By Dai Qi
A Chinese researcher expressed his deep qualm on how to turn China's polluting enterprises into environmental-friendly ones.
"China embraced many primary polluting industries from the western world back in the 1980s and 1990s. Now we have to make changes, but how?" Lu Zhongyuan, former deputy head of China's state think-tank the Development Research Center of the State Council, came up with this question at the China Green Development Forum in Beijing on Thursday.
Lu's concern includes what others can provide for those so-called traditional industries in China to transform, how to lead them towards a green approach to development, what technologies can do for them, and whether right technologies, brands or models in one factory or place can be learned by others.
He is not the only one who worries about the problem.
"It is time to change!"
Wang Zhen, director of the Asia Pacific Bureau of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), said enterprises had to shift toward a green development style.
"With higher cost and less storage for fossil energy, enterprises are facing more pressure to reduce their traditional energy consumption and raise efficiency," Wand said.
Meanwhile, the ideology of green consumption, which emphasises the consumers' responsibility for addressing environmental problems through environmentally-friendly behavior like the use of organic products, clean and renewable energy, has also driven the trend, according to Wang.
"So we have entered an era of green development, and it is time for enterprises to adapt to the new pattern of development," he said to the China Fortune Media on Thursday.
Jackson Thomas, an international development expert of the UNIDO China Regional Office, also believed that China had to make a change and it had done a good job until now.
"China has witnessed a rapid growth in the past 40 years since its reforms and opening-up, but the environmental sacrifice cannot be ignored. Moreover, we are happy to see the attempt to turn "green" by both the Chinese government and the enterprises," said Thomas.
China determined to "turn green"
The Chinese government has set goals to achieve a green development.
A series of government programs, including the report of the 19th CPC National Congress, have pointed out that China must adhere to green development and strive to improve the ecological environment.
"Take the Chinese government's Belt and Road Initiative as an example of China's impressive commitment to sustainable development. The Belt and Road Ecological and Environmental Cooperation Plan, released in 2017, set out goals for sustainable consumption and production, innovative technologies and international cooperation," Thomas said.
Meanwhile, Wang is also moved by Chinese enterprises, especially small enterprises' efforts in promoting sustainable development.
"A small enterprise based in Shanghai has invented a technology that can flush the toilet with just one cup of water. Although the leader of the company is not good at English, she is willing to make their invention known by more people through our organization," Wang said.
