Industrial parks are important venues for the agglomeration and development of industrial enterprises, as well as important spatial carriers for China to implement the strategy of building a strong manufacturing country and promote industrial transformation and upgrading. They play an important role in building a modern industrial system and promoting high-quality development. Focusing on new ESG trends, promoting the green transformation of park industries, and striving to build ecological industrial parks are inevitable choices for promoting high-quality development of parks.
August 29, 2023, 9:00 AM, Tianfu Ecological Forum, Issue 2, 2023Green Transformation and Sustainable Development of Industrial Parks under ESG New TrendsAt the Xinjin Industrial Park, a demonstration site for circular economy in Sichuan Province, a grand event was held. Shi Han, Director of the ESG Center at the China Business School of the University of Hong Kong, Chief Scientist of the National Economic and Technological Development Zone Green Development Alliance of the Ministry of Commerce, International Consultant for Industrial Green Development of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Master of Industrial Ecology and Doctor of Philosophy from Yale University in the United States, gave a keynote speech. Representatives from the Chengdu Ecological Environment Bureau and various dispatched agencies, relevant industrial parks in various districts (cities) and counties, enterprise representatives, and media representatives from China Environment News participated in the event through offline means. This forum is hosted by the Chengdu Ecological Environment Bureau and organized by the Chengdu Ecological Civilization Research Institute and the Xinjin Ecological Environment Bureau.
Exciting speech
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What is ESG?ESG is a business language, an internationally recognized business language. For our park, ESG is the signboard for the industrial park to attract investment globally.The enterprises engaged in overseas "the Belt and Road" trade in our country pay more attention to ESG than other enterprises. ESG is a very effective tool for doing business overseas.
2.The traditional economic development model emphasizes the pursuit of economy and the maximization of profits.Driven by the goal of maximizing profits, the production environmental costs and external impacts on social outcomes of enterprises will be ignored. The environmental pollution generated by enterprises will not be treated and will be directly discharged, which can ensure the profitability of enterprises.However, in the long run, this model is not feasible. And the environmental costs of externalizing this pollution are more borne by low-income groups.
3. We have been exploring how to transform a situation where companies only pursue the economy without considering the social and environmental issues it brings into a conscious effort to reduce harmful environmental behaviors. ESG is to encourage companies to focus on environmental benefits in the pursuit of economic development, enabling them to transform their roles and play a positive role in society and the environment.Using corporate social responsibility to promote social responsibility, and then promoting individual citizen responsibility, to take the path of sustainable development.
4.ESG is a powerful tool for attracting investment to the park.ESG is an important manifestation of a company's social responsibility, and coupled with the international community's attention to ESG, having an ESG report becomes an entry threshold. The barbaric way Chinese companies grow domestically is no longer effective.
Assuming that the park itself practices many aspects of ESG indicators, it is actually easier for relevant companies to meet their ESG needs if they invest in the park.
5. Good ESG performance can assist industrial parks in reducing costs and creating long-term value. When conducting ESG management, it is possible to identify some issues in the operational process of the enterprise. Promoting industrial symbiosis among enterprises at the park level is a very effective means.Through comprehensive coordination and selection of combinations in the park, we can promote the waste of one enterprise to become raw materials for another enterprise and find ways for waste companies to recycle and create value again.
6.ESG management can also provide greater benefits from the country's preferential policies.The park should play a connecting role, transmitting relevant government policies and information, and assisting the development of enterprises. Suzhou Industrial Park has done a great job by organizing industry and social organizations in the middle, summarizing national preferential policies, and helping enterprises apply for relevant projects.Enterprises with good ESG performance can gain greater strategic freedom and have more opportunities to receive subsidies.
In fact, for an enterprise or a park to engage in economic activities, it needs to rely onSix types of capital: financial capital, manufacturing capital, intellectual capital, human capital, natural capital, and social and relational capital.If a company or park wants to operate for a long time, it depends on whether these six types of capital increase or decrease after a cycle. Only when these six types of capital continue to operate and increase, can enterprises or parks have a healthy and positive development.
