzoNobel is one of the world’s leading salt producers.

We have production facilities in Delfzijl (pictured) and

Hengelo in the Netherlands and Mariager in Denmark.

In fact, our Hengelo site – with a capacity of 2.5 million

tons – is one of the largest vacuum salt plants in the world.

As well as supplying products for cooking, the salt we

produce is also applied for chemical transformation via

electrolysis, is used for water softening, for de-icing

roads and has various applications in the agricultural,

food processing and pharmaceutical industries.

Photography: Bram Reinders.

27

This false-color image shows the extent of

deforestation. It combines near-infrared, red and

green light. Tropical rainforest appears bright

red, while pale red and brown areas represent

cleared land. Black and gray areas have probably

been recently burned. Photography: The Advance

Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection

Radiometer (ASTER).

DISAPPEARING PLANETWORDS David Lichtneker

Our trees are vanishing. Fast. Which is a big problem, not only for the

planet’s human population, but also the many species that are dangerously

close to extinction. Welcome to the International Year of Forests.

30

31

Below: Logging and slash-and-burn agriculture have devas-

tated Borneo’s rainforest in Malaysia. Photography: Mattias

Klum/National Geographic Stock.

Bottom: Huge stacks of logs piled five stories high dwarf man

and cranes in Alberta, Canada. Photography: James L. Stanfield/

National Geographic Stock.

Left: An aerial view of slash-and-burn deforestation in

north-eastern Madagascar. Photography: Michael Fay/National

Geographic Stock.

At the beginning of February, the United Nations

launched the International Year of Forests 2011. On

exactly the same day, the Chinese Year of the Tiger

officially ended. These seemingly unrelated milestones

didn’t exactly trouble the headline writers, who were far too

busy covering various high profile global news stories to even

notice. Admit it, you probably weren’t aware either. But the fact

that these two events went largely unnoticed shouldn’t cloud,

or dilute, their significance.

Why though, has the UN dedicated 2011 to forests? Well,

they want to remind us of the beauty of trees, which is fair

enough. But more importantly, they want to emphasize their

value and highlight the critical threats that they face. Essentially,

the International Year of Forests is all about raising awareness

for the fact that the world’s forests need protecting more than

ever. And don’t forget, as studies have shown, human health is

directly linked to the health of the planet.

Here’s a thought which should put things into perspec-

tive and, perhaps, give those headline writers something to

ponder. Since 1950, the world has lost half of all its natural

forest. Today, they cover about 31 percent of the Earth’s total

land area, amounting to just under four billion hectares. And

they’re being cut down twice as fast as they’re being replaced.

In fact, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates

that 13 million hectares of forest are lost annually, due mainly

to deforestation resulting from the conversion of forest land to

other uses. This obviously can’t be good, for us, the planet, or

those that make the forest their home – like the tiger.

“By declaring 2011 as the International Year of Forests, the

United Nations General Assembly has created an important

platform to educate the global community about the great value

of forests and the extreme social, economic and environmental

costs of losing them,” explained UN Secretary-General Ban

Ki-moon at February’s launch event. “Forests are vital to our

well-being. They harbor 80 percent of land-based biodiversity

and store more than a trillion tons of carbon.” He went on to

mention that greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation

account for more than those produced by the world’s entire

transportation sector. But there is plenty of hope, because

global efforts are being made to encourage decision-makers

to take action.

At the recent climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico,

for example, governments took an important step towards

building a low emissions, climate-resilient future. The balanced

package of measures on which they agreed included progress

on the conservation and sustainable management of forests.

Ban Ki-moon now hopes that further progress will be made in

2011. “In this International Year, we have a chance to agree on

how best to realize the full potential of forests – for sustainable

development, economic stability, the fight against poverty and

our efforts to ensure future prosperity for all.”

Whether you’re familiar with the state of our forests or not, our

physical, economic and spiritual health is tied to the health of

our forest ecosystems. An intricate, interdependent relationship

clearly exists between forests and humans, underlined by the

fact that at least 1.6 billion individuals depend on forests for their

daily livelihoods and subsistence needs, while forests are also

home to more than 60 million people. “Our research confirms

what we know instinctively – that human health is inextricably

linked to the health of the planet,” notes Chris Elliot, the World

Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Executive Director of Conservation.

“Deforestation increases the spread of certain diseases while

destroying plants and animals that may hold the key to treating

illnesses that plague millions of people.” He adds that protecting

natural landscapes can contribute positively to human health

through protecting future medicinal resources, reducing the im-

pacts of pollution, toxins and weather extremes and providing

recreational places that support physical and mental well-being.

32

But the rate of deforestation is also impacting the world’s wildlife,

with tigers among those most at risk. Latest estimates suggest

there are little more than 3,000 left in the wild. Yet tigers have no

natural predators. Humans are their worst enemy. Large-scale

poaching is posing the greatest immediate threat, but habitat

destruction means they’re running out of places to live (see

side story). The subtle poignancy of the International Year of

Forests being launched on the same day that the Year of the

Tiger ended should therefore not be lost. So what’s the answer?

There isn’t one of course. At least not one single solution that

will make the problem go away. But there’s a lot we can do to

help improve on the current situation. There’s already growing

recognition of the role that forests managed in a sustainable

way can play in everything from mitigating climate change to

providing wood, medicines and livelihoods for people around

the world. And it’s this sustainable approach to properly manag-

ing and conserving all types of forest which is key. “We have to

make sure that the billions of dollars pledged towards forests

and climate change financing is actually released and applied to

sustainable forest management,” commented Sha Zukang, the

UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs,

during the International Year of Forests launch event.

Industry obviously has a vital role to play in all this and is

responding to numerous environmental and social concerns by

improving its sustainable use of resources. For example, 37 per

cent of total forest production in 2010 came from recovered

paper, wood waste and non-wood fibers, a figure which is likely

to grow to up to 45 per cent in 2030, with much of that growth

coming from China and India. The importance of wood steward-

ship to AkzoNobel’s sustainability agenda was underlined last

year when the company signed an historic agreement with the

Forest Stewardship Council. The agreement made AkzoNobel

the FSC’s first global partner outside of products that are

FSC certified. Many AkzoNobel businesses – particularly our

woodcare brands – are already committed to the responsible

sourcing of forest products. Now, under the terms of the agree-

ment, the company is working closely with the FSC to promote

forest stewardship and drive demand for responsible products.

“Developing partnerships such as the one we have agreed

with the FSC is a clear illustration of our willingness to achieve

transformational change, take positive action and help to protect

the source of wood for future generations,” said the company’s

Corporate Director of Sustainability, André Veneman, when

the partnership was announced. FSC Director General, Andre

de Freitas, added: “Both FSC and AkzoNobel are invested in

the care of natural resources, and the partnership draws on

the synergy between sourcing from well-managed forests

and maintaining long-term objectives for the lifecycle of forest

products. By working together through the FSC Global Partner

Program, we will not only raise awareness of FSC certification,

but also bring attention to innovations that address environ-

mental, social and economic issues in forest management.”

One of our businesses most closely connected to the world’s

forestry activities is Pulp and Paper Chemicals (which trades

as Eka Chemicals) – a leading manufacturer of bleaching and

performance chemicals for the pulp and paper industry. While

producers and consumers have gradually become more aware

of the environmental and social impacts of industrial activity,

Eka has long been going to great lengths to ensure that it is

committed to long-term, sustainable operations. As a supplier

to forest-based industries, all of Eka’s products (either as sys-

tems solutions or on their own) are developed with a primary

focus on reducing the use of water, fiber and energy. In addition,

the business has the ambition to become the leading supplier

in eco-system analysis.

