CHICAGO, Illinois, April 6, 2000 (ENS) - Dr. Richard Sandor is chairman and CEO of Environmental Financial Products, Chicago, which he describes as "a small business dedicated to designing, launching and trading new markets."

In his view, Earth Day "keeps us aware and reminds all of us how fragile the environment really is."

Environmental Financial designs risk management and hybrid financial instruments that enhance the interrelationships between the capital, commodity, and environmental markets.

Most recently, Dr. Sandor designed unique financial mechanisms for market based environmental protection programs.

Dr. Richard Sandor (Photo courtesy Chicago Board of Trade)

From 1991 to 1994, Dr. Sandor was a non-resident director of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and chairman of its Clean Air Committee. That committee developed the first spot and futures markets for sulfur dioxide emission allowances and supervised the annual allowance auctions conducted on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

He is currently a senior advisor to PricewaterhouseCoopers on greenhouse gas emissions trading.

Dr. Sandor is a director of the Zurich based Sustainable Performance Group, an investment and risk management company which invests in pioneering and leading companies which have taken up the cause of sustainable business.

He is a director of the Dow Jones Sustainability Group Index GmbH which tracks the performance of companies that not only manage the standard economic factors affecting their businesses but the environmental and social factors as well.

A director of Houston based Altra Energy Technologies Inc. and of the Altra Electronic Advisory Board, an electronic market for gas, oil and power, Dr. Sandor was recently Distinguished Adjunct Professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Business where he taught a course on Environmental Finance.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Sandor occasionally played games of blitz-chess with chess great Bobby Fischer.

After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree from the City University of New York, Brooklyn College, Dr. Sandor earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Minnesota in 1967.

On the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, Dr. Sandor was teaching at the University of California at Berkeley as an assistant professor of applied economics and celebrating his wife's birthday.

"It was Ellen's birthday. We went down to the local park where we met some dear friends," he told ENS. There was a rally at People's Park. It was a wonderful time. It inspired my whole interest in the environment."

On the 30th anniversary of Earth Day, April 22, 2000, the Sandors will be at home in Chicago marking Ellen's birthday by participating in Earth Day festivities in Grant Park.

In Dr. Sandor's view Earth Day is the day to become more aware of the planet. "I think it's an absolute hallmark in really celebrating awareness of the scarcity of resources on the planet and how we have to be careful to take care of them," he said.

"Anything that raises the public awareness of the diminishing commons - the air, the water, the enormous value of these resources - is important. That was the purpose of the original Earth Day."

From Dr. Sandor's point of view, progress has been made in the past 30 years. "As the old commercial said, we've come a long way baby," he said. "While the planet is suffering and has more difficulties, the desire and the awareness of the problems and how to deal with them is higher than it's ever been."

Dr. Richard Sandor (Photo courtesy Hedge Financial Products)

"The problems of the planet have prompted the need to do something. There is a greater will to solve these problems. In 1970, cities like Pittsburgh were smogged up and dirty. That has gotten better. Acid rain has gotten better."

"The problems of global warming and coral reefs have not gotten better, but in specific areas we have made some progress. We have got to stop eliminating the tropical rainforests," he urged.

Dr. Sandor says he is optimistic because of the greater environmental awareness he sees displayed by young people. "I do think there's a greater will among the X and Y generations of today than there has been in the past. Speaking at universities and to business people, as the young people advance into more substantial places and take part in decision making, they are showing they care more about the environment than older generations."

Often a speaker at conferences, Dr. Sandor sees these gatherings as perfect opportunities for him to gauge the acceptance of environmental ethics in the business community. "Just being on panel with the CFO of Dupont and others and listening to their statements that they recognize sustainablility is an important corporate goal that will show up in the price of their shares," is revealing, he said.

Dr. Sandor's message everywhere is that corporate sustainability is an investable concept. "Good environmental practices are synonmous with good business practices. I have tried to get people to look at the issues in a clinical way. The corporate community is starting to take notice."