A new U.S.-China initiative announced today aims to transform Guangdong Province, located on China’s southern coast, into a model for green, sustainable development that can set the bar for major Chinese cities. The province, also known by its English name, Canton, is home to 80 million people and boasts an array of multinational companies and one of the highest GDPs among China’s provinces.


Green acres: GE is already helping with China’s green goals, having installed some 400 wind turbines in Jiangsu, Shanghai, Hebei, Xin Jiang and Inner Mongolia — with about 200 more under contract. This photo was taken at the Shangyi Manjing Wind Farm in Hebei province, about 150 miles from Beijing.

The GE Foundation is a key backer of the newly-formed Guangdong Environmental Partnership (GEP), which was formally launched today by the U.S.-based Institute for Sustainable Communities. Clean energy is a major focus of the network of agencies, organizations, businesses and schools that are involved in the project. For example, three pilot communities in the province will develop comprehensive energy efficiency programs — and plan and implement up to 10 priority energy efficiency projects. Their experiences will form the basis of a proven model that communities across China can use to reduce energy use, cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve environmental health.

A key part of the initiative is the formation of the Environment, Health, and Safety Academy at Sun Yat-sen’s Lingnan (University) College. Chinese and Western experts, including trainers from GE, have helped shape the Academy’s curriculum, which is designed to share best practices. “We hope the Academy will become the leading institution in China to train a whole generation of EHS leaders, who can help local Chinese businesses become world class on EHS,” said Ann Condon, Director and Counsel, of GE’s EHS Programs in Europe, the Middle East and Africa

The GEP’s partners include multinational corporations such as GE, Citigroup, Honeywell, SABIC-IP and Adidas; private foundations such as the Rockefeller Brothers Fund; three Chinese pilot communities; and universities and educational institutions from the U.S., China and Japan. Government partners include national and provincial environmental protection agencies in China, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

“This partnership harnesses both Chinese and American innovation with a common goal: to establish Guangdong as a regional leader in clean energy and sustainable growth,” says Olivier Carduner, Director of USAID’s Regional Development Mission for Asia, one of the major sponsors of the GEP program.

* Read the announcement

In addition to the new partnership, BusinessWeek recently recognized the top environmental companies that are helping to transform China’s environmental legacy. GE was chosen as one of five multinationals as recipients of the first BusinessWeek Greener China Business Awards. GE was noted for its work on clean locomotives, high-energy efficiency thermal power equipment, low-cost wind power turbines — and because of the industry-leading environmental standards GE imposes on its Chinese factories and their parts suppliers.

* Read a translation of the Chinese edition of BusinessWeek’s story
* Learn more about the GE Foundation
* Learn more about GE’s environmental, health and safety work with its suppliers
* Read The New York Times article about how China has emerged in the past two years as the world’s leading builder of more efficient, less polluting coal power plants