Ten years have passed since the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) awarded its first certificates at the BAU, the world's leading trade fair for architecture, materials and systems in Munich.
The German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB for “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen”) has developed a certification system for urban districts and published a first market version in 2012.
Cities are very sensitive to shifts in the climate, while their transformation cycles are usually very slow. In order to design new cities fit for the future or to adapt existing cities to the expected consequences of climate change, planners and decision makers need to consider effective measures already today.
Although several German companies are already involved in carbon markets and decarbonization in China, the vibrant market offers promising further business opportunities and potential for cooperation with Chinese enterprises and institutions.
To accelerate the global clean energy transition and achieve climate neutrality by mid-century, the world must drastically curb fossil fuel consumption. Although hydrogen has been indispensable in the energy and chemical industries for decades, the environmental footprint of the existing hydrogen value chain is unsustainable.
Mineral raw materials form the basis of industrial value creation and are indispensable key ingredients for green and digital future technologies. China is considered one of the most resource-rich countries in the world, but at the same time – like Germany – is highly dependent on the import of mineral raw materials from abroad. Circular economy and the recovery of critical mineral raw materials are therefore an essential building block for achieving a sustainable supply of raw materials.
Carbon market players are watching closely to see how China’s version of carbon credits, the China Certified Emission Reductions (CCER) scheme, will be rebooted.
China is urbanizing at a rapid pace. In 2000, only one in three Chinese lived in urban areas. By 2015, this number had grown to more than 56 percent and is estimated to reach 60 percent and 70 percent by 2020 and 2030, respectively. This trend has been accompanied by vast urban construction, as the building sector is trying to keep up with the 300 million new urban residents expected to arrive in the next 15 years.
One important requirement for the development of a CO2 neutral energy system that forms a base for achieving the climate protection goals is the integration of the electricity, heat and mobility sectors on an urban level.
China’s economic growth, industrial development as well as its rapid urbanization process during the past years has led to a surge in energy demand.
Germany’s building sector produces a third of the country’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contributes 40 percent to the total national energy consumption.
According to current forecasts, the average global temperature will increase more than three degrees Celsius by the end of this century. This is one degree more than the target set in the Paris Agreement. The most recent reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are demanding urgent actions because of this. Bosch wanted to do their part to decrease CO2 emissions and became CO2 Neutral in 2020. More than 400 locations worldwide achieved this short-term goal by increasing energy efficiency, expanding renewable energy, procuring green electricity, and offsetting unavoidable CO2 emissions, which makes Bosch the first large industrial company to become climate neu- tral. Bosch China with its over 40 locations plays a critical role in this project. Regarding the company’s long-term goal, they have vowed to reduce their indirect CO2 emissions across the entire value chain by 15 percent by 2030. Meanwhile Bosch is committed to seizing any chances of improving energy efficiency and expanding in-house renewable energy generation. The company is working towards its long-term goal and has addi- tionally pooled the experience from more than 1,000 energy-efficient projects in a new advisory subsidiary called Bosch Climate Solutions. Bosch’s climate actions have been recognized by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and rated as A by CDP.
Plastic is a versatile material that helps us keep our food fresh, our houses warm and makes driving safe, thus, contributing to a sustainable future. However, it needs to be used and managed in an environmentally responsible way. BASF is developing innovative solutions that address the global challenge of proper dis- posal and recycling of plastics. In 2019, BASF launched an optimization project in Shanghai to minimize product packaging waste at all eight production plants at its Pudong site. Key changes include replacing wood pallets with durable polyurethane (PU) pallets, using ISO tanks for bulk products, and developing recyclable foldable intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) to replace plastic ones. Packaging accounts for 2% of all production costs. This project has helped reduce large amount of packaging materials and generated significant economic savings, enabling BASF to provide value-added service to customers. In the long run, BASF plans to build an eco-system of recycling packaging materials together with customers, suppliers, and partners. BASF believes that each small change makes a big difference on the road to carbon neutrality.
In a globalized society, the flow of information and education is needed to enhance society, industry, and value. With this in mind, Volkswagen Automatic Transmission Tianjin (VWATJ) created their “Dual Vocational Educa- tion Program”. This program, established in 2016, is an educational mode of school-enterprise cooperation based on German concepts, which aims to train highly skilled young talents in the automotive industry. In 2020, VWATJ expanded the scope of their cooperation and involved the Tianjin Technician Institute of Mechanical & Electrical Technology. Through this project, the company systematically improved their employees’ skills and competencies. In addition, the young talents recruited into this program improved their experience through several years of hands-on learning. The next step for VWATJ is to expand their cooperation scope and mode to train talents in different specialized areas. They aim to fully integrate the school’s resources, optimize the education and teaching process, improve talent training, and introduce a market-oriented mode of training to promote a system of reform in colleges.
