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Hope for a Green China By Liz Grindey
Chaired by Dr Jane Goodall, world-renowned chimpanzee expert and UN Messenger for Peace, China Daily's 21st CEO Roundtable debated the theme of “Sustainable Development in China”. The delegates also cited mutual cooperation and the role of multinational companies as key factors to tackle what they identified as the planet’s greatest threats – global warming, unequal wealth distribution, and the depletion of energy and water resources. Goodall placed her faith in children and people, and said: “I don't have the solutions but the people in each country do.” "My hope is that children are influencing not only their parents, but also those people in corporate leadership roles, NGO heads and government leaders who truly care about the future of their planet, the future of their own country and above all, the future of their own children." Some thirty senior executives from corporations including Bayer, Dow Chemical, Hewlett Packard, Siemens and Shell attended the talks, as well as officials from the German and US Embassies and the World Health Organization. They saw evidence that the Chinese government is taking sustainable development very seriously. A new Five-Year Plan promises state leadership on developing China’s resources for the long-term good of all people. China has committed to getting 10 per cent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2010, and 20 per cent by 2020. Environmental campaigner Goodall made the case for sustainable development saying that in the current economic model of unlimited growth, it is always the environment that loses out. "If you have people continually wanting more than they need, and those people can't grow everything and harvest everything that they need for their lifestyle locally, they will go out and basically rape the last of these resources from other parts of the world," she said. "Thus, there is a continual conflict between environmental protection and economic growth, and again and again, economic growth wins out." Delegates debated the role of multinational companies which could be seen as the agents of environmental degradation and perhaps its saviours. James McIlvenny, president of Dow greater China, said that corporations could promote new technologies and help set the stage for global collaboration. Goodall agreed that the moral and financial muscle of multinationals was needed to push change forward. "We need wealthy people more than ever before to buy into the new technologies which start off as very expensive," she said. "One of the really encouraging developments is that corporations are stepping in, and so we're having increasing support, particularly in China, from corporations that care, that do have an ethical standard." Goodall also recommended that NGOs, which have been growing rapidly in China, take on as much corporate aid as possible. She encouraged people to support leading edge, eco-friendly companies that are paying a little bit more to do their business ethically. Goodall has established up to 500 'Roots & Shoots' programmes in China that teach young people how to set up projects to help animals, people and the environment. Contacts: (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.) |
Children are the main hope for a
greener future, according to a recent roundtable discussion in Beijing attended by leaders from multinational companies, government and NGOs.