The 2nd Sina Finance ESG Global Leaders Summit was held from June 28th to June 30th. Representatives of global ESG business leaders, enterprises, financial institutions and academics gathered together to discuss ESG development trends. Li Liangbin, Chairman of Ganfeng Lithium Industry, attended the meeting and delivered a speech on the theme of "ESG Helps Sustainable Development of Enterprises".
The speech introduced in detail Ganfeng's attempts and achievements in ESG in recent years: from 2015 to 2021, new energy vehicles equipped with Ganfeng lithium salt products will travel more than 80 billion kilometers globally, which is equivalent to helping society reduce 22 million tons Carbon dioxide emissions; in order to ensure the supply of raw materials, Ganfeng also insists on investing in the construction of upstream resources in the downward cycle; self-built photovoltaic power stations, and statistics of carbon emissions in the entire life cycle of products...
The following is the speech transcript of Chairman Li Liangbin:
Dear friends and guests, hello everyone!
It is a great pleasure to discuss corporate social responsibility with you at this Sina Finance ESG Global Leaders Summit.
I founded Ganfeng for 22 years. Along the way, when Ganfeng finally got rid of the state of being bankrupt at any time, I began to think, what is the mission of the enterprise?
Vigorously develop green industry
We are in the lithium industry. In the early years, lithium was only a low-volume auxiliary material in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, or used in the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries in electronic products. Until recent years, the public has become increasingly concerned about climate issues, the continuous maturity of lithium battery technology, and the rapid development of the new energy industry have brought a qualitative leap to the lithium industry.
At this time, we suddenly realized that we can do more things for society and the earth.
Lithium, used as an energy storage battery, can store the wind and sunlight that nature gives us, which is an inexhaustible energy source; used as a power battery, it can replace internal combustion engines and prevent automobiles exhaust emissions. We have calculated a data that from 2015 to 2021, new energy vehicles equipped with Ganfeng lithium salt products have traveled more than 80 billion kilometers around the world. These new energy vehicles are equivalent to helping society reduce 22 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
This number may seem large, but we must know that the annual global carbon dioxide emissions are tens of billions of tons. What we have achieved is still far from enough.
Therefore, starting from 2019, although the industry is in a downward cycle, we are still accelerating the layout of upstream lithium mines. We have invested in spodumene and lithium salt lakes in Australia, Argentina, Mali, Mexico, domestic Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, and Jiangxi. , lithium clay and other types of lithium resources, hoping to ensure the supply of lithium products in the industry as much as possible.
This year, we will usher in the first phase of production in the Cauchari Salt Lake in Argentina, and the Mariana Salt Lake in Argentina and the mine in Mali have also started smoothly. It is expected that the commissioning of these projects will bring stronger development momentum to the new energy industry.
Adhere to green and low-carbon operation
It is a very fortunate thing to be in the lithium industry, because the contributions of every practitioner are driving mankind towards a greener, cleaner and healthier world. But it needs to be emphasized that we cannot ignore the green behaviors that should be done in the production process because of the green benefits brought by the products.
Now more and more people in the industry are paying attention to this point, and more zero-carbon projects, zero-carbon factories, and zero-carbon industrial parks are emerging around the world. We also obtained the first carbon label in the domestic lithium industry in 2021. This label records the amount of carbon emissions generated by the mining, production and transportation of raw and auxiliary materials, product manufacturing, packaging, and waste disposal in the process. . Based on the detailed data behind the carbon label, we can focus on monitoring important links and reduce carbon in a targeted manner.
We are also trying more. Also last year, we installed solar panels on the roofs and open spaces of domestic production bases to increase the proportion of clean energy; self-built 150 MW photovoltaic power stations around overseas projects, so that the projects can operate entirely on sustainable electricity; Process upgrades and equipment renovations to reduce energy consumption and emissions...
Practice corporate social responsibility
These energy-saving and emission-reduction measures are applicable to many production enterprises and are conducive to the long-term development of enterprises. Because we have seen too many companies resisted by global buyers and users because of ESG issues. In the past, when we talked about the sustainability of an enterprise, we judged more from its financial operations, but now and in the future, ESG indicators will definitely be more important than statements to measure whether an enterprise is sustainable.
We are in an era of great change, which is not only reflected in important fields such as energy and science and technology, but also in the formation of the values of a "community with a shared future for mankind". What the world needs is an enterprise that can safeguard the interests of the general public and contribute to the sustainable development of mankind. While enjoying the opportunities brought by the tide, we should take on the social responsibilities entrusted to us by the times.
Whether a company is successful or not depends not only on how high revenue and profits it creates, but also how many beneficial things we do for the world. This is the ultimate mission of companies and entrepreneurs. I hope that in a few years, when everyone talks about our companies, they can sincerely say that they are making the world a better place.
Thank you all.
