ABB remains committed to CSR and contributes to sustainable development
Beijing, March 31, 2009 – ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, was recognized by the China Enterprise News as the “2008 Excellent Example of a Multinational Company’s Corporate Social Responsibility” for its anti-desertification program jointly launched with Inner-Mongolia Power Company’s (IMPC) Ordos Power Supply Bureau (OPSB). The award marked recognition of ABB’s commitment to sustainable development and corporate social responsibility.
The selection process for the award was jointly arranged and implemented by the China Enterprise News and a number of domestic research institutes. The process, including the applications, case collections and investigations, lasted nearly one year, after which 48 cases were selected by the panel group as candidate cases and then submitted for the public, media and experts to review. ln the end, the 21 most exemplary cases, including ABB’s anti-desertification program, made the final selection, demonstrating the remarkable achievements of multinational companies in the field of corporate social responsibility as well as their significant support of China’s social and economic development.
Isabelle Liu, the Vice President of ABB North Asia and China, said, “the award winning anti-desertification program represents only one part of our consistent efforts to promote environmental conservation and social welfare programs in China. As a concerned corporate citizen, ABB has always been dedicated to corporate social responsibility through the support of and participation in a variety of public programs. Awards like these serve as perfect inducements to recruit more companies to join similar endeavors that contribute to the sustainable development of our society.”
Ordos City of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is facing serious threats from desertification and its frequent sandstorms are jeopardizing the environment in and around Beijing. Such desertification also poses severe challenges for the power transmission lines of Inner-Mongolia Power Company’s (IMPC) Ordos Power Supply Bureau (OPSB), endangering grid stability and reducing its life cycle. The safety of the power line is critical for ensuring power supply to enterprises and residential areas, and failure, even temporary, can cause tremendous economic losses. In 2007, ABB launched the three-year anti-desertification program jointly with IMPC and OPSB in order to improve the operating environment of the local power line corridor in the Maowusu desert by building an ecological sand barrier or a “green fence” for Beijing. The project is expected to reforest over ten thousand mu of desert, ensuring a reliable power supply for enterprises and homes in the region.
The ecological sand barrier, consisting of newly planted trees and grass, will anchor the dunes and eliminate the threat to nearby high-voltage power lines. The first phase of the project has already been completed, increasing the summer vegetation coverage rate to over 65% for the area covering the 110kv high-voltage transmission lines in a local county.
Committed to serving as a first-rate corporate citizen, ABB has initiated and participated in a series of long-term public welfare programs. These efforts include support for education, environmental protection, and social welfare, benefiting broad sections of society, including the elderly, the handicapped, the impoverished, students and urban residents.
In the area of education, ABB has helped numerous financially disadvantaged students through its ABB-New Great Wall Fund for College Students. So far, nearly 1,000 individuals in about 40 colleges and universities across the country have benefited from this program. ABB also supports vocational education for young technicians in order to address the lack of technical manpower in China. ABB supports environmental protection by providing energy efficient products and technologies to a wide range of industries and integrating its conservation strategies into every aspect of its own business activity in order to minimize its environmental impact. From 2002 to 2007, ABB’s power consumption for every one million RMB of revenue dropped by 48%, and water consumption per capita fell 36% at its China facilities. After last year’s snowstorms in southern China and the earthquake in Sichuan Province, ABB delivered timely support to the relief efforts. To date, ABB has donated a total of 11.45 million RMB to aid in emergency relief and reconstruction in the earthquake area. In addition, ABB engineers and technicians were dispatched to provide timely and effective on-site technical support to local power companies in support of their efforts to quickly restore power infrastructure.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 120,000 people. ABB has a full range of business activities in China, including R&D, manufacturing, sales and services, with 15,000 employees, 27 joint ventures and wholly owned companies, and an extensive sales and service network across 60 cities. To find out more about ABB in China, visit www.abb.com.cn.