"China's ESG standards are developing rapidly and exceed the expectations of many observers."
In 2024, domestic ESG policies will be introduced one after another. On April 12, under the unified deployment of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the three major stock exchanges officially issued the "Guidelines for Self-Regulation of Listed Companies-Sustainable Development Report (Trial)", ushering in the era of mandatory ESG disclosure in China. On May 27, the Ministry of Finance issued the "Enterprise Sustainable Disclosure Guidelines-Basic Guidelines (Draft for Comments)", requiring that by 2027, China will successively issue basic standards for sustainable disclosure and climate-related disclosure standards for enterprises; by 2030, the country A unified sustainable disclosure standard system has been basically completed.
At the 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services, ESG-related issues have attracted common attention and discussion from academic circles, industries and third-party service organizations. Among them, EY focuses on the latest ESG policies and conducts cutting-edge dialogues to help companies practice sustainable development.
China's ESG standards are developing rapidly, exceeding the expectations of many observers
In response to the rapid development of Chinese standards on a global scale, Wang Yuanfeng, director, professor and doctoral supervisor of the Center for Carbon Neutralization Technology and Strategy Research at Beijing Jiaotong University, said that China's ESG standards are developing very rapidly and exceed the expectations of many observers. The ESG reporting guidelines issued by the three major stock exchanges have ushered in the era of mandatory ESG disclosure in China. More than 450 people in China are included in the scope of mandatory ESG disclosure. This will have an important impact on the ESG disclosure and related work of Chinese companies. Subsequently, the Ministry of Finance issued the "Guidelines for Sustainable Disclosure of Enterprises-Basic Guidelines (Draft for Comments)", indicating that China will comprehensively establish a standard system for corporate ESG in the future, and that all companies must incorporate ESG into production and operations, becoming a guide. The basic guideline for corporate work. It can be said that the establishment of the ESG system in China is a reform with great influence and an institutional innovation with far-reaching significance.
Liu Wei, chief carbon neutrality officer of Goldwind Technology Co., Ltd., proposed from the perspective of corporate practice that with the improvement of regulatory requirements, companies need to invest more resources to ensure that ESG practices meet compliance requirements, and there will also be relevant information in terms of indicators. Collecting difficult issues requires more departmental cooperation and more professional knowledge.
It is reported that Goldwind Technology integrates the concept of sustainable development into its strategic culture and operation management processes, continues to improve the three-level organizational structure and management system of the board of directors, sustainable development committee and sustainable development department, strengthens the leadership role of the board of directors, and focuses on "integrity and compliance" in the five areas of management, green environmental operations, sustainable industrial chain, fair and healthy working environment, and harmonious community relations, formulate sustainable development goals and action plans. Gradually establish a sustainable development work management model with company characteristics and actively practice sustainable development.
Li Jing, managing partner of ESG sustainability in Ernst & Young Greater China, said that with the continuous improvement of ESG policies, corporate ESG information disclosure needs to meet regulatory compliance requirements and continuously improve the quality of information disclosure. While this brings challenges, it also allows us to see that ESG has become one of the important starting points for promoting high-quality and sustainable development of enterprises. Good ESG performance of enterprises can not only help listed companies manage operational risks, optimize operating costs, improve competitiveness and promote sustainable development, but also attract long-term attention and support from investors.
How does ESG empower new productivity?
All parties involved in the discussion believed that new productivity represents a transition in productivity and is a key driving factor leading innovative and sustainable development. In recent years, the Chinese government has proposed to vigorously develop new productive forces and promote high-quality economic development. This is actually very consistent with the concept of sustainable development advocated by ESG.
Regarding the question of how ESG can empower the development of new quality productivity, Wang Yuanfeng said that the requirements of "developing new quality productivity according to local conditions and accelerating the cultivation of new driving forces for foreign trade" will enable China to develop new economies, new industries and new business formats, so that new quality productivity can be The development of China's ESG brings multiplier effects.
"I think that doing ESG well is inseparable from the support of technology, namely ESG+T, which is the concept of empowering enterprises with ESG through technology. Whether it is environmental issues such as green and low-carbon, addressing climate change, social issues such as supply chain management, customer rights and interests, employee development, or corporate governance and behavior, scientific and technological innovation is crucial. In recent years, China's energy-saving and carbon-reduction technologies in new energy vehicles, photovoltaics, wind power generation and other fields have led global development, while intelligent manufacturing and digital economy have also shown strong momentum. Therefore, the ESG of Chinese companies will surely fly higher with the wings of technological innovation, and will also promote the development of new productivity and form a virtuous cycle." Wang Yuanfeng said.
In terms of combining ESG with innovation and technology to promote the development of new quality productivity, Liu Wei said: "We are based on the smart energy storage E-SaaS (Energy Storage as a Service) architecture to provide intelligent power dispatching and energy trading solutions for the power grid. By optimizing energy scheduling and power market transactions, we achieve flexible supply and intelligent distribution of clean power, making power grid operation more efficient and stable. In order to help more companies reduce carbon emissions, we have developed an energy aggregation platform to realize energy management and carbon management throughout the entire process of energy measurement, energy supply side, and transaction side, providing the best path for companies to carbon neutrality. For example, in areas rich in wind and scenery resources, direct supply solutions for new energy are provided based on customers 'demands for green and low-carbon development; on the load side, distributed energy solutions are provided to increase the proportion of clean energy use and assist in carbon emission rights and CCER transactions help companies accelerate the process of carbon neutrality."
Li Jing introduced that digitally intelligent ESG products create new productivity. Focusing on long-term value, Ernst & Young ESG sustainability team actively promotes service and tool innovation in the field of ESG digital intelligence, and has released a series of ESG digital solutions to help enterprises quickly build online ESG digital systems, clearly perceive industry development trends, and Find out the data base related to sustainable development to better realize the integration of corporate sustainable development strategies and business strategies, and use more robust and flexible digital means to help enterprises build ESG management systems.
