ABSTRACT
The way in which business seeks to promote sustainable development, through the use of hard law as well as soft law, can be seen in the work of one major Canadian business association, the Conseil patronal de l'environnement du Quebec (CPEQ). This organisation has more than 150 corporate and association members, including most of the major industry sectors and corporations with operations in Quebec: pulp and paper, mining, manufacturing, and service ftrms. The 2001 chair, Jean Piette, was the principal author of Quebec's environmental law when he worked for the province's government. CPEQ is thus well equipped to forward its mission of sustainable development. To do so, it works co-operatively with all levels of government - municipal, provincial, and federal-and with international organisations on major environmental issues. It seeks consensus among its members and works with government to develop realistic, enforceable legislation and regulation and to ftnd alternative means of achieving the desired results, such as voluntary measures and covenants.
