Raising public awareness and build NGOs' capacity in China
yxchen_gwatershed@163.com
yxchen_gwatershed@163.com
The forum was held at the International Conference Hall of Tian Yu Hotel in Tianjin, China. Over 70 participants attended the forum, including representatives from local and International NGOs, green businesses, prestigious universities, Ministry of Environmental Protection, China Industrial Bank and several media.
In the morning session, four speeches were given by the guest speakers. First, a representative from Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning gave a key-note speech on Green Economy in China: From Concept to Action. Following it, three guest speakers from China Industrial Bank, Chinese Ecological Civilization Research and Promotion Association (CECRPA), and Greenovation Hub delivered three thematic speeches respectively on Sustainability Practices of China Industrial Bank, How Real Economy Puts Green Economy into Practice, and Chinese NGOs' Role in Promoting Green Economy. At the end of this session, Green Watershed and 10 other local NGOs jointly released the ranking on 2008-2011 Green Credit Performance of 16 listed Chinese banks. The ranking includes an overall ranking and 10 classification rankings according to 10 indicators.
In the afternoon session, there were three panel discussions covering three areas in Green Economy: Green Agriculture, Green Manufacturing, and Green Finance. Panel Discussion I was chaired by Prof. Xiulin Gu from Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, with panelists from Oxfam, China Dialogue, and BIOFarm. The panelists discussed about Issues related to sustainable agriculture, such as genetically modified food, fair trade of agricultural products and food safety. Panel Discussion II was chaired by Mr. Jun Ma from Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE), with panelists from three manufacturing companies dedicated to green production. Issues on clean production, green supply chain and efficient business management were discussed on. In the third panel discussion, Mr. Xiaogang Yu from Green Watershed facilitated the discussion with three representatives from China Industrial Bank, Jinan University and Peking University. The discussion focused on the implementation of Green Credit Guidelines issued by CBRC, Green Finance transformation in China, and the Equator Principle III Draft. To set up the NGO network of Green Credit advocacy, Green Watershed issued the Advocacy of Green Credit signed by 25 Chinese environmental NGOs at the end of the session.
Green Finance Advocacy Workshop for Chinese NGOs
On September 11th and 12th, the Green Finance Advocacy Workshop for Chinese NGOs was held in Tian Yu Hotel of Tianjin. The workshop had over 50 participants from 37 NGOs from China and abroad, including Friends of Nature, Global Environmental Institute, International Rivers, Transition Suginami (Tokyo). The trainers were Mr. Johan Frijns from BankTrack (Netherlands), Dr. Andreas Missbach from Berne Declaration (Switzerland) and Ms. Michelle Chan from Friends of the Earth (US). Mr. Xiaogang Yu from Green Watershed and Mr. Jun Ma from IPE also gave several presentations at the workshop.
The workshop was generally designed to include two parts, and each part was broken down into a couple of sessions that were connected to each other. The first part, which was held on September 11th, focused on the basics of green finance, sustainable banking, current international initiatives and domestic policies, and the role of NGOs to hold banks accountable. In addition, NGO participants joined a group discussion to identify various stakeholders of green credit and their attitudes towards and influence on the development of green credit.
The second part, which was held on September 12th, focused on strategies for campaigning and general action plans for future cooperation. The trainers and presenters from BankTrack, Berne Declaration, BankWiser, Friends of the Earth, Green Watershed and International Rivers delivered presentations and shared their experiences in some of the campaigns their organizations initiated or involved in. Also, all participants joined a group discussion on What to Expect in the Future: Joint Action Plan. They were encouraged to think about how to impact changes on four sectors respectively: the policymaking and regulatory sector, the banking sector, the business sector, and the public and media sector. They have successfully integrated the knowledge they learned from the workshop into the joint action plan.
Public Lecture at Nankai University
After the forum, a public lecture was delivered at Nankai University in the evening of September 10th, 2012. The theme of the lecture was Green Economy and Future Leaders. Two speakers were Mr. Xiaogang Yu from Green Watershed and Mr. Jun Ma from IPE. The majority of the audience were about 20 college students from Tianjin who have a strong interest in green finance and green economy, and NGO's roles in the green transformation. The lecture helped to publicize the knowledge of green finance and promote public participation.
Participation in Summer Davos 2012
Mr. Xiaogang Yu attended the Sumer Davos 2012 in Tianjin as a representative from Green Watershed, with two other NGO representatives from IPE and Greenovation Hub. This was a great chance to talk with and advocate for green finance to world-class business CEOs and political elites.