“One of the most important aspects of safeguarding forest

ecosystems is to ensure that we can give business value to the

ecosystems on which we all depend,” says Managing Director of

Pulp and Paper Chemicals, Ruud Joosten. “That’s why we use

the Environmental Strategy Review to analyze the risks that our

customers in China and Indonesia face from the degradation of

ecosystem services, including increased scarcity of wood fiber

and fresh water. These customer risks are then translated into

business risks and opportunities for our business. We’ve found

that the Corporate Ecosystem Services Review fits nicely into

our toolbox for sustainability assessments.”

Another AkzoNobel business helping to reduce the need to

cut down trees is Wood Finishes and Adhesives. They have de-

veloped a new concept known as the Automatic Putty System

(APS), which is used to repair imperfections and defects that

occur naturally in wood, and are normally repaired by hand.

Using the traditional method, the putty needs to be dried before

the huge panels of wood can be turned into flooring, furniture,

doors and so on. This process is slow, not always accurate

and the technology used is not particularly durable. APS, on

the other hand, is an automated system which uses scanners/

cameras to detect imperfections, robots for application and a

special machine (the APS machine) to push down, smooth out

and cure the putty, which is supplied by AkzoNobel. This new

patented process brings major benefits to the customer as it

requires fewer people, offers increased quality due to the use of

our UV curing putty, results in higher productivity and efficiency

and is more accurate and consistent. Tarkett is running one line

in Hanaskog in Sweden, while Swedwood is using the system

to produce spruce and pine furniture for IKEA. Because our

customers are able to transform defective or poor quality wood

into usable wood, it means there is less waste, so fewer trees

are being harvested.

In the end, there can be little doubt that a world without

trees isn’t an option. As the WWF’s Chris Elliot states: “When

WWF stresses the importance of biodiversity, it’s not just be-

cause we enjoy a variety of trees or frogs in a forest. It’s because

the science tells us that those trees and frogs are vital to the

forest’s health, and the forest’s health is vital to our health.”

33

Eucalyptus trees at a pulp mill

plantation in Brazil.

Before 2010, the previous Year of the

Tiger was in 1998. Since then, tigers

have lost 40 percent of their habitat.

It should therefore come as no

surprise that three tiger sub-species

have become extinct since the

1940s, while a fourth – the South

China tiger – has not been seen in

the wild for 25 years. From an

estimated 100,000 a century ago,

the global wild tiger population is

dangerously close to reaching the

point of no return.

Big picture habitat protection would

go a long way to reversing the

downward trend, although poaching

is still the biggest problem and

represents the largest immediate

threat to the species worldwide.

Tigers are highly prized in China and

other parts of Asia for their pelts and

body parts, which are used to make

medicines. The growing prosperity of

the Asian economies means demand

for these traditional remedies is only

going to increase. Which leads us to

a startling statistic – India’s remaining

tigers alone are worth more than a

quarter of a billion dollars dead.

Thankfully, concerted conservation

efforts are underway in many parts

of the world. The main challenge is to

ensure that sustained measures are

implemented to reverse the tiger’s

current decline. The World Wildlife

Fund is working hard to try and

double the number of tigers in the

wild (estimated to be around 3,200 at

present) by 2022. In partnership with

CAN WWEEE SSSAAVVVEE TTHHHEEE TTIGER?

34

If you would like to win a copy of Chris

Weston’s book, Animals On the Edge

visit: akzonobel.com/a/winabook

To contribute to the wildlife

conservation effort, A Magazine

has adopted a tiger. We have in turn

donated the adoption to a school in

Shanghai, China. To read the full story

visit: akzonobel.com/a/tiger

Photography: Chris Weston / chrisweston.uk.com

governments and policy makers, they’re

striving to strengthen existing legislation

to protect the tiger and help integrate tiger

conservation into economic, development

and land-use planning.

This determination to save the tiger

gained significant momentum at the end

of last year when the International Tiger

Conservation Forum was held in St.

Petersburg, Russia. Government leaders

and ministerial officials of the 13 countries

where wild tigers remain endorsed the

wide-ranging plan to double the number

of wild tigers by 2022 – the next Chinese

calendar Year of the Tiger. In addition,

the World Bank has offered a $100

million loan package to three tiger range

countries for conservation work, while

the Global Environment Facility offered to

provide up to $50 million in grant funding

for tiger habitat conservation.

“While our discussion is about the fate

of the tiger, we are in fact touching on

issues that are critical for the entire planet,

humanity and its future,” said Russian

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who hosted

the event. “Using the example of the tiger,

we are speaking about how to preserve

nature.”

Protecting and preserving wildlife is

such an emotive subject that it stirs many

people into action, such as acclaimed

wildlife photographer Chris Weston.

Principle photographer for NGO Animals

on the Edge, he is a regular visitor to

India’s tiger reserves and has published a

book (also entitled Animals On the Edge)

which offers a visual survey of the world’s

rare and endangered mammals.

35

5436

IT’S ONLY NATURALIn the age of 21st century environmental awareness, the discerning shopper

has wised up. They want stuff that’s good for them and good for the planet.

This demand for more natural products means manufacturers are having to

up their game.

WORDS Daniel Grafton PHOTOGRAPHY Lee Funnell

37

We consumers are a demanding bunch. For example,

not only do we want a shampoo which cleans our

hair and makes us look fabulous, but we also want

to know it has been made responsibly, with minimal

impact on the environment. Oh, and that includes the product it-

self and the packaging it comes in. Plus, we don’t want to pay

any extra for the privilege.

Fortunately, eco-friendly products are everywhere these

days. From bio-yoghurts to organic face scrubs, our demand

for greener, more caring products has created an entire industry.

There was a time when these eco-consumables appeared to be

just a fad, but now they’re most definitely in the mainstream – and

they’re here to stay.

According to Maria Tolchinsky, Global Marketing Manager

for AkzoNobel’s Global Personal Care business, it’s all down to

awareness. “Today’s consumers are much more aware of what

they put into or onto their bodies,” she explains. “They are much

more educated than in the past. They want to know what goes

into the products they buy and what impact making these items

has on the world around them.”

And don’t forget, as consumers, we have influence. We

can vote with our feet (or credit cards), deciding what to buy

and what not to buy and which products, if any, we will boycott.

We can even influence policy and legislation. The upshot is that

manufacturers have been forced to rethink their processes,

formulations and recipes. They’ve realized that the future – and

their own success – is dependent on the use of less complex

and more eco-friendly ingredients. There are other factors to

consider as well. Like ensuring that product labels are clear, user-

friendly and provide detailed information to consumers about

what is contained in the product they’re holding in their hands.

As Tolchinsky puts it, in today’s eco-savvy world, manufacturers

have to fully understand consumer perception and know exactly

what they want – even before they know themselves.

Most of the time, however, what the customer wants, the

customer gets. Which is where AkzoNobel comes in. Our Global

Personal Care business has developed a range of eco-friendly

ingredients for use in a wide range of hair care and styling, skin

care and sun care products. “The ingredients we provide to the

likes of Procter and Gamble, L’Oreal and Schwarzkopf act as

thickeners for creams, or give products such as sun screen or

body lotions their non-sticky, ultra-smooth feel,” adds Tolchinsky.

