We, the undersigned, strongly urge the United Nations, international authorities, heads of State and Governments, and President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil to declare Mr. Stephan Schmidheiny “persona non grata” at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development to be held June 20 – 22, 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a criminal convicted of causing an environmental disaster, Mr. Schmidheiny should be prohibited from participating in this important meeting to plan for and protect the future of our Planet Earth. While Mr. Schmidheiny is the Founder and Honorary Chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), he is also the former owner of Eternit, an asbestos-cement company as well the “philantropist” founder of AVINA Foundation that supports social and environmental actions in Latin America. On February 13, 2012 in Turin, Italy, Mr. Schmidheiny was sentenced to 16 years in prison for causing a “willful and permanent environmental disaster” and “willful negligence in implementing health and safety regulations (preventive measures)” that would have protected his employees and the general population from the long-recognized mortal risks of exposure to asbestos. Asbestos is a carcinogenic mineral that causes the deaths of over 107,000 people a year according to the World Health Organization. Based on the criminal verdict rendered in Italy and the environmental damage he has been proven responsible for, we hereby urge the United Nations and President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil to declare Mr. Stephan Schmidheiny “persona non grata” and prohibit him from participating in Rio+20.

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Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO)

www.adao.us