The 3rd International Environmental Forum on Leapfrogging
Development in China
And the 5th China BELL Annual Conference

Theme: Promoting Environmental Innovation
And Creating Environmentally Friendly Enterprises

Background

Developing an environmentally friendly and resource efficient society, as proposed by the Chinese government, is an important policy objective of the coordination between economic development and environmental protection at China’s current stage, based on scientific development outlook, toward a harmonious socialist society.

Developing environmentally-friendly enterprises is an important part of building an environmentally-friendly society. This is the requirement by the new way of industrialization and an effective approach to control environmental pollution and ecological damage from the starting point. It will contribute to overcome challenges faced by enterprise managers in China, such as how to understand “environmentally-friendly enterprise,” how to balance resource efficiency and economic growth at management level, how to create "green wealth," and how to practice “public relationship at crisis” through information disclosure and emergency response when pollution affair happens, etc.

Nowadays, when resource scarcity and environmental pollution are getting more serious, innovation becomes the core competitiveness of enterprises. It is the requirement to enterprises by China's economic development, and is an inexhaustible driving force of building environmental-friendly enterprises and even society. Technological innovation, management innovation, institutional innovation, market innovation, and innovations in many fields will provide enterprises a new opportunity for development.

Since 2004, State Environmental Protection Administration of China (SEPA) has hosted annual International Environmental Forums on Leapfrogging Development in China. Some world famous environmental advocates attended these conferences and delivered outstanding speeches, such as Maurice Strong, former Vice General Secretary of United Nations, Lester Brown, the president of Earth Policy Institute, Dennis Hayes, the father of the Earth Day, Allen Brewster, the vice president of School of forest and environment Yale University, Qu Geping, the president of the China Environmental Protection Foundation, and some famous foreign eco-city mayors. More than 300 people attended the first two forums. The forums, with their advanced ideas and forward-looking themes, received great praises from participants, leaders of SEPA, and the society.

The BELL Program (Business, Environment, Learning and Leadership) in China has been effectively pushed forward through the combination of the 2nd Forum and 4th BELL Annual Meeting in 2005. BELL is an international environmental education program, initiated by the World Resources Institute (WRI), attended by famous business schools in USA, Canada, and other countries, and supported by numerous multinational corporatations. Since the year 2000, when the programme settled in China holding the concept of “integrating environmental education and sustainable development into curriculum of business schools,” BELL has been aiming to leverage environmental education and foster future environmentally friendly business managers from today's business school students. This programme, during its six years implementation in China, has trained a large number of senior managers with environmental awareness and brought benefit to thousands of people. It is also a successful example of environmental education in colleges and universities. Therefore, this year’s conference is a grand gathering not only for environmental advocates, but also for entrepreneurs and educators.

In order to build up environmentally-friendly enterprises, to develop and apply environmental sound technologies, to encourage and stimulate enterprise innovation, and to promote the establishment of environmentally-friendly society, SEPA will continue to hold this International Environmental Forum on Leapfrogging Development in China, with the theme of "Creation of Environmentally Friendly Enterprises and Innovation for Sustainable Development" for this year.

Organization

Organizor: State Environmental Protection Administration of China
Co-organizor: Municipal Government of Shenyang City
National MBA Education Supervisory Committee
World Resources Institute
Undertaker: Center for Environmental Education and Communications of SEPA
Environmental Protection Bureau of Shenyang City
Supporter: China Business Council for Sustainable Development

Speakers/participants

World famous scholars in corporate sustainability development and innovation, EHS managers from multinational corporate, environmentally friendly enterprises in China, other enterprises in China, representatives from business schools and environment schools and some 200 participants are expected.