8. The green transformation of enterprises needs to go through six stages.The first stage is environmental governance and compliance with emission standards.It is not easy to achieve the standard at this stage. In recent years, the requirements for environmental governance and emission standards have been continuously improved. So far, there are still many enterprises in our country that have not met the requirements.The second stage is pollution prevention.The third one is to design an energy management systemThe core content of these management systems is to establish a continuous improvement mechanism, to identify problems, design solutions, facilities, review, and continuously improve problems.On this basis, we will develop circular economy, green supply chain, and product ecological design.
9.The key technologies for implementing industrial carbon neutrality in industrial parks and cultivating carbon neutral industrial clusters in the future should focus on systematic energy efficiency optimization, electrification based on low-carbon energy, application of hydrogen energy and CCUS technology, and industrial symbiosis and circular economy.
One thing we can foresee in decarbonization and achieving carbon neutrality is electrification. The larger the proportion of electricity consumption to comprehensive energy consumption, the better. Electrification is an important channel for achieving carbon neutrality.
10. Carbon neutrality has two paths,Saying goodbye to the fossil energy era can solve half of the problems, while the other half needs to be addressed through a circular economy.One indicator of circular economy is the proportion of renewable resources to total raw materials, and the second indicator is the proportion of all generated waste that is recycled and reused. By recycling, reusing, and sharing platforms, relevant materials can be recycled to improve utilization rates, reduce costs, and achieve green development through circular development.
Question and answer session
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put questions to:How do you think companies should practice ESG indicators in practice?
Dr. Shi Han:
From my perspective, ESG is something that every enterprise must do.ESG encourages more companies to take on the social and environmental responsibilities arising from their production activities.
The second perspective is 0-1 thinking, which means taking action.We should promote indicators that meet ESG management requirements, limit and reduce business activities that do not meet requirements, and prioritize long-term benefits and social benefits. If all Chinese enterprises can focus on production quality, their competitiveness will not be limited to low-cost advantages such as manpower.
put questions to:Hello teacher, I would like to ask what are the key points to pay attention to in promoting the green transformation of parks within Chengdu?
Dr. Shi Han:
From the perspective of an industrial park, there are two important points to grasp. One is the infrastructure and services at the park level, such as water, electricity, waste treatment facilities, etc,Establish a data-driven monitoring platform to promote green transformationThe second is to proceedInfrastructure updates and upgradesImplementing zero carbon transformation can improve overall performance. Three isAssist enterprises in achieving industrial symbiosisCarry out waste recycling to reduce losses. The fourth is to help improve the green and low-carbon level of enterprises in the park, which requiresBuilding a Green Supply ChainThe park takes the lead in catching green leading enterprises, introduces leading enterprises, and collaborates with them in the management of the park, and introduces related green enterprises to form a green supply chain.
put questions to:Regarding the construction of zero carbon industrial parks that you mentioned earlier, may I ask if there are any valuable models for reference in China at present?
Dr. Shi Han:
One is Qingdao Industrial Park, and the other is Suzhou Industrial Park.The first step in promoting zero carbonization in industrial parks is to carry outOptimization of system performanceBy renovating the infrastructure of the park, energy efficiency can be improved; The second iselectrificationFully utilize electricity to replace other energy sources, electrify production and heating;Furthermore, through industrial symbiosis and circular economy; Finally, developing hydrogen energy and ESG。
put questions to:Sichuan is mainly focused on hydropower, so which direction should we go in the green transformation?
Dr. Shi Han:
One is to solve the last mile issueHow to find ways to solve the problem of transporting energy from hydropower to the last kilometer;The second is how to do marketing well,It is difficult to use the card of marketing well, and to make the topic that most of Sichuan Energy is clean energy have a spreading influence;Make good use of water and electricity, improve enterprise energy consumption and carbon emission monitoring systemEnterprises need to be able to monitor energy and carbon emissions in real time. Learn from Suzhou Industrial Park, and after building monitoring systems in high energy consuming enterprises, find 6-7 professional institutions for energy diagnosis. Some energy intensive enterprises may not perform very well in their own optimization, and may consider introducing 5-10 data companies with strong management capabilities to assist in monitoring work.