Many of these ingredients are derived from natural materials

including coconut oil, rapeseed and soybean oil. But the key eco-

ingredients – the super ingredients if you like – are natural polymers

like cellulose and starch. These are widely used throughout the

biochemical industry to create biodegradable plastics and bio-

fuels, to name but two. Global Personal Care uses cellulose

and starch in a number of its products. For example, Naviance®

certified organics are starch polymers used as thickening agents

and aesthetic enhancers in creams and lotions. Our Amaze®

polymer is a non-tacky starch which works as a fixative in hair

gels, mousses and styling lotions, while Natrasorb® Bath starch,

based on tapioca, carries large quantities of oils which dissolve

in water, ideal for that relaxing bath at the end of a busy day.

Meanwhile, Celquat® polymers – which are based on cellulose –

are used as conditioning polymers in shampoos and mousses.

But replacing traditional ingredients that have been used for

many years with ones that are more eco-friendly is not without

its challenges. “One of the difficulties is that petroleum-based

chemicals perform very well, but they are not considered natural

or renewable by the consumer,” notes Global Personal Care’s

Director of Research and Development, Gary Martino. “This

means we have to use natural alternatives, such as cellulose and

starch, but without adding to the cost of the final product. The

difficulty here is that while nature provides a basic composition,

we have to modify this to get it to work in the same way as

petroleum-based products. So our starting polymer and our

ability to modify it are absolutely crucial. There are many variables

that can lead you down a blind alley.”

There are also other challenges to overcome. “We

constantly have to adapt to legislation, much of which is driven

by NGOs such as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of

Animals),” continues Tolchinsky. “These organizations have the

ear of consumers and their messages often demand action

from manufacturers – sometimes warranted, sometimes

unwarranted. This, of course, creates difficulties. Also, there are

lots of governing bodies out there, all with different legislations,

and many certifiers of organic products. So it is difficult to know

which way to turn. This makes launching organic products

globally challenging.” Global Personal Care, by the way, uses

three certifiers to approve its products – ECOCERT France SAS

(for natural certification), Quality Assurance Institute Worldwide

(for organic certification) and Lacon Qualitat (for organic

certification) which, Tolchinksy points out, are agencies with

global reach.

She adds that another area of legislation which can pose

something of a challenge is the current drive for manufacturers

to attain low VOCs in order to help reduce greenhouse

gases. “Recent US legislation demands low VOC levels for

personal care products such as hairspray and mousse. We

have developed formulations and have worked closely with

customers to formulate products that not only meet the VOC

requirements, but also perform as expected by the consumer.

Our knowledge of how to formulate consumer products allows

us to showcase our products in the best light and to minimize

the additional work of our customers.”  Ultimately, like many

things in life, it’s about cost. “We have to provide eco-friendly

ingredients to the consumer with no added cost to the final

product they buy,” explains Martino. “In high growth markets

such as China and India, this is particularly challenging because

we start from a much lower cost base. So you have to be very

cost effective. It’s all about getting a higher performance for a

lower cost.”

As part of this innovative drive to create more eco-friendly

products, AkzoNobel has entered into a global alliance with a

company called IBT to develop completely green, botanical-

based solutions. “IBT have a patented process to isolate active

ingredients from plants,” Martino goes on. “This means grinding

and pressing plants to fractionate the juices and isolate bio-

active compounds which can be used to make completely

green ingredients – with no solvents or non-natural ingredients.”

These fractions, he says, will be used in products such as anti-

irritants, moisturisers, anti-aging and anti-wrinkle creams.

So. Attractive, younger looking skin at an affordable price.

Which has minimal impact on the environment. Consumers

benefit. The planet benefits. Perhaps beauty isn’t just skin deep

after all.

Nearly 30 years ago, the world’s biggest and most deadly industrial

environmental disaster occurred in India. The lessons learned resulted

in the chemical industry taking swift action. Now, for many companies,

responsibility for well-being extends far beyond their gates and into

the surrounding communities.

WORDS David Lichtneker

40

Just after midnight, in the early hours of December 3,

1984, a terrifying explosion occurred at a chemical plant

in the densely populated city of Bhopal in India. The in-

cident resulted in the catastrophic release of a lethal

cloud of highly poisonous methyl isocyanate gas.

Official government figures put the death toll at 5,295, but

others insist at least 10,000 perished in the immediate after-

math alone. And the fatalities, they claim, have never stopped

– 15,000 more are thought to have died after eventually suc-

cumbing to their horrific injuries. Then there are the injured

who survived (reportedly more than 500,000), of whom around

120,000 remain chronically ill and require regular medical

treatment. Caused by a runaway reaction widely regarded to

have resulted from a combination of inadequate safety sys-

tems and lack of employee training, Bhopal is still the world’s

biggest and most deadly industrial environmental disaster.

Almost 30 years later, the pesticide plant – operated by Union

Carbide at the time – remains deserted. There has been no

clean-up. Some say the groundwater up to three kilometers

away has become contaminated by the toxic effluent which to

this day is leaching into the soil. Compensation claims have

also proved to be a legal minefield, while nobody has yet ac-

cepted full responsibility for the disaster – which in many re-

spects is still ongoing. It serves as a stark and tragic reminder

to chemical companies around the world that they have a duty

of care to protect those who live close to their sites. Because

the responsibility for ensuring people’s safety and well-being

extends way beyond the factory gates and deep into the sur-

rounding communities.

Few know more about the human consequences of what

happened in Bhopal on that fateful night – or have done more to

try and help the victims – than Satinath Sarangi. He was 150 kil-

41

ometers to the south, studying for his PhD in metallurgical engi-

neering, when he heard about the disaster on the radio. Thinking

he might be able to help in some way, he traveled to Bhopal, ar-

riving just a few days after the explosion. He intended to stay for

a week. He never left. A tireless campaigner for the rights of the

survivors, he set up a clinic for the victims in 1985 which was

raided and quickly shut down. Undeterred, he later founded the

Sambhavna Clinic (in 1996), which is run by an independent

charitable trust and is dedicated to offering free treatment to the

victims, as well as raising awareness for their plight. Funded en-

tirely by individual donations (money from corporate funds is not

accepted), the clinic moved into purpose-built premises in 2005.

It is located in the center of the community most badly affected

by the gas leak. And there, just a few hundred meters away, cast-

ing a haunting shadow over the entire city, stand the eerie tanks

and towers of the now derelict plant.

“I had no notion it was such a calamity,” says Sarangi, recalling

his arrival and the terrible scenes he witnessed. “I walked out

from the platform and saw thousands of people in utter agony.

Their eyes were swollen, tears streaming, people were groan-

ing, people were walking then falling down. Some even think

that those who survived were the unlucky ones.”

Many of those survivors are among the 25,000 people

registered at the Sambhavna Clinic (see side story), which

sees around 180 patients every day. “A lot of people who

come here suffer from breathlessness and almost all of them

have some sort of problem with their eyes,” continues Sarangi.

“Many of the women have reproductive system problems, peo-

ple have brain damage, a lot of them have become paralyzed

over the years and many have psychiatric problems such as

panic attacks, anxiety disorders, depression and suicidal ten-

dencies.” He adds that he felt compelled to stay because the

Previous spread: Young boys

collecting water from polluted

ponds, which women use for

washing clothes and other

household chores. In many

areas, this is also the only source

of drinking water. Photography:

Jack Laurenson.

