A group of enterprise executives from multinational giants shared their views on climate change and green development at a forum held on Friday during the 4th China International Import Expo (CIIE).

The forum "Green Development and Global Trade under Climate Change" was featured as part of the CIIE's Hongqiao International Economic Forum. The strong lineup of guest speakers included Roberto Azevêdo, executive vice president of PepsiCo; Mike Henry, CEO of BHP; Mike Roman, chairman and CEO of 3M; and Jochen Goller, CEO of BMW China.

"CIIE has served as a productive and positive platform to provide new opportunities for global trade, investment, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges," said PepsiCo's Azevêdo, former director-general of the World Trade Organization. "Now we are facing our most challenging moment yet. The pandemic has forced us to pursue a new sustainability model that creates a safer and more prosperous society grounded in a more inclusive and resilient economy. In this context, I believe this panel's topic is particularly timely and meaningful."

He noted, "China has attached great importance to green development and climate change, targeting a carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. It is a commendable vision for one of the world's largest countries. But even a country as great and powerful as China cannot meet this challenge on its own. The private sector has a key role to play, too, and at PepsiCo, we are committed to shouldering our share of responsibility."

The top executive shared the company's strategic plan for putting sustainability at the center of creating growth and value, and their new agenda pep+ (Pep Positive). As one of the world's leading food and beverage companies and a significant player in transforming the global food system, pep+, which means "Positive Agriculture, Positive Value Chain and Positive Choices," will guide how PepsiCo will transform its business operations. He said this includes everything from sourcing ingredients to making and selling its products in a more sustainable way. A key element in helping PepsiCo achieve net-zero emissions by 2040 is investing in breakthrough packaging technologies. 

"We are leveraging our scale and strength to help build a more sustainable and resilient food system to protect the planet and positively impact people and the communities where we operate. Under the guidance of pep+, we will support the Chinese government's 14th Five-Year Plan and carbon goals," he added.

Mike Henry, CEO of BHP, also pledged to give full play to corporate responsibility while promoting green development and achieving carbon peak and neutrality targets. He said the company would do this by exploring low-carbon emission reduction technologies, focusing on the new energy industry, restructuring their assets, conducting research with industry allies, and promoting digital applications and blockchain technology.

The speakers of the forum also include Antoine Arnault, LVMH board member and Image and Environment director; Kamran Vossoughi, vice president of Michelin Group and president and CEO of Michelin China; Li Ping, co-founder and vice-chairman of Contemporary Amperex Technology, as well as senior officials from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Pamela Rosemarie Coke-Hamilton, executive director of the International Trade Center (ITC), and Jan Beagle, director-General of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO).

LVMH's Arnault said they would make sure that high-quality fashion products were environmentally friendly. They must limit the impact on the environment in the design and production process and strive to promote the development of biodiversity. LVMH vowed to protect the environment by making recyclable products, pursuing a low-carbon development path, developing regenerative agriculture, and funding forest regeneration.

Li Ping said his Contemporary Amperex Technology had developed energy storage batteries, a critical technology for green development. Now they are trying to achieve green production, consumption, and manufacturing in the supply chain system. He said they were introducing clean energy such as photovoltaics and hydropower in old manufacturing bases and finding sustainable energy sources for new grounds. Meanwhile, Kamran Vossoughi from Michelin also mentioned that their plant in Shanghai uses green energy. In addition, their Shenyang plant recently introduced photovoltaics and solar panels to reduce energy use.

As ITC Executive Director Pamela Rosemarie Coke-Hamilton noted, fighting climate change and preserving the natural environment means using fewer resources and finding cleaner means of production. Hence, humanity needs to move towards a sustainable economic model and aims to develop new economic growth free from finite resources.

"Sustainability is the new language that connects the world," BMW China President Jochen Goller concluded.

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