The 11th European Chamber Corporate Social Responsibility Awards
On 14th November 2024, the European Chamber hosted its 11th Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Awards in Nanjing. More than 120 participants attended to celebrate over a decade of CSR promotion and advocacy by the European Chamber. In this article Chia-Lin Coispeau, partner at Maverlinn Impact Innovation, explores CSR and sustainability in challenging and uncertain times.
2025: a pivotal year for CSR
The start of 2025 has already seen a number of key events that will impact the course of CSR work.
On the international stage, 2025 marks the halfway point of the 2030 target for achieving the 17 United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Signed by all 191 UN member states, they provide a common vision and a guiding framework to uncover possible pathways to sustainability for governments, companies, organisations and individuals. It is worth exploring the state of progress on some of the UN SDGs that businesses have been involved in tackling through CSR initiatives:No Poverty (Goal 1), Quality Education (Goal 4), Responsible Consumption and Production (Goal 12), Climate Action (Goal 13), and Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (Goal 16).
On Climate Action for example, 2025 marks the pivotal 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, which was signed by 189 countries. However, in its sixth assessment report released in 2023, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) outlined how industry emissions have already led to a 1.1°C increase in current temperatures compared to pre-industrial levels.[1] The report also mentions that the 1.5°C target limit above pre-industrial levels is still achievable and that the largest gains in well-being could be obtained by focussing actions on lower-income and marginalised communities. At COP29, which was held in Baku in November 2024, the new goal of tripling annual climate finance[2] for developing countries to United States dollar (USD) 300 billion was announced.[3] This builds on the significant achievements made on global climate action at COP27 (Sharm El-Sheikh, 2022), which agreed an historic Loss and Damage Fund, and COP28 (Dubai, 2023), which delivered a global agreement to transition away from all fossil fuels in energy systems. However, the United States, one of the world’s leading greenhouse gas emitters, recently announced its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the end of the Green New Deal.
2025: The final year of China’s 14th Five-year Plan (14FYP)
In China, 2025 also marks the final year of the 14FYP, which has covered the challenging 2021–2025 period. Alongside the climate crisis, the period has featured considerable geopolitical turbulence, such as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, along with the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2020, as the pandemic caused supply chain disruptions and a global economic slowdown, China orchestrated two macroeconomic shifts. First, credit conditions were tightened for the real estate sector, which has represented up to 25 per cent of China’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the last two decades, triggering a real estate crisis. Second, the transition to net zero became a new driver of China’s economic growth. In September 2020, President Xi Jinping announced the dual 30/60 goals: peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. Thus, in March 2021, China adopted the 14FYP focussed on increasing ‘high-quality’ economic development and consumption. It also featured a particular emphasis on building an ‘ecological civilisation’. As an illustration, SKEMA Business School in China highlighted sustainability-related consumption markets such as health and outdoor lifestyle products, which reached a market size of Chinese yuan (CNY) 200 billion in 2023. It also underlined that consumption in China represents just 40 per cent of GDP versus an average 70 per cent in developed countries.
Halfway through the 14FYP, Xie Zhenhua, then China’s climate representative, made the point that China could not do without fossil fuels while the technologies, particularly for storing renewable energy, are not mature. Besides, at COP28 China did not sign the global commitment on the tripling of installed renewable energy capacities, the doubling of energy efficiency by 2030 and the commitment to stop building new coal-fired power stations. This demonstrates China’s pragmatic approach to its energy mix, with coal still playing a role alongside renewables. More recently, on 1st January 2025, the Energy Law also came into effect.[4] It describes green and low-carbon energy development as being crucial, due to the country’s relative lack of natural resources. It aims to promote renewable energy development, meet energy demand, and develop a safe and efficient energy system. It is also worth noting a document issued on 31st July 2024 by the State Council, which lists significant targets to be hit by 2030 in key areas of green transformation.[5]
EU-China cooperation possibilities
There are areas where the European Union (EU) and China could explore cooperation. Take the development of carbon markets as an example: the EU first launched a carbon market in 2005 and China has been conducting carbon emission trading pilots since 2011.[6] In this regard, the EU and China have much experience to share. In the carbon market, enterprises buy quotas to obtain carbon emission rights for trading, and industries covered by this mechanism have seen faster emission reductions. According to the Climate Action and Environmental Affairs representative of the EU Delegation to China, legislation is crucial for responding to climate change as companies need legal certainty to make investments. [7]
In 2023, the first EU-China High-Level Policy Dialogue on Circular Economy was also held in Beijing, marking a significant milestone in reaffirming the commitment to close cooperation on environmental matters between the two sides.[8] The dialogue resulted in the extension of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Circular Economy for another five years. In 2024, the EU and China also agreed on a joint action roadmap for cooperation on the circular economy.
