AUSTIN, Texas, May. 10 /CSRwire/ – The United States Business Council for Sustainable Development and its counterpart in China have been selected to join the US-China EcoPartnerships Program, which formally brings together businesses and other stakeholders to help solve pressing energy and environmental problems facing both countries.
US Sec retary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to welcome the US BCSD, the China Business Council for Sustainable Development and five other new EcoPartnerships that will collaborate on projects that provide economic, environmental and societal benefits. The signing ceremony will be held on Tuesday, May 10 in Washington, D.C.
The new EcoPartnerships were selected by a Joint Secretariat co-chaired by U.S. Department of State and the People's Republic of China's National Development and Reform Commission.
Through the EcoPartnership program, the US and China business councils will strengthen an existing bi-national business partnership focused on achieving sustainable development. The partners will develop projects on water, energy, climate and ecosystem objectives. Specific plans could include applying new financing approaches for energy efficiency in commercial and industrial buildings and implementing by-product synergy, a system that allows companies from diverse industries to work together to match their underutilized waste streams with potential users at other facilities.
The EcoPartnership Program was established under the U.S.-China Ten Year Framework on Energy and Environment, approved in Beijing in 2008. The program links stakeholders from the public, private, and civic sectors across the United States and China to solve environmental and energy challenges and address climate change in ways that promote economic growth.
The other new EcoPartnerships include: Case Western Reserve University with the China National Off-shore Oil Corp – New Energy Investment Co, Ltd.; Duke Energy of Cincinnati, Ohio and the city of Charlotte, N.C., with ENN Solar Energy Group of Langfang, China; the State of Utah with Qinghai Province in China; the Center for Climate Strategies in Washington, D.C. with Global Environmental Institute of Beijing; and Purdue University with the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research in Beijing.
The US BCSD is an Austin, Texas-based business association that provides opportunities for its members to work on sustainability projects with industry, governmental and other key stakeholders that might not otherwise have the chance to collaborate and network. The projects generate economic returns while improving the environment and society – the triple bottom line.
The China BCSD is a coalition of leading Chinese and foreign enterprises established through the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China. Since its foundation in 2003, CBCSD has been proactively promoting sustainable development activities focused on corporate social responsibility, environmental protection, and clean production.
The two councils are part of a network of 60 national business councils worldwide associated with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a global network of 200 international companies with members drawn from 30 countries and 20 major industrial sectors. The US and China business councils represent more than 100 member companies including Shell, Dow Chemical, Alcoa, General Motors, Sinopec, BaoSteel, Procter & Gamble, and State Grid.