AICM Held the Mayors' Forum to Create the Driving Force of Urban Green Development in the Context of "Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality"
On October 27, 2021, at the 2021 China Petroleum and Chemical International Conference (CPCIC) held in Ningbo, AICM again held the Mayors' Forum in cooperation with CPCIF.
Benefiting from most updated policies, opportunities and trends, the Mayors' Forum ushered in a fire-new theme, namely, creating the driving force of urban green development in the context of "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality". Focusing on the strategies related to carbon emission reduction and carbon neutrality, a group of distinguished participants, including members of AICM Board of Directors and Advisory Committee, Vice-chairman of CPCIF, leaders of various cities and senior executives of multinational enterprises, gathered to express their opinions freely about the hot topics concerning social development represented by business environment and development of cities, to jointly discuss new ideas for the development of chemical industry, to share management experience and the concept of sustainable development, and to forecast the future investment orientation and focus, with a view to promoting the high-quality development of petrochemical industry in the new era to achieve a new leap.
Dr. Morrison, member of the AICM Board of Directors, introduced the 2021 AICM Sustainable Development Report in detail. Apart from covering the global trend of carbon neutrality, the specific situation of China's sustainable development and the excellent experience of various chemical companies, the content of this report also highlighted that the chemical industry played a vital role in China's economic development, energy security, energy conservation and carbon reduction. Meanwhile, Dr. Morrison emphasized that AICM, as an important channel for multinational enterprises to communicate with the government, communities and populace, expected to effectively convey the discourses of all relevant parties through its own efforts, so as to promote foreign-funded chemical enterprises to effectively practice the management experience of sustainable development, thus establishing a positive image of the chemical industry. Also, he firmly believed that the chemical industry would improve the energy efficiency in the technological process by virtue of innovation and R&D of more solutions based on technical improvement, thereby ultimately reducing carbon emissions and making valuable contributions to the realization of China's "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality" objectives in 2030/2060.
The Vice-chairman of CPCIF appealed to participants and enterprises to make joint efforts to create new achievements during the process of green and low-carbon development on the basis of seizing opportunities and overcoming difficulties and to make new contributions to realizing the objectives of "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality" and building China into a powerful country in the petrochemical industry.
During the formal discussion, the presidents and senior executives from a series of AICM member companies including Clariant, Evonik, ARKEMA, BASF, Air Liquide, NOURYON, Hoyer, etc. made wonderful speeches, expressing the determination of multinational chemical enterprises to jointly move towards carbon neutrality in the near future by implementing relevant strategies under the auspices of Chinese government and policies. Subsequently, numerous member representatives, including Evonik, LANXESS, Invista, Celanese, Covestro, etc., participated in the symposium with the theme of "Building a Sustainable Business Environment-Chemical Industry Facilitates the Sustainable Development of Cities".
In summary, AICM is willing to strengthen communication with the government, listen respectfully to and understand the recommendations proposed by the community populace on the development of the chemical industry, so as to jointly promote the healthy development of industry and economy. AICM will also continue to promote the practical implementation of Responsible Care in China through in-depth cooperation with CPCIC. More importantly, AICM firmly believes that with the support of technology and policy, the chemical industry possesses a high probability to improve the existing low-carbon strategy, thereby realizing the objectives of "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality".