2023 Green Development Symposium: Enterprise in Action Held in Beijing

On November 18, 2023, the 2023 Green Development Symposium: Enterprise in Action, hosted by the China Development Research Foundation (CDRF), was held in Beijing.

Under the theme of "Expertise in Green Transformation and Development, Building a Clean and Beautiful World", the symposium invited more than 200 representatives from relevant government departments, research institutes, and enterprises to discuss topics such as green transformation of industrial chain, green development of rural areas, green consumption, ESG, etc., and to exchange the latest research and practice, so as to promote further progress in the field of green development.

Fang Jin, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CDRF, presided over the plenary session.

Zhang Junkuo, member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), deputy director of the Proposals Committee, and Chairman of CDRF, delivered a speech at the conference. He said that taking the path of green development is not only the common choice of all countries to respond to climate change, but also a common opportunity for global economic and social development. In recent years, CDRF has been promoting the country's green transformation and development through policy research and social pilots. In the future, the foundation will continue to strengthen communication and cooperation with all parties to promote a green transformation.

Wu Bo, President, CFO and member of the Management Committee of China International Capital Corporation Limited (CICC), shared three changes: Firstly, at the industry level, standardization of green finance is accelerating, and the domestic financial support for green development has also been raised to a new level. Second, at the client level, more and more institutional investors are focusing on responsible investment, and ESG investment has created a lot of green financial products to meet investment demand. Enterprises also have a growing demand for financing in the area of green transformation. Thirdly, the market returns from green projects is being validated. He said that under the general trend of global green transformation, CICC's confidence in carrying out green financial services will also become stronger and the pace will become more determined.

Rio Tinto China CEO Ren Binyan said that in recent years, the challenges posed by climate change have become increasingly severe, and the need for harmonious coexistence between human beings and nature has become more and more urgent, and we need the joint efforts of enterprises, governments and society more than ever. Rio Tinto plans to reduce operational emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050, for which it will invest $7.5 billion in carbon reduction projects. Rio Tinto has rich experience and profound lessons in community development, biodiversity conservation, land restoration and cultural heritage protection. He hoped to share Rio Tinto's experience and play the role of a multinational enterprise as a bridge between China and foreign countries to contribute to China's green and high-quality development.

Wu Yanyan, Government and External Affairs VP of BMW Group, said that BMW's long-term vision is to establish a sustainable value chain capable of long-term carbon reduction and to realize a circular economy. By 2030 BMW wants to reduce the carbon emissions of the entire life cycle of a single vehicle by 40% compared to 2019, and to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest. To this end, BMW proposes a 360-degree, chain-wide carbon reduction strategy, prioritizing the circular economy as the model, while working with upstream and downstream partners to promote the process of sustainable development.

Zhang Junting, President of Rongcheng Group, talked about Rongcheng’s green innovation around the steel industry from the three aspects of "Circular Economy", "Energy Transformation" and "Digital Intelligence Transformation". She said that the core of the future green transformation is the innovation and substitution of older technology, and Rongcheng has to innovate around the three goals of high technological productivity, zero emission and more cost competitiveness. It is important to focus on the value chain brought about by these innovations, and to form a dynamic equilibrium of supply and demand on green innovation.

Ye Fei, President of Michelin China, shared Michelin's practice and experience in green and sustainable development, introducing Michelin's "All Sustainable" approach from sustainable materials, eco-design and other aspects. He pointed out that tires, as the only part of a vehicle that is in contact with the ground, have a significant impact on the energy consumption of the vehicle. What Michelin is doing is to manufacture and develop more advanced products to help transportation companies reduce the energy consumption from ground transportation.

Nicholas Stern, professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said that China is building renewable energy at an astonishing rate, far faster than anywhere else in the world. China is a great example of how quickly a commitment can be followed by action to reduce the cost of renewable energy and electric vehicles through research, innovation and scaling up. We need such examples to counter push back to achieving a green transition. We need to invest in fair transition measures that allow less developed region’s populations to participate in the transition. And this will require policy support, investment in regions dependent on affected industries such as coal mining, and support for housing and transportation for the poor.

Liu Shijin, Chinese chief advisor to the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) and former deputy director of the Development Research Centre of the State Council (DRC), said that there are three ways for regions and enterprises to reduce emissions: the first is to reduce emissions directly; the second is to produce innovative "carbon substitution and reduction" products, which are based on green technology to replace relatively reduced carbon emissions; and the third is to purchase innovative "carbon substitution and reduction" products through trading. In his view, the next step could be to establish a comprehensive carbon emission reduction accounting system and market to accelerate the process of realizing the "dual-carbon" goal.

Zhu Guangyao, former vice minister of the Ministry of Finance, pointed out that strengthening the construction of new energy system is based on the objective reality of the critical period of China's ecological civilization construction with carbon reduction as the key direction, and it is a strategic initiative to implement the strategic instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on improving the regulation of the total amount and intensity of energy consumption and gradually shifting to dual control of the total amount and intensity of carbon emissions, which not only contributes to the energy security and the low-carbon transformation of the energy system, but also helps to expand international cooperation, strengthen China's policy advocacy in the global challenge of addressing climate change.

Zhou Yanli, former vice chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, said that green finance to support green development has entered a deep-water zone, and the policy needs to be precise and forceful to promote green finance to achieve leapfrog development. First, we need to improve the green financial system, second, we need to protect energy security and supply chain security, third, we need to deepen the service innovation of green financial products, and fourth, we need to increase means tested incentives and public promotion.

Wang Yiming, vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and former deputy director of the Development Research Centre of the State Council, pointed out that the green transformation of the supply chain should be the process of realizing carbon reduction in the whole chain, the whole process and the whole cycle, and it is a process in which all the main bodies in the chain participate in and take responsibility for the process together. It is a whole-chain green operation mode led by core enterprises and relying on the supply relationship between upstream and downstream enterprises, constructed in terms of green procurement, green production, green management of suppliers, green packaging, green logistics, green recycling and information disclosure.

Chen Junshi, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and general advisor of the National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, talked about his views on the relationship between the transformation and green development of the food industry from the perspective of food. He shared his views on the three aspects of the United Nations' advocacy of the reform of the food system, the problems of China's food consumption, and the efforts that should be made to develop the food industry in a green way, and emphasized the importance of popularization and publicity of science and technology. He believed that food production planning should be based on the needs of national nutrition and health, which is not only good for human health, but also good for the health of the earth.

Fang Li, Chief Representative of WRI Beijing, said that China has many advantages in the process of systemic change for low-carbon transition and is a country with relatively good endowment of renewable resources, but it still needs to utilize the power of institutional innovation. She suggested that the government can provide long-term stable expectations for enterprises, make good long-term planning, and improve effective supply of institutions. On the other hand, she also suggests that enterprises actively participate in international rule-making and promote the development and implementation of low-carbon transition programs and systems domestically. Enterprises can work together with the government to participate in the process of developing standards for the industry and supply chain standards.

Afterwards, the symposium held discussions centered on "Green Transformation of Industrial Chain for High Quality Development", "Exploring New Opportunities for Green Development in Rural Areas", "Creating New Scenarios for Green Consumption", and "Sustainable Investment and China's Policy Development".

This conference has strengthened the communication in the field of green development. CDRF will provide intellectual support for the green and low-carbon transformation of the whole society.