Dubai, December 12 -- During the 2th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), the Sustainable Development Dialogue of Chinese and Foreign Well-known Entrepreneurs was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on December 12, local time.
The Dialogue on Sustainable Development of Chinese and Foreign Entrepreneurs was co-sponsored by the Publicity and Education Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and Chinanews.com. Xie Zhenhua, China's Special Envoy for Climate Change, and Liu Zhenmin, former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China and Special Adviser to the Chinese Delegation to COP28, attended the dialogue. Tian Chengchuan, Director of the Propaganda and Education Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Peter Bakker, President and CEO of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and Yu Lan, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of China News Service and President of China News Network, attended the event on behalf of the organizers.
In his speech, Xie Zhenhua said that in the process of achieving climate goals, the role of enterprises is very important, and the real solution to the problem depends on entrepreneurs to carry out technological innovation in the production process. Policies may change due to the rotation of governments, but as long as entrepreneurs identify trends and innovative technologies, their cooperation will not be interrupted by geopolitical influences.
The picture shows the President and Chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Bedkai, delivering a keynote speech. Photo by China News Service reporter Han Haidan
Peter Bakker, president and chief executive of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, said that achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 is China's official goal, and given the growth momentum of electric vehicles and renewable energy in China, he is sure that China will go faster, "because the momentum is incredible".
The picture shows Fu Chengyu, founding president of the International Institute for Carbon Neutrality, giving a keynote speech. Photo by China News Service reporter Han Haidan
Fu Chengyu, former chairman of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation and founding president of the International Institute of Carbon Neutrality, said that China can take the road of green and low-carbon transformation by accelerating the development of new energy, vigorously improving energy efficiency, and redeploying industries. In this process, China can improve the overall industrial development level through digitalization and intelligence, and make the "China opportunity" become the "world opportunity".
The picture shows Wang Shi, Chairman of Vanke Foundation, giving a keynote speech. Photo by China News Service reporter Han Haidan
Wang Shi, Founder and Honorary Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vanke Group and Chairman of Vanke Foundation, said that he hoped that all entrepreneurs would think about how to bring together enterprises, communities, governments, think tanks, investment institutions and other relevant parties to jointly promote carbon emission reduction and carbon neutrality, which will not only improve the ability of enterprises to cope with climate change, but also enhance the reputation and benefits of enterprises in the process of carbon neutrality.
On December 12, local time, during the 1th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), the Publicity and Education Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, together with WBCSD and China News Network, jointly held the "Sustainable Development Dialogue of Well-known Chinese and Foreign Entrepreneurs" in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Photo by China News Service reporter Han Haidan
In the dialogue session, focusing on the impact of global carbon neutrality on enterprises and their response actions, the participating Chinese and foreign companies elaborated on their understanding of this issue and their action plans.
Francisco Ruiz-Tagle, President of Chilean paper giant CMPC, mentioned CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage) technology. Taking the paper industry as an example, he said, we see a huge opportunity to achieve CCUS, because we have forest land, which can be an important carbon sink, and we will also consider this development potential when we do business planning and production solutions, and we will use natural fibers and enhance the recycling of raw materials to make the industry greener.
Li Pengcheng, CEO of Mengniu Group and Chairman of Mengniu Charity Foundation, said that Mengniu is building a zero-carbon supply chain. Mengniu, one of China's leading dairy companies, has embarked on a Scope 2030 (indirect emissions associated with operations and supply chain) carbon reduction. Mengniu's subsidiaries Modern Dairy and China Shengmu have taken the lead in carrying out carbon inventory and carbon reduction work on pastures, and Mengniu is also the first Chinese company to commit to achieving "zero deforestation" by <>.
Lorenzo Simonelli, chairman and chief executive of Baker Hughes, said the company has set a goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, reducing emissions by 2019% from a 28 baseline, and is also working with Chinese companies such as PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC and Sinochem to promote the application of related technologies.
Xu Hong, Chief Financial Officer of Alibaba Group and Chairman of the Sustainability Management Committee, said that tackling climate change is not only about reducing emissions, but also about adapting to climate and integrating other important ESG issues. For example, building social resilience is also part of Alibaba's ESG strategy.
Li Donghui, CEO of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said that the company has integrated the concept of sustainability into the management of the entire value chain of the vehicle life cycle, and has developed a variety of low-carbon and environmentally friendly vehicles. For example, the ZEEKR model uses 15% renewable steel plate material and 25% renewable aluminum alloy material; Geely's pure electric brand Geely is expected to achieve full-link carbon neutrality by 2040.
Susan Chan, Head of Global Corporate Banking at DBS Bank, said that China is a green technology superpower, and Southeast Asia has a lot of green natural resources, so the two sides can combine China's technology and innovation, as well as digitalization, data and cloud computing capabilities with Southeast Asia's green mineral resources, to make the entire industrial chain and supply chain greener, and this partnership can produce huge benefits.
Tom Reichert, CEO of ILM Environmental Resources Management Consulting Co., Ltd., said that as a service company, the company plans to achieve low-carbon development and net-zero emissions throughout the supply chain through travel optimization and the use of electric vehicles.
On December 12, local time, during the 1th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), the Publicity and Education Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, together with WBCSD and China News Network, jointly held the "Sustainable Development Dialogue of Well-known Chinese and Foreign Entrepreneurs" in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Photo by China News Service reporter Han Haidan
In terms of technology and management innovation for corporate carbon neutrality, the participating Chinese and foreign enterprises also shared their practical experience and innovative achievements.
Wang Shunli, Vice President of Huawei's Middle East and Central Asia Region, introduced Huawei's efforts to reduce carbon emissions in three aspects: energy conservation and emission reduction, emerging technologies, and business model sustainability.
Jin Junhui, director of JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd., said that the company has built a green whole industry chain covering the life cycle of green raw materials, packaging, low-carbon logistics, dismantling and recycling, etc., and also collaborated with upstream and downstream to reduce carbon emissions.
Anant Maheshwari, President and CEO of Honeywell's global high-growth region, praised China's leadership in the green and low-carbon transition. He said that as the world's largest automobile producer and consumer, the production and use of new energy vehicles in China can help China achieve the "dual carbon" goal. He said Honeywell is also expanding its joint ventures in China, where it is also working on innovations such as sustainable jet fuel and green fuels.
Mark Thurber, a partner at KN legal, said that China is in a very leading position in renewable energy, and there is a lot of room for cooperation between the United States and China in the field of energy transition.
Ma Ruining, vice president of international business of Shenzhen Dashi Intelligent Co., Ltd., said that Dashi Intelligent has its own clear technical route towards carbon neutrality and management innovation, which is to use digital technology to drive the low-carbon operation of buildings.
In his concluding remarks, Tian Chengchuan said that today's dialogue on sustainable development of well-known Chinese and foreign entrepreneurs is a very important attempt, and a very important innovative action for world-renowned enterprises to actively respond to the theme of "unity, action and implementation" of COP28. In the discussion, the entrepreneurs all realized that the current global climate crisis has become a very significant issue affecting human development, and it is urgent to change the traditional fossil fuel-based production and lifestyle of mankind and establish a sustainable development strategy for global carbon neutrality. (ENDS)