Walking the walk – BritCham China’s journey to Net-Zero

23rd May 2022
Chamber News

On Wednesday 18 May, the British Chamber successfully hosted the annual Sustainability and ESG Summit and launched our journey towards Net-Zero. This Green Chamber Plan sets out our vision and mission to decarbonise our work in Beijing, Chengdu and Guangzhou. We have a clear plan and measurable goals towards becoming a carbon neutral chamber.

“Over 65% of businesses want to commit to decarbonisation but don’t know where to start. Having a clear net-zero strategy and understanding on how to convert ‘talk’ into ‘walk’ is critical for any business. Today the British Chamber moves past the ‘talk’, kick-starts real action by embarking on our journey to become the first carbon neutral Chamber of Commerce in China.” said Steven Lynch – Managing Director of British Chamber of Commerce in China

What is the roadmap towards decarbonisation?

Understanding our carbon footprintIn 2021, BritCham China’s carbon emission was 2.722 tonne, attributable to Scope 1 and 2. Going forward, we aim to calculate selected carbon footprint from business travel, employee commuting and Chamber events (Scope 3) and take actions to reduce emissions.

Our Green Chamber Plan

Measuring and offsetting the emissions is just the start. It is key to take proactive actions to reduce carbon footprint across the value chain (scope 3) and enable positive changes with our members and business communities.

Our commitment to a low-carbon 2022 British Business Awards

As we are walking the walk, it is important to set ourselves a measure-able goal. The 2022 British Business Awards will be British Chamber’s largest event this year, to be held in September. We aim to set it as a low carbon event – from catering, venue selection, to materials produced for the event – we hope to encourage a low-carbon behaviour for all attendees to the 2022 BBAs.

Daisy Shen, Head of Climate Change and Sustainability at KPMG China, highlights that “The British Chamber leads by example, not only by devoting to make its own changes but also by building an ecosystem that helps companies, big and small, to learn about decarbonisation and ESG, and together move towards a better climate.”