Alcan Announces Prize for Sustainabilty Candidates

At the Conference de Montreal June 7, The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF)
announced the short list of candidates for the US$1-million Alcan Prize for
Sustainability. Of almost 500 entries received from 79 countries around the
world, 12 organizations made the short list of candidates being considered for
the million-dollar prize.
    Alcan Inc. created the Alcan Prize for Sustainability in January of this
year to recognize outstanding contributions to the goal of economic,
environmental, and social sustainability by not-for-profit, non-governmental,
and civil society organizations. "We have a very aggressive sustainability
agenda within Alcan," said company CEO Travis Engen. "The Alcan Prize is one
way to demonstrate our sustainability commitment to the world outside our
plant gates, and to recognize that we all have a role to play in preserving
our planet for future generations."
    To ensure credibility and objectivity, Alcan engaged the IBLF to manage
the Alcan Prize for Sustainability. Since the March 31 closing date for
entries, the IBLF has coordinated Assessment Panels in the U.K., Poland, the
Philippines, and Canada to review entries and select the short list. The
Adjudication Panel, chaired by World Economic Forum CEO Jose-Maria Figueres
and composed of international experts in sustainability issues, fully endorsed
the assessment process adopted by IBLF and have acknowledged the 12
short-listed organizations as a result of the process. Alcan does not have a
voice in the assessment or selection of Alcan Prize applicants.

    The short-listed organizations are:

    -  ApproTEC, U.S.A                    	 -  Global Action Plan, U.K.

    -  Comunidad Indigena de Nuevo         	-  New Westminster Community
       San Juan Parangaricutiro, Mexico       	   Development Society, Canada

    -  Fauna & Flora International, U.K.   	-  Social Change Assistance Trust,
                                                                   South Africa
    -  Forest Stewardship Council, Germany
                                           		-  Sociedade Amigos de Iracambi,
    -  Friends of the Earth, Ghana                    Brazil

    -  FUNEDESIN, Ecuador                  	-  The Asia Foundation, U.S.A.

                                           		-  The Nature Conservancy, U.S.A.

    The Adjudication Panel will now conduct an in-depth review of the
finalists and select the winner of the Alcan Prize and up to four recipients
of Alcan scholarships. These US$15,000 scholarships will allow a senior
representative of each selected organization to earn a post-graduate
certificate in Cross Sector Partnership from the University of Cambridge. The
Alcan Prize winner and Alcan scholarship recipients will be announced during
the World Economic Forum Annual General Meeting in Davos, Switzerland in
January, 2005.
    Alcan has committed to nine years of funding in the first cycle of the
Alcan Prize. The call for entries for the 2006 Alcan Prize for Sustainability
will be issued by the IBLF when the 2005 winners are announced.
    Alcan is a multinational, market-driven company and a global leader in
aluminum and packaging, as well as aluminum recycling. It employs 88,000
people and has operating facilities in 63 countries.