Social Impact Initiative Seminar Series: Green Development
On June 20, AmCham China held the 2022-2023 Social Impact Initiative – Green Development Working Session with representatives from the Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the China Association of Circular Economy, Tsinghua University, United Nations Development Program in China (UNDP), United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), World Resources Institute, as well as 17 business representatives from different industries to share and discuss the role of corporations in contributing to China’s green and low-carbon development.
Li Yuanyuan, Senior Engineer at the Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy introduced the process of China’s synergistic effects of pollution alleviation and carbon reduction, relevant policies, and opportunities for enterprises to participate. She mentioned that the essence of the synergetic effects of pollution alleviation and carbon reduction is to control greenhouse gas emissions and other local traditional pollutant emissions at the same time, and its main path lies in the comprehensive implementation of measures to strengthen source prevention and control, reinforce key areas of management, optimize environmental governance, and strengthen policy support.
Liu Cuiling, Secretary General of the Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Committee of the China Association of Circular Economy, shared her knowledge on the development of circular economy and the enhancement of resource utilization efficiency. Moving forward, the priorities circular economy development is to build a resource-cycling-based industrial system, promote the comprehensive utilization of resources, strengthen the recycling of typical urban wastes, and promote the minimization and resourcing of domestic waste.
Professor Gao Yuning, Director of the Institute of International Development and Global Governance, School of Public Policy & Management at Tsinghua University, explained to the participants corporate green transformation in the SDG era from the angles of the role of multinational corporations and ESG development. He mentioned that multinational enterprises contribute about half of exports, one-third of total GDP, one-quarter of jobs, and one-fifth of carbon emissions to global economic and trade development. Therefore, they face complex opportunities and challenges in responding to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations.
Violante di Canossa from UNDP talked about the role of UNDP in the low carbon transition in China. She stressed that the low-carbon transition is not a cost, but can be seen as an investment in our collective future, and it also aligns with China’s visions and priorities, including the 2030-2060 dual carbon goals. UNDP has also published the Technical Report on SDG Finance Taxonomy and the SDG Investor Map in China Summary Report in recent years, providing the public insights about the knowledge about the green transition progress in China.
AmCham China launched the innovative Social Impact Initiative (SII) in July 2020. The core principle driving this Initiative is our belief that the private sector has a meaningful role to play in helping China achieve its development goals, and that AmCham China members are uniquely qualified to assist.
With the spirit of sharing, commitment, collaboration, and engagement in win-win cooperation, we will continue to explore new public-private partnership opportunities in the realms of digital economy, green development, and rural revitalization. We will organize more events focusing on these three themes in the upcoming months. We welcome both Chinese and foreign companies, governmental and non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, and industry associations to join us on our social impact journey.
Visit our webpage to learn more about SII. For any inquiries, please contact the SII program leader, Grace Liu at gliu@amchamchina.org.