Far left: A woman grazing her

goats in the shadow of the

derelict factory in Bhopal.

Photography: Jack Laurenson.

Left: Tens of thousands

of children born to exposed

parents are suffering from

growth problems. Photography:

David Graham.

A new generation of young peo-

ple growing up in Bhopal cling to

hope that the future will promise

more than the city’s tragic past.

Photography: David Lichtneker.

victims deserved better. Someone had to fight for their

well-being. “I wanted to show that more could be done. I

did it for the people around me who had lost their health

and had no money.”

Bhopal had a huge impact on the chemical industry as

a whole. A year after the incident, what has since become

the International Council of Chemical Associations’ (ICCA)

signature global initiative – Responsible Care® – was born,

as a direct response to the tragedy. It was industry’s com-

mitment to doing the right thing. Originally established in

Canada, the program was quickly adopted worldwide, with

companies, through their national associations, working

together to continuously improve their health, safety and

environmental performance. Now, any company wanting to

become a member of the ICCA has to prescribe and com-

mit to Responsible Care.

“Although employee and process safety were corner-

stones of the chemical industry, Bhopal taught us that we

had to take responsibility beyond our plant gate,” notes

Frank Sherman, AkzoNobel’s Country Director in the US.

“What the industry has developed is a world class manage-

ment system which has spread across 53 countries and

ensures a harmonized approach and standard of perfor-

mance. A Responsible Care company takes responsibility

for their products from cradle to grave.”

Sherman – who ran AkzoNobel’s Surface Chemistry

business for many years – is a passionate advocate of Re-

sponsible Care, so much so that he was named the Ameri-

can Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care Leader of the

Year for 2008. “The initiative has come a long way over the

last 20 years or so,” he continues. “If you look at Responsi-

ble Care companies in the US, total greenhouse gas emis-

sions have come down 30 percent since 1992. Total envi-

ronmental releases are down 70 percent, while transport

incidents have been reduced by 50 percent. Employees are

four times safer at a Responsible Care company compared

with other manufacturing industries in the US. Our employ-

ees are effectively safer at work than they are at home.”

The fact that AkzoNobel Chairman Hans Wijers was

one of the first CEOs to sign the Responsible Care Global

Charter says everything about how seriously the company

takes its commitment to ensuring the highest standards

when it comes to health, safety and the environment. But

according to Sherman, there’s one area where Responsible

Care still has work to do. “Where I think the program has

fallen short of expectations is turning around public percep-

tion,” he explains. “They still perceive the industry as unsafe,

as polluting, as producing dangerous products. They don’t

see the value side; they don’t recognize that the chemical

industry is a vital component of around 98 percent of all

manufacturing. We are the solution to alternative energy,

GHG reduction, clean water, efficient farming and longer life.

Turning that perception around is an ongoing challenge.”

He adds that there are various ways this could be ad-

dressed, including the setting of industry targets for the key

environmental metrics that member companies have to re-

port publicly. This option is currently being considered by

the ICCA. Having better relationships with environmental

NGOs could also help. “Some of them are out to destroy

the industry,” claims Sherman. “They think that we are the

bad guys. But there are some environmental NGOs that

really have the public at heart and we should have a dialog

with them to listen and try to understand them. They’re the

voice of the public, so we need to address their concerns.”

In Bhopal, the majority of residents knew precious lit-

tle about what went on inside the gates of the Union Car-

bide plant. Responsible Care takes this into account

through a strong focus on community outreach, which

44

45

A member of staff at the Sambhavna Clinic,

which makes its own traditional remedies

and treatments, stirs the ingredients which

are heated and reduced to make Ayurvedic

medicines. Photography: David Graham.

Look beyond: bhopal.org

forms an integral part of its Code of Conduct. Many Responsible

Care companies have established Community Awareness Pan-

els (CAP). Although they aren’t mandatory, they provide an impor-

tant link between manufacturing facilities and their close neigh-

bors. One of the many AkzoNobel sites that operates a CAP is

Surface Chemistry’s Houston plant in Texas.

Set up in 2003, it is run in partnership with a nearby company

called Champion Technologies. Meetings are held ten times a

year, with membership made up of a wide range of community

figures including teachers, government officials and church rep-

resentatives. “It’s vital that we remain very open about what we

do here and that the local community is confident that we are

operating responsibly,” says John Hoffman, the company’s Plant

Manager in Houston, who is the CAP’s Industrial Sponsor Repre-

sentative. “We want to extend as much awareness and informa-

tion to the residents as possible to help educate them and reas-

sure them that we are carefully managing the health, safety and

environmental issues surrounding our business. The CAP pro-

vides an open forum for us to communicate what we do and

gives people a chance to raise any issues they want to discuss.”

Following the Bhopal blast, no warnings were issued to the

public. There was no immediate help or guidance. At AkzoNo-

bel’s Houston plant, a so-called reverse 911 system has been

installed as part of their emergency response plan which auto-

matically calls all residents within a specified radius in the event of

a chemical release. “Once triggered, the system will give people

a message about what’s happening, tell them what they should

do to protect themselves and reassure them when the situation is

under control,” continues Hoffman. “It’s part of our commitment

to ensuring that we are managing our facility in a responsible way.”

Which is all well and good. But Sherman points to studies that

have shown that awareness of Responsible Care diminishes the

further away you travel from a chemical plant. Again, we’re back

to perception. “When you describe Responsible Care, it always

gets a favorable reaction,” he goes on. “People don’t go away as

skeptics, they go away excited and that’s what you find with the

neighbors who participate in these CAPs. They are passionate

about the subject. They are influential people who are interested.

They commit their evenings and free time to be with us. We edu-

cate them on what we’re doing and it gives them a favorable im-

pression of the industry. We need to be doing more of that.”

Back in Bhopal, today’s generation of young people still need

convincing. With tens of thousands of children having been born

to exposed parents – many of whom are suffering from growth

problems – the disaster is still ongoing. Teenage student Saaid

Kamal’s story is a familiar one. He’s lucky enough not to have in-

herited any health issues, but his grandmother lost her sight as a

result of the tragedy. He says the incident still makes the news in

India, particularly around the time of the December anniversary.

But it’s his response to what can be learned from the accident

which proves the most disturbing, and perhaps sends the most

chilling message: “The most important lesson that the people of

Bhopal learned from the incident is that you have to be prepared,

because death can come from anywhere, at anytime.”

In late 2010, a group of AkzoNobel em-

ployees visited the Sambhavna Clinic in

Bhopal. There were 22 in total, all execu-

tive potentials, who were in India as part

of an intensive, week-long leadership and

sustainability program. I was with them.

Our walk to the clinic took us through

one of the slums worst hit by the 1984

tragedy. It was a surreal experience. The

realization that you were standing in a

spot where, decades earlier, people had

died in agony, sent a cold shiver down

your spine. But that unnerving moment

was only fleeting, because within minutes

we were surrounded by scores of excit-

able young people. In some respects,

it was as if they had no reason to be so

full of happiness and enthusiasm. Their

wide-eyed innocence and spontaneous

outpouring of joy seemed to be com-

pletely at odds with what had happened

on these very streets. Yet here we were,

people from the chemical industry – mix-

ing with Bhopal’s children – and we were

about to walk into a clinic built to treat

the victims of the world’s most deadly in-

dustrial environmental disaster. If a single

experience was to have a lasting impact

on the 22 participants, this was surely

going to be it.

