The CBI was proud to have joined the 2021 ECO FORUM GLOBAL in Guiyang from 12-13 July.
As one of the few international business organisations attending the Eco Forum the CBI gave a keynote speech in Anshun city highlighting the role that business organisations and businesses can play in setting achievable net-zero targets and sharing best practice.
The British Ambassador Caroline Wilson and Chongqing based Consul General Stephen Ellison attended and hosted a key round-table discussion on the Dasgupta Report which looked into methodologies for giving an economic value to nature and developing a set of biodiversity principles that business, policymakers, governments and society could adopt. A highlight of this session was hearing from Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta himself and inputs from leading environmental expert Ma Jun.
UK Government interventions were provided by COP 26 Ambassador Alok Sharma and Lord Zac Goldsmith, Minister for the Environment and Pacific, both emphasising the urgency of the current global environmental challenge and the opportunities for UK-China collaboration in the countdown to COP15 Kunming and COP26 Glasgow.
At the closing session the CBI joined a panel discussion to share insights into the net-zero role of CBI member companies in China citing BP for its network of charging stations in Guangdong, Arup and Buro Happold's leading green building design work and the University of Nottingham in Ningbo for its China Beacons Institute, a Research centre focusing on green energy, advanced manufacturing and healthcare.
Rain Newton Smith, the CBI's Chief Economist and COP Lead provided a congratulatory message to the ECO FORUM GLOBAL which was well received by senior leaders, scientists, businesses and academia.
CBI China would like to thank Tania Kumar, Head of the CBI's Climate Change Team and her colleague Shara Samra for their invaluable expert knowledge, advice and support of this event.