The actions agreed focus on plastics, including the ongoing negotiations for a global plastics treaty, as well as battery value chains and remanufacturing.
From crises to new opportunities?
The climate crisis calls for bold innovation and strong investments. It also offers many opportunities. Other crises, such as the recent pandemic, increased global poverty for the first time since 1998. Global supply-chain disruptions and containment measures caused massive job losses, notably amongst women and lower-educated workers. Education inequalities were worsened by school closures and the digital divide became wider. However, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the pandemic also encouraged more open cooperation and exchange between global biomedical scientists.[9]
Some companies have already undertaken bold CSR initiatives in the areas outlined in the SDGs, including the winners of the 11th European Chamber CSR awards. These companies succeed in managing both complexity and uncertainty, and are skilled at using their creativity to design or support innovative strategies that will ensure sustainable economic growth, societal progress and the creation of impactful innovation ecosystems. In this regard, European companies operating in China must continue to play a leading role.
Acknowledgements
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the European Chamber, the judges, the winners, all applicants, and the speakers at the 11th CSR Awards for providing such an enriching platform.
NOTE: This text is partly inspired by elements of speeches delivered during the European Chamber 11th CSR Awards, in particular by Professor Wenyu Dou, keynote speaker and academic dean of SKEMA Business School, and by Jason Hua, vice president of DB Schenker Global IT, and general manager of DB Schenker Global Technology Solution Center Nanjing.
Chia-Lin Coispeau is partner at Maverlinn Impact Innovation, an advisory firm aimed at creating impact and reducing social and environmental issues in China and Europe. The company crafts innovative strategies to deliver superior value to industry leaders. Maverlinn is committed to promoting a model of humane development through constant attention given to personal empowerment and the common good.
[1] AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2023, accessed 17th February 2025, <https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/>
[2] Funding to tackle the impacts of climate change and help countries transition to low-carbon economies.
[3] COP29 UN Climate Conference Agrees to Triple Finance to Developing Countries, Protecting Lives and Livelihoods, United Nations, 24th November 2024, viewed 21st February 2025, <https://unfccc.int/news/cop29-un-climate-conference-agrees-to-triple-finance-to-developing-countries-protecting-lives-and>
[4] The significance of the promulgation and implementation of the Energy Law State Grid: Ensure national energy security and promote high-quality energy, National Energy Administration, 13th December 2024, viewed 21st February 2025, <www.nea.gov.cn/2024-12/13/c_1310787559.htm>
[5]Opinions on the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, State Council, 31st July 2024, viewed 21st February 2025, <https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/2024/issue_11546/202408/content_6970974.html>
[6] About the EU ETS, European Commission, viewed 24th February 2025, <https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/eu-emissions-trading-system-eu-ets/about-eu-ets_en>
[7] EU official: Climate governance requires leadership from Europe and China, China News, 19th December 2024, viewed 21st February 2025, <https://www.chinanews.com.cn/gj/2024/12-19/10338953.shtml>
[8] EU and China agree to further cooperation on circular economy, European Commission, 25th April 2024, viewed 21st February 2025, <https://environment.ec.europa.eu/news/eu-and-china-agree-greater-circular-economy-cooperation-2024-04-25_en>
[9] OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2023: Enabling Transitions in Times of Disruption, OECD, 16th March 2023, viewed 21st February 2025, <https://www.oecd.org/sti/science-technology-innovation-outlook/crisis-and-opportunity/thepandemichastriggeredanunprecedentedmobilisationofthescientificcommunity.htm>
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