As we entered the facility, nothing could

have prepared us for what we were about

to see and hear. Founder Satinath Sa-

rangi welcomed us and, before taking us

on a brief tour, he gave a short presenta-

tion about the disaster and the work of

the clinic. He could easily have resorted

to shock tactics, but there was no need.

The extent of human suffering which has

resulted from the incident said it all. The

selfless work being carried out to try and

treat those who survived said even more.

Let’s be honest, during the visit, several

participants felt very uncomfortable – as

employees of a chemical company – to

be on the premises. Even though we

were representing AkzoNobel, a responsi-

ble and ethical organization where

safety and sustainable operations are top

priorities, it somehow felt uneasy. But the

visit also presented the team with an un-

expected source of inspiration – Sarangi

himself. He was a model example of real

leadership in action.

“The visit to the clinic in Bhopal

touched me in different ways,” admits

Christian Schulze-Severing, who was

one of the AkzoNobel group. “Having

seen people who are still suffering from

the incident, it really made me realize

that I have a very personal responsibility

as a Production Manager in Ibbenbüren,

Germany, to do everything in my power

to protect our employees and neigh-

bors from harm. We already have a lot

of procedures in place, such as giving

personnel frequent safety training, having

a well-drilled emergency response team

and maintaining close links with the fire

brigade and the local community. But we

can always do more, because as our

visit to Bhopal proved, being prepared

is the key.”

Walking away from the Sambhavna

Clinic, back through the same streets,

the children returned. They have to cling

to hope in Bhopal, and that hope was

represented in the smiling faces of the

boys and girls we met during the precious

few minutes we shared. How many of

them were born to women affected by

the gas leak we will never know. What we

do know is that they inspired the entire

group to return to their jobs with renewed

determination and a reinforced commit-

ment to doing the right thing.

A TRAGEDY WHICH WON’T GO AWAY

Magnum photographer Raghu Rai’s heart-

wrenching image of a victim of the 1984 Bhopal

tragedy. Photography: Raghu Rai, Magnum Photos/

Hollandse Hoogte.

WORDS David Lichtneker PHOTOGRAPHY Google

Some people freak out, in a good way, at the thought of having

fabulous workplace perks such as funky offices and on-site

games rooms. For others, however, the corporate playground

approach simply doesn’t rock their world. Just how far does

employee well-being have to go?

A slide in Google’s Zurich office.

50

Fireman’s pole at Google Zurich.

51

T here was a time when simply having a job was the only

perk, benefit or incentive you needed. Then the war

for talent broke out. As that war continues to rage, the

21st century employee has to choose sides carefully,

because as savvy employers are only too aware, it’s not just

about the job description and the salary anymore.

Merely scratch the surface and you’ll discover that the era

of engagement is booming. Companies are adopting a new

recruitment and retention culture, one of relaxation zones, free

food, games rooms, on-site gyms and funky work spaces.

Day-to-day drudgery is on the wane, now that your own well-

being and the opportunity to actually (shock, horror) have fun

at work can have a major influence on who wins the battle for

your signature.

They’re an extreme example admittedly, but consider movie-

makers Pixar. They have created what can best be described as

a corporate playground at their California head office, although

talk to the people who work there and they prefer to call it their

home away from home. Why such gushing sentiment? Well,

when they’re not creating works of animated genius such as

Toy Story, Up!, Cars or The Incredibles, Pixar employees can

invariably be found zooming around their HQ on scooters,

customizing their beach hut-style work areas, watching a free

movie, chilling out in the pool or letting off steam in the ultra-

cool games room. Compare that with having a sneaky fag in the

toilets or eating your lunch in the car park. That’s hardly taking

well-being to infinity and beyond now is it?

Certain companies (often the more successful ones) have

wised up you see, they’ve seen the proverbial light. They’ve

gotten in touch with their softer side and embraced employee

wellness as being about more than just the traditional health and

welfare aspects. Global players in particular – who can arguably

most easily afford to go the extra mile (or lightyear) – have

realized that employee satisfaction and, yes, being happy at

work, have become all-important. They’ve come to understand

that if you want to unleash your workforce’s creativity and

make the workplace environment more stimulating – and your

business more successful – you have to inject some fun and

ditch the monotonous drone. Even the simple option of being

able to work flexibly can make all the difference. The sad fact is

that most of us have to spend around a third of our life there, so

shouldn’t we at least be allowed to enjoy our time at work and

feel, well, a bit pampered? We deserve it don’t we? Or at least,

we like to be made to feel that we do.

Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation,

John Lasseter, certainly thinks so. Winner of two Oscars and

director of the first two Toy Story movies, he’s a vociferous

advocate of creating a relaxed, friendly environment where

employees can thrive. He’s particularly keen on letting his

workforce loose to completely personalize their workspaces.

“Isn’t that what any organization needs to discover – what

drives an individual’s creative spirit?” he argues. “It doesn’t have

to be an exorbitantly decorated room or a collection of costly

‘stuff’, it just has to be what employees feel represents who

they really are.”

Culture expert Bill Capodagli shares Lasster’s view on

cutting your workforce more slack. Author of Innovate the Pixar

Way, he claims that too many employers feel that in order to

succeed, work has to be hard. “Organizations often think that

if people are having fun, then they’re not productive enough

and that you need to suffer in order to produce a great product.

52

I don’t think that’s the case at all. Even when working with some

very technical teams of global engineering firms, fun was very

important and as a result they were highly, highly successful.”

Capodagli adds that it’s equally important for employees to

understand that they are all working towards a common goal

and vision. “When people know what they are doing within an

organization, then the mood within the organization needs to

be collaborative and the way to make it happen is to make it a

fun experience.” So while some may scoff at the likes of Yahoo!

for providing stress-busting on-site massages, or Google for

collecting employees from home and bringing them to work

in eco-friendly buses, Capodagli clearly thinks there’s method

in the mollycoddling. “When you are a child you think you can

do anything. You have all kinds of ideas and think you can do

any of it. It’s by encouraging this daring to dream like a child

again that will reawaken the innovative spirit that is missing in

so many companies.”

And just look at those names. Pixar. Google. Yahoo!

Microsoft. Yes, they’re all tech companies, and that’s surely no

coincidence, but they’re hardly struggling for success are they?

They also regularly appear near the top of those best-places-

to-work-on-the-planet polls. So they must be doing something

right. Right? Well, that depends. You can’t force people to

have fun. Nobody likes to be on the end of a wagging finger

ordering them to go and have another bowl of free breakfast

cereal, or play a quick game of pinball. That would be counter-

productive at best. Skeptics would also question the economic

merits given the extravagance often involved, particularly when

it comes to facilities such as on-site hair salons (no, really). So

while looking after the comfort and well-being of your employees

is all well and good, not everyone can – or wants to – go to

such spectacular lengths. Anyway, from an occupational health

perspective alone, it’s clear that “doing a Pixar” wouldn’t work

everywhere. “It’s really all about what drives people in their jobs,

what gives them energy,” offers AkzoNobel’s own Corporate

Health Director, Dirk Veldhorst. “A lot of the time, work isn’t just

about the pay check at the end of the month. It’s also about

being inspired, the relationships you form, having clarity of

goals, the environment you create, and that differs from culture

to culture. Different things are important to different people and

everyone has an inner sense of what gives them energy and

what creates well-being for them in the workplace.”