Due to an unbalanced economic development between urban and rural areas, many workers from rural areas in China have to leave their children and other family members behind to migrate to big cities. Because of this and many other issues, the education of these “left-behind children” has always been a big concern for society. With this in mind, Vitesco Automotive Changchun plant teamed up with their local government, creating a long-term education strategy for the children. In six years and six visits, the company has been sup- porting rural schools: bringing them learning goods, new clothes, books, and laptops. The aim was to not only improve the students access to education but their daily lives. From 2015 to 2020, the company has been closely work- ing with the Changchun government, Jingkai Education Bureau, Jingkai Project and Service Bureau, and the Huayi Association to visit four rural schools and the students’ families. The Huayi Association supported Vitesco by connecting them with the rural schools and discussing how they can be of assistance. The company will continue to develop their strategy in education, planning how they can further assist families in their community.
Children’s education is important to the country’s future. Allowing equal learning opportunities, especially for youths in rural areas, has always been a social concern. Because of this, TÜV SÜD has been giving back to society through their Charity Christmas Market. Since 2019, the company has been calling on all employees to sell their unused items for charity. In the past, the proceeds have been donated to the Shanghai Children’s Fund, an organization that helps the children of low-income families who excel academically complete their education. In 2020, the Charity Christmas Market raised money and employees donated clothes and books for children. The donation was pledged to the “Spring Bud Project”, a national charity hosted by Ms. Peng Liyuan, ambassador of the project and spouse of President Xi Jinping. The donation will be used to support children’s education in four selected counties in Yunnan province. TÜV SÜD will continue the Charity Christmas Market, in accordance with German traditions, and also call for more people to be aware of children’s educational needs.
China is the most populous country in the world. With the sheer size of the labor market, it is a challenge for young professionals and recent graduates to find a company where they fit. On the other side, it is equally difficult for companies to find the talent hidden in the ever-growing stack of CVs submitted for an open position. To overcome this issue, TRUMPF China partnered with Suzhou Chien-Shiung Institute of Technology to help students and young professionals bridge the employment gap within their project “Blooming Youth.” Since July 2020, the company has embarked on an education initiative to provide a series of teaching sessions to students. TRUMPF invites corporate managers and experts of various topics to share their experience and give students a glance at the future of their careers. So far, over 500 attendees for over ten sharing sessions have shown how effective it is to share knowledge and experience. TRUMPF China and Chien-Shiung decided to establish a long- term partnership agreement to continue to cultivate young professionals. The next round of the project has been planned to begin in July 2021 and TRUMPF China will continue to contribute to the local talents’ development.
One social issue society in China has been facing is providing a good education to the children of migrant workers. Migrant workers leave their rural homes to go to bigger cities to earn a living. Most of the times, they find low-income opportunities which make it hard to afford expensive tuition for their children. To com- bat this ongoing issue, tesa Plant Suzhou offered scholarships to students in need through their “Sunshine Education Assistance” project. Since 2008, the company has been partnering with a school in Suzhou whose student body is mainly the children of migrant workers and have provided long-term assistance to the children. For 2020, tesa’s target was to empower more than 1,000 young people through customized STEM (Science. Technology. Engineering. Mathematics) classes which were offered to local school students. The company plans to promote this project to raise more attention in their community and get more financial and hands-on support.
In April 2000, the German Pfrang Association was killed by financially underprivi- leged migrant workers who burgled their house in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. To keep their memory alive, their friends started a charitable organization which bears the family name: the Pfrang Association. The association is a project that is made possi- ble through the cooperation of the Amity Foundation, Nanjing International School and the German Chamber of Commerce in China | Shanghai.,It is administered and housed through Sharehouse in Nanjing. Its purpose is to support school children from underprivileged families in rural Anhui and Jiangsu Provinces. The focus is mainly on orphans, children of single parents and members of ethnic minorities who drop out of school for financial reasons. The main goal is to assist junior middle school students, guaranteeing them full nine years of education. Those who do well can receive funding for three more years, making them eligible for university. Through the years, the Pfrang Association has supported over 1,500 students. Currently, in the 2020-2021 school year, the Pfrang Association is supporting a total of 325 students in 16 different schools in Jiangsu and Anhui Provinces. Although COVID-19 has made planning difficult, Sharehouse has vowed to make sure they can keep up their efforts through new fundraising methods. By providing continuous support, the Pfrang Association hopes to help break the cycle of poverty caused by lack of education, which often leads to criminal activity, and to give underprivileged children brighter prospects for the future.
Against the backdrop of a global digital economy, digital skills educa- tion should be offered to teenagers and children, especially in under- developed areas. This is to help them master digital skills quickly to better integrate the kids into the digital economy and improve their quality of life. To achieve this, the “SAPi Digital Skill Program” aimed to use SAP’s technological advantages to broaden the children’s horizons. After the success of the “SAPi 1.0 Robot Coding Experience Day”, the company started working with Save the Children, a leading humanitarian organization for children, in 2020 to reach more teenag- ers and children. SAP focused on the “SAPi Digital Skill” curriculum de- velopment while Save the Children oversaw migrant school resources. The program delivered an experience course on how to use coding to control robots. This opened their minds to coding and robotics as well as a window to see the future digital world. In the future, the company will further develop the “SAPi Digital Skills Program” and expansion projects, to promote education equality.
