ABB honours its commitment to corporate social responsibility
The company joins hands with customers and employees to actively engage in environmental protection
Ordos, Inner Mongolia, August 6, 2009 – ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, today jointly announced the start of Phase III of the anti-desertification program with the Inner Mongolia Power (Group) Co, Ltd (IMPC) and the Ordos Power Supply Bureau (OPSB). Beginning in 2007, the first two phases of the project have achieved remarkable results, effectively curbing drift sand along the 110kv high-voltage transmission lines outside Ordos City. The summer vegetation coverage rate for the area has been improved to over 50%.
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Senior Vice President of ABB China Bernd Muehe said, “despite the global financial crisis, ABB has honored its commitment to sustainably undertake corporate social responsibility. We believe ecological degradation poses a more serious challenge than the economic crisis. After the conclusion of the anti-desertification project, it will effectively improve the operating environment of the local power line corridor in Inner Mongolia, ensure the power supply and improve the climate and environment all the way to Beijing. Perhaps even more importantly, the project adopts an innovative CSR model by involving both our customers and our employees. We hope this new model will encourage every portion of society to join the fight against social and environmental issues like anti-desertification.”
Zhang Jingsheng, Deputy General Manager of the Inner Mongolia Power (Group) Co., Ltd. said, ”Inner Mongolia is a primary energy source for China, meeting one sixth of the power demand from Beijing. The Maowusu desert not only endangers the livelihood of local residents and the ecological environment of Beijing, it also poses a challenge for high-voltage power lines and power supply reliability. As a large scale enterprise in Inner Mongolia, we are committed to undertaking social responsibility. After the effort of the past two years, the joint anti-desertification project has achieved some initial success. We call for enterprises to pay more attention to the challenges of desertification and to join our efforts at reforestation.”
Hou Mingsheng, Director of the Ordos Power Supply Bureau, said, “after the successful implementation of Phase II, we have begun Phase III of the project as scheduled. There is no doubt that the project will further bolster Ordos’s efforts on anti-desertification. We are confident that the smooth execution of the project will foster understanding, enhance friendly relations and deepen cooperation among the three parties, as well as promote a promising future for our business.”
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In 2007, prior to the initiation of the 1st phase, ABB launched an internal program themed “Participate in anti-desertification, protect our homeland” among its five companies in Beijing. Thousands of ABB employees made donations, contributing a total of RMB 300,000 along with local companies within one month. Before the start of the 3rd phase this year, ABB employees again demonstrated their support for this project with further donations. ABB’s CSR efforts, partnering with its customers and encouraging the participation of its employees, has won wide acknowledgement. This March, China Enterprise News touted the project as a “2008 Excellent Example of a Multinational Company’s Corporate Social Responsibility”.
Inner Mongolia is facing serious threats from desertification. In 2007, ABB launched the three-year anti-desertification program jointly with IMPC and OPSB. The project is expected to reforest thousands of mu of desert over the three phases by building a sand barrier along the local power corridor. 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, ensuring the reliability of the power supply of the Inner Mongolia power grid. With Beijing’s proximity to Inner Mongolia, the city has been under threat of sand storms for a long time. The sand barrier will curb the pace of desertification in Inner Mongolia while at the same time improving the ecological environment of Beijing.
Despite the global financial crisis, ABB continues to support a wide range of CSR programs, including environmental protection, education and social welfare, in 2009. On May 12, the one year anniversary of the Wenchuan Earthquake, ABB once again made donations to support about 20 students from the earthquake-stricken area. ABB also financed the construction of two schools in the area, with one school to be opened by the end of 2009. During “ABB Automation World” on May 13 and 14, ABB donated to the ABB-New Great Wall Fund for College Students Program for the fifth consecutive year and to nursing homes for the elderly in Shanghai for the third consecutive year. In vocational education, ABB partnered with Chongqing Mechanism Technician College for the third consecutive year to launch a new “Technician Class for Applicable Technology of Power Engineering” program to cultivate workers with advanced technical skills. In the same period, the company provided further financial support and scholarships worth a total of RMB 410,000 to the Xiamen University of Technology and Xiamen Technical School.
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.