Certainly within AkzoNobel, Veldhorst doubts that a

company-wide approach would work. “We have hundreds of

locations around the world and they’re made up of so many

different people that you really have to act local,” he explains.

“You have to find out what makes people tick and see if people

want certain things, like a fitness room for example. Although

from what I’ve experienced over the years, once people

have something like that, they end up not using it. Naturally

employees get a lot of energy if they work in an environment

that they like, and I think the importance of well-being isn’t

always as recognized as it should be. But I’m a bit cynical about

how far you have to go because I think it really has to relate to

an inner need.”

Sweden is a good example of where AkzoNobel does go

some way to offering employees energizing activities that they

actually make use of. For example, as well as providing a free

on-site gym, the company’s Bohus plant organizes various

health events throughout the year, including yoga sessions and

a salsa dancing course. In Singapore, some of the company’s

factories provide soccer pitches and basketball courts, while

in China, free lunches are common and badminton and table

tennis facilities are made available. Over in Indonesia, employees

can exercise their vocal chords at on-site karaoke rooms. Not to

everyone’s taste admittedly, but Indonesia recently recorded one

of the highest engagement scores in the whole of AkzoNobel.

So maybe there is something to be said for using fun to help get

people more in tune with their day-to-day work.

Unsurprisingly, in Pixar’s case, they take it much, much

further. They offer more than 110 classes to employees that

vary from job-related lessons in screenwriting and drawing to

sculpting and self-defense. Everyone in the organization, from

the receptionist to the President, is encouraged to take four

53

Far left: Cycling on an indoor bike

lane at Google in the Netherlands.

Left: Honeypot-shaped seating areas

at Google’s Zurich office.

hours of class every week – on company time. “Pixar feels that

everybody has unlimited potential and the more you exercise

your brain, the better receptionist, technician or executive you’ll

be,” continues Capodagli. For example, when the Dean of Pixar

University (yes, they have a university) was asked why they

would teach an accountant to draw, he replied that they didn’t

just teach them how to draw. They taught them to be more

observant. And every company would be more productive if

their employees were more observant.

AkzoNobel might not have its own university, but Veldhorst

points to the company’s Wellness Checkpoint as being an

important resource which not only enables employees all over the

world to monitor their own health and well-being, but also allows

him to quite literally take the temperature of the global workforce

of 55,000. Essentially it involves filling in a lengthy questionnaire

on a whole host of topics relating to individual medical health

and lifestyle. “All the questions are somehow linked to well-

being and it’s interesting for the employee because they receive

a detailed report, based on their input, which gives useful tips

and advice,” notes Veldhorst. “What makes it interesting for me

as an occupational health professional is that it also talks about

the balance between private life and work, stress at home and

stress at work and asks a lot of questions on those subjects. It

also enables me to run results on an aggregated level, say at a

location or plant level, and I can obtain extremely useful insight

into the health of the company and get different perspectives.

We’ve been running it for two years now and participation at

the moment is around 12 percent, but it’s gaining momentum

all the time.”

Obviously it’s in a company’s best interests to keep its

workforce fit and healthy. In fact, it’s such a hot topic that a

number of major corporations – all of them participants in

January’s World Economic Forum in Davos – have formed

the Workplace Wellness Alliance. It’s a consortium of global

CEOs dedicated to measuring the link between employee

wellness, engagement and productivity. The idea is that by

applying metrics and best practices, the Alliance will enable

employees to achieve their full potential while making optimum

contributions to their enterprises’ growth and success. Or in

other words, healthy work environments are essential to a

business’ bottom line. One UK survey alone, conducted in

2009, revealed that a staggering 40 million days are lost each

year to workplace absence. Another study, this time from 2008,

suggested that if organizations increased investment in a range

of good workplace practices which relate to engagement by

just 10 percent, they would increase profits by €1,700 ($2,400)

per employee per year.

But most employers are well aware of the benefits of

ensuring that their employees are working in a safe and healthy

environment. It’s what can be gained from going further – much

further – that many companies either don’t subscribe to, or

simply consider to be a total waste of time and money. Perhaps

Lara Harding, Google’s UK People Programs Manager, can put

forward a compelling case. “At Google, we know that health,

family and well-being are an important  aspect of Googlers’

lives,” she said in a 2010 interview. “We have also noticed that

employees who are  happy and healthy, as well as respected

and rewarded for their contributions,  demonstrate increased

motivation and productivity. From both a work-life  balance,

as well as a job satisfaction perspective, our programs work

to ensure that Google is, and remains, an emotionally healthy

place to work.”

So health and well-being – which clearly translate into

engagement and motivation – appear to be about far more than

just looking after a person’s welfare. As Google, Pixar and many

others have so successfully shown, there are huge benefits

to be had from energizing your employees and getting them

fired up creatively. All things considered, maybe companies

shouldn’t confine their innovation to R&D. Because other areas,

such as HR programs, could also benefit from a regular injection

of imaginative thinking. Why bother? Well, author EM Forster

perhaps put it most succinctly: “One person with passion is

better than 40 people merely interested.” Now, where’s that on-

site alpine ski slope?

54

WORDS Daniel Grafton PHOTOGRAPHY Lee Funnell

Modern coatings do far more than just add color to your wall. With technology advancing all the

time, new functionality means that paint doesn’t just look good, it can make us feel good as well.

55

56

57

When you smell paint, do you automatically associate

it with something good, or something bad? Does it

smell sweet or pungent? And does an unpleasant

odor necessarily mean that it’s bad for your health?

The good news is that 21st century technological innovations

have made their way into modern-day paints, transforming

very traditional products into high performance coatings de-

signed for specific purposes – and with the person using them

very much in mind.

Nowadays, household paints are the result of highly sophis-

ticated formulation technology and painstaking, innovative re-

search. They have a better environmental profile, are easier to

apply, leave less mess and make it easier to clean up, often using

nothing stronger than water. And because they have low VOC

(solvent) content, they also reduce the amount of emissions en-

tering the atmosphere, which means there’s less impact on the

environment and, ultimately, the human race. But despite all of

this, consumers’ perception of the impact paints can have on

well-being is not always so positive. Much of this can be ex-

plained by one simple thing – certain paint can temporarily leave

a bit of a stench.

However, according to David Brunt, AkzoNobel Decorative

Paints’ Global Sustainability Products and Services Manager,

odor is a highly subjective issue. “Paint today does not necessar-

ily affect human health,” he says. “But to some consumers, a bad

or pungent odor means a product is bad. The truth is, solvent has

a sweet smell which masks other more acute smells. So our in-

tention to remove solvent from our paints for environmental rea-

sons can have a negative impact on odor. If you take it out, these

acute smells can be revealed. You have to be aware that odor is

an indicator, both of positive and negative things. It’s like eating a

strong cheese – just because it smells strongly, doesn’t neces-

sarily mean you won’t like the taste.”

We all know that odors give things a characteristic scent or smell.

But reaction to odor is very much based on personal perception.

