By Antonio Douglas
On November 4, 2017 AmCham China – Tianjin held its inaugural Tianjin Environmental CSR Challenge (TECC) Awards Ceremony. TECC is an energy conservation initiative started by Alex Scilla and Daniel D’urso, co-chairs of AmCham China – Tianjin’s Environmental and Sustainability Committee.
As part of the initiative, leading multinational companies in Tianjin accepted a challenge to reduce their electricity consumption over a month-long period and to experiment with ways to conserve energy without negatively impacting their business.
Participating companies included Caterpillar Tianjin Ltd., IKEA Distribution (China) Co., Ltd. Tianjin Branch, and Bombardier Tianjin Aviation Services Co., Ltd. Each of these companies responded with enthusiasm and collectively saved over 1200kWh of electricity. The Awards Ceremony celebrated this accomplishment and set the stage for TECC’s future expansion and impact.
During the ceremony, nearly 100 guests gathered in SM City Tianjin, the largest mall in Tianjin, to listen to the steps each company took to conserve electricity. The audience was diverse, and included members of Tianjin’s local government, professors from Tianjin University, students, and PhD candidates from the Hebei University of Technology. Representatives from each participating company gave a presentation detailing the energy conservation methods they used and expressed a commitment to continuing these efforts. This commitment was codified in the TECC Climate Pledge.
All participating companies signed the TECC Climate Pledge. This pledge represents a joint commitment within AmCham China – Tianjin’s business community to pursue environmentally-friendly practices. The Environmental and Sustainability Committee expects this to be a symbolic step that encourages other multinational corporations to become environmentally responsible. The co-chairs see TECC as the first step of the journey to make companies more efficient and conscious of how they run their businesses.
AmCham China – Tianjin would like to thank SM City Tianjin for being the Exclusive Venue Sponsor for TECC, and the following Associate Sponsors for their participation:
– Caterpillar Tianjin Ltd.
– IKEA Distribution (China) Co., Ltd. Tianjin Branch Bombardier Tianjin
– Bombardier Tianjin Aviation Services Co., Ltd.
– ExxonMobil (Tianjin) Petroleum Co. Ltd.
– C. M. Steadman & Co.
– Bloomfield Trading (Tianjin) Co., Ltd.
AmCham China – Tianjin is proud of the gains achieved by TECC and looks forward to seeing the initiative grow. For more information on new and upcoming events please check out AmCham China’s official website.
Antonio Douglas is an intern at AmCham China – Tianjin.