And geography. “Aversion to smell is different from country to

country,” reveals Brunt. “For example, what a German might find

an appealing smell could well be very offensive for a Japanese

person.” This is especially relevant in China, where odor and

health have a strong significance. “Chinese people want to con-

trol the smell of their internal home environment as much as pos-

sible,” he continues. “In fact, it is so important to them that they

will even move out of their houses while painting and drying takes

place. That’s why our Chinese paints focus on low odor and

some contain a green tea scent to help improve it.” Brunt adds

that in Europe and the US, consumers want assurances that the

paint they use on their children’s walls will not damage their

health. “They might even move the children into a different room

until the paint has dried completely. Our paint is safe when used

correctly, with no damaging odors, but the smell sometimes

leads the consumer to think otherwise.”

To help investigate the subjectivity of this, AkzoNobel’s Dec-

orative Paints business conducted an odor survey of its key

paints. It involved consumers all over the world, who helped to

determine which ones had the best odor. This included rating

paint odor when it is in the can, when it is applied and after ap-

plication. The product consistently rated the best was Ecosense,

a low odor paint available in the UK with no added solvent and

independently measured to have a 50 percent lower carbon foot-

print.

“We want to reduce the impact of our paints, particularly if it

impacts on the benefits perceived by consumers and the wider

environment,” explains Brunt. “And this includes odors. We want

to make odors neutral. In the minds of consumers, as our survey

showed, low odor products provide reassurance that the prod-

uct is a healthy product to use.” Our Decorative Paints business

58

This spread: Our Sikkens Alpha SanoProtex antibacterial paint

can contribute to both lower infection occurrences and effective

infection prevention programs. Sikkens Healthcare Services can

also provide professional help when dealing with large institutional

projects such as clinics and hospitals. They provide technical,

functional and aesthetic expertise in the use of color in public

spaces and its impact on productivity and well-being.

has developed a number of paints with a reduced odor. These

include The Freshaire Choice in the US (which contains no VOCs),

Bindoplast 7 in the Nordics – a region with a long history of de-

manding low odor paint – and the Dulux All in 1 range in China.

So we’re agreed then. Odor is very subjective. But one thing

which certainly isn’t, is the issue of emissions. Because what

gets released into the atmosphere can, and ultimately does, have

a big impact on human health – through the indirect creation of

smog. That’s why there’s such a major global effort being made

to reduce the amount of VOCs being emitted. And let’s face it,

we’d all rather be breathing in clean air. “Countries, organizations

and companies need to take a leadership position on this,” states

Brunt. “France, for example, is looking to drive the agenda on

higher air quality in Europe by imposing legislation regarding

clean air in houses. AkzoNobel, as the world’s largest coatings

company, is also taking the initiative with a drive to reduce emis-

sions beyond legislation levels. We are committed, ethically, to

doing the right things. One particular way in which we’re contrib-

uting to well-being is by having higher standards globally than

any other paint company. Our base line of health and safety –

from product stewardship to understanding the latest research

on environmental impact and the subsequent impact on human

well-being – is clearly ahead of many local competitors. Impor-

tantly, we’re also continuing to develop innovative products that

can positively contribute to human well-being.”

These new products include antibacterial paint used in hos-

pitals to help kill dangerous bacteria (see side story) and the anti-

formaldehyde series of low odor paints in China, which pass the

Chinese test for absorbing formaldehyde from indoor air. As

good as these products are, they’re obviously not the be-all-and-

end-all to addressing the full range of well-being issues. But there

can be no doubt that they’re playing their part. They are making

an important contribution and their benefits are being fully recog-

nized and appreciated by consumers all over the world, who are

driving much of the demand for their introduction. Nobody can

turn their nose up at that.

59

The latest developments in coatings

technology have led to the launch of an

array of products with innovative func-

tionality, many of which wouldn’t look out

of place in a futuristic movie. Admittedly,

not all of them have a direct impact on

our well-being, but AkzoNobel’s Sikkens

Healthcare business recently introduced

an antibacterial paint which does just that.

Specifically designed for use in high

risk areas – including hospitals and health

centers, elderly care homes and doctors’

surgeries – Sikkens’ Alpha SanoProtex

can help to reduce the likelihood of an

outbreak of killer bacterial infections,

including MRSA and E. coli, when com-

bined with appropriate cleaning practices.

“The paint was developed to meet the

exacting requirements of the healthcare

sector,” explains Sikkens Brand Manager,

Martijn Berkman. “Hospitals and surger-

ies require the highest standards of clean-

liness to avoid infection to staff, patients

and visitors. Alpha SanoProtex has been

found by numerous global assessors to

combat seven key bacteria, including

MRSA and E. coli.”

Launched in 2010, Alpha SanoProtex

uses a technology based on silver ions to

kill microbial organisms before they have

a chance to colonize surfaces such as

walls and ceilings. “The silver ions work

quickly to ensure that bacteria don’t take

hold of surfaces during their six to 24-

hour lifecycle,” continues Berkman. “If the

bacteria don’t develop during this period,

then they die.” The key ingredient is silver.

Unlike other metals, even a very small

amount of silver ions can be highly toxic

to micro-organisms such as bacteria, but

they’re harmless to humans. So only a

small quantity is needed in the paint for it

to work effectively.

But how does the silver kill the bacte-

ria? Time for a chemistry lesson. “Silver

is well known for its antibacterial effect,

but the actual mechanism is not so well

understood,” explains Richard Barcock,

AkzoNobel Decorative Coatings’ Global

Category Technical Manager for Interior

Walls. “Slow leaching of the silver ions

penetrates the cell wall to disrupt a

micro-organism’s metabolism, thus

inhibiting enzyme growth. The advantage

of silver is that, unlike other agents, it

has several methods of achieving this,

which means there is less chance of the

bacteria adapting.”

Another feature of the silver ions is the

fact that they don’t leach out of the paint

after extended cleaning of surfaces. “As

you might imagine, cleaning protocols in

hospitals are very strict,” Berkman goes

on. “Intensive care wards need to be

cleaned at least twice a day with strong

cleaning agents to avoid bacteria growth.

It’s no good if the additives in the paint

leach out over time, which can often hap-

pen when painted walls are cleaned with

strong detergents. In fact, the silver ions

become more active the more frequently

they are cleaned.” Adds Barcock: “All of

this helps contribute to the paint’s longev-

ity. The non-leaching means the paint’s

performance continues at the same high

level over time.” Pretty impressive when

you consider that the typical redecorating

cycle for a hospital is three to five years.

Alpha SanoProtex is more than just a

smart paint, though. It’s a key product in

the whole healthcare concept devel-

oped by Sikkens to ensure that the right

coatings and colors are used in the right

rooms in individual healthcare facilities

around the world. “Coatings are chosen

on a room-by-room basis to maximize

patient and staff well-being,” notes Berk-

man, who was part of the team respon-

sible for devising the concept. “Therapy,

treatment and patient rooms all require

different coatings and color schemes

compared with public spaces such as

receptions, waiting areas, corridors and

restaurants. It’s all part of enhancing

the physical and mental well-being of

patients, staff and visitors.”

HEALTTTHHCCAARRREE IINN AA CCCAN

WORDS Andrea A. Dixon

Traditional satisfaction surveys have it all wrong. According to the Happy Planet Index,

being content isn’t about having money and owning stuff. It’s more to do with long-term

well-being and living a full life with less.

60

On a scale of one to ten, how happy are you? If you said 8.5 or above,

you probably live in Costa Rica. According to the Happy Planet Index (HPI) –

created by independent “think and do” tank the New Economics Foundation

(nef) – Costa Rica is the highest scoring nation in their global study. Last

carried out in 2008, they surveyed 99 percent of the world’s population, measuring the

relationship between well-being, longevity and ecological efficiency. Surprisingly, Costa

Rica was not an anomaly in the study, with nine of the top ten places being occupied by

traditionally poor Latin America countries, at least in economic terms.

So how do you measure happiness and satisfaction? Well, while the concept of con-

tentment might be up for debate, the HPI claims that being happy is more than just hav-

ing a smile on your face. To quote their website: “We use the term subjective well-being to

capture its complexity.” They define well-being in terms of personal satisfaction: a social

network (measured in both strength and size), relationship status, education, disability,

material conditions (such as employment and income), autonomy and resiliency. They go

on to describe well-being as a combination of individual vitality, meaningful opportunities,

engaging activities, close relationships and a connectedness to a wider community as

well as a strong pool of inner resources in order to deal with life’s challenges.

While Latin American scores lead the way in the overall HPI, Western, Anglo-Saxon

countries like Norway, Ireland and Denmark aren’t far behind sunny Costa Rica in terms

of overall life satisfaction. But the real goal of the HPI is not to reveal the best place to

live or the happiest place on Earth. If that was the case, we’d all be scrambling to move

there. Statistician Nic Marks, one of the nef’s founders, says the HPI is all about asking

people what they want. “Unsurprisingly, people all around the world say that what they

want is happiness, for themselves, for their families, their children, their communities. OK,

they think money is slightly important… but it’s not nearly as important as happiness…

[or] love. We want to be healthy and live a full life. These seem to be natural human

aspirations. Why are statisticians not measuring these? Why are we not thinking of the

progress of nations in these terms, instead of just how much stuff we have?”

So Marks and the other nef thinkers decided to do something about it. They studied

the efficiency of nations to convert the planet’s resources into long and happy lives for its

citizens. The report explains: “The HPI urges us to question what is really valuable in life. …

happy and healthy lives are sought-after around the world…this should not be a privilege

of the current generation… [but also] future generations.” While the HPI does not indicate

the most developed country in the traditional sense, or the most environmentally-friendly,

it combines all of these – a methodology for comparing a country’s progress towards the

21

goal of providing long-term well-being for all, without exceeding

the limits of equitable resource consumption.

In democratic, peaceful Costa Rica – a relative eye of calm in

an oft-stormy region – 99 percent of their electricity comes from

renewable sources (they combined their environment and energy

ministries back in the 1970s). Forests cover twice as much land

in the country as it did 20 years ago. Literacy and education are

higher than the rest of the region and most of the world. And in

1949, they abolished their army, freeing up government spending

for other worthwhile initiatives. And as nef’s Marks jokes: “They

have that Latin vibe, don’t they?”

But perhaps by living la pura vida (Costa Rican for knowing

what’s important in life, literally: pure life), Latin Americans are

showing that happiness and minimal consumption are pos-

sible. Mexican native Alejandro Ortega, a Digital Communications

Specialist who works for AkzoNobel in the Netherlands, says that

he isn’t too surprised by the HPI findings. While he acknowledges

that poverty and drug crimes are high in Latin America, he says

Latinos often have an “it could always be worse” attitude. The

easy-going openness of the people is a key factor, along with

a strong social and family connectedness. “They use humor to

lighten everything and they don’t take themselves too seriously,”

Ortega explains. “Look at the weather. You have paradise there

– and mangoes are falling all the time.” He adds that varieties of

delicious tropical fruit grow year-round in some parts of his country.

“And if people don’t have to fight for a mango…” alluding to the fact

that if basic needs are being met, for many, that’s enough.

AkzoNobel’s Latin America Communications Director, Carlos

Piazza, says that diversity is the norm in Brazil, while humor is just

as important as in Mexico. “There are Jews and Muslims living

together, negotiating goods in the same neighborhoods. Brazil is

big and full of diversity and good humor predominates, despite

the adversities. The most impressive quality of Brazilians is their

capacity to help people in bad situations. They share their miseries,

they share the little they have with one another; this simple act

transforms simple people into great citizens. This is the basis of

their happiness: they can share different cultures, realities, beliefs,

religions and customs to create a real melting pot.”

Brazil, he adds, is also a country of contrasts. “You can find very

rich and very poor people in the same community. And both

are very happy. Creativity and adversity walk hand-in-hand and

Brazilians today are recognized as the most creative people in the

world. They do not follow rules by the book, they try to transform

everything. They are always challenging and delivering astonish-

ingly brand new ideas.”

On the happiness front, the HPI agrees. “Once our basic

material needs are comfortably met, more consumption tends to

make little difference to our well-being.” The HPI was designed

exactly for that reason: to provide a “radical departure from our

current obsession with GDP,” and provide a new way of measuring

progress and sustainability.

GDP was never measured 60 years ago. As Nic Marks

points out: “In World War II, we needed to produce a lot of

stuff. And indeed, we were so successful at producing stuff

that we destroyed a lot of Europe, and we had to rebuild it

afterwards…so our national accounting system became

fixated on what we produce.” Yet despite all this production

and consumption, basic needs are still not being met in

many places. As Robert Kennedy once said: “The gross

national product measures everything except what makes

life worthwhile.”

Nef asserts that growth is only one strategy for achieving pros-

perity. “Rather than pursuing growth at all costs, leaders should be

striving to foster well-being and sustainability, even if detrimental to

growth.” Yet despite the global focus on growth, there is still major

economic disparity between wealthy nations and impoverished

ones, and between rich and poor people in wealthy nations.

Marks and the HPI team don’t claim to know what a happy

planet looks like. But they know it doesn’t take the consumption of

four planet Earths (like the UAE and US per capita consumption) to

get there. “The thing we have to think about,” Marks contends, “is

that the future might not be North American or Western European.

It might be Latin American. And the challenge, really, is to pull the

global average up. That’s what we need to do. And if we’re going

to do that, we need to pull countries from the bottom. And then

we’re starting to create a happy planet.”

SensationsHEALTHCARE BROCHURE

Warm, appealing and hygenic. These are

important factors when decorating your

healthcare institution or medical practice,

because everything contributes to the

optimal well-being of patients, families and

employees. As specialists in decorative

paints, we provide you with a personalized

project approach, with specific product

offerings, perfect color advice and

excellent support. Let us create the ideal

environment for your institution.

Please contact Sikkens Sales Support

on +31 (0)38 467 3110 to ask for our

extensive healthcare brochure, or go to

www.sikkens.nl.

SPECIALISTS FOR SPECIALISTSBETTER

04437_2

20311

www.akzonobel.com

AkzoNobel is the largest global paints and coatings company and a major producer of specialty chemicals. We supply industries and consumers worldwide with innovative products and are passionate about developing sustainable answers for our customers. Our portfolio includes well known brands such as Dulux, Sikkens, International and Eka. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, we are a Global Fortune 500 company and are consistently ranked as one of the leaders in the area of sustainability. With operations in more than 80 countries, our 55,000 people around the world are committed to excellence and delivering Tomorrow’s Answers Today™.

© 2011 Akzo Nobel N.V. All rights reserved.“Tomorrow’s Answers Today” is a trademarkof Akzo Nobel N.V.

Photography: Lionel Derimais