BEIJING, April 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The British Standards Institution (BSI) is a business improvement company that empowers organizations to turn best practice standards into habits of excellence, with a corporate purpose to "inspire trust and build a more resilient world." For a century, BSI has been committed to excellence and promoting the adoption of best practices by organisations around the world. Susan Taylor Martin, BSI's Global Chief Executive Officer, recently visited China and was interviewed by Chinese journalists on topics such as sustainability, water stewardship and net zero emissions.
BSI全球首席执行官Susan Taylor Martin
ask : 3 moon 22 World Water Day advocates for the sustainable management of water resources. What do you think is the impact of water scarcity on sustainable development on a global scale? BSI What is the role in this? Susan ：Water resources are essential for human health, production and life, and can promote the prosperity of society. However, population growth, economic development and climate change have a significant impact on limited water resources.
Achieving water security can contribute to global stability and prosperity and help address global challenges such as climate change. Efficient use of water also has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, helping us to achieve our net-zero goals.
However, achieving a water-secure future is far from easy. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), half of the world's population currently faces severe water scarcity at least one part of the year.
Research by Waterwise and BSI shows that as water scarcity impacts the day-to-day activities of individual consumers, organisations and society as a whole, investors and business leaders should pay attention to water stewardship.
By engaging in water stewardship and building a recycling-first culture of water conservation, organizations and businesses have the opportunity to reduce their impact on water, embrace and drive innovation, and inspire others to join in accelerating the realization of a water-secure future and a sustainable world.
BSI works with organisations and businesses to not only support water stewardship, but also to address key issues in society by promoting the implementation of sustainable practices and standards. This includes placing environmental management at the heart of an organization's operations to help companies meet environmental regulations, improve the efficiency and level of environmental protection, and comply with ISO 14001, an internationally recognized standard for environmental management systems.
Ask: Chinese enterprises How can businesses and organizations advance water management? Susan ：In order to achieve a water-secure future, promote social development and environmental protection, organizations around the world, including China, can take the following steps:
1. Measure and reduce your water footprint
Understand your company's water footprint across your supply chain, identify areas that consume water and prioritize ways to save water, as defined by the Water Footprint Network.
2. Collaborate with supply chains and stakeholders
By partnering with suppliers and the wider range of stakeholders, organizations can share responsibility with water users to conserve water and better implement water conservation strategies to address water challenges.
3. Be brave in innovation
Embracing innovation and adopting new technologies can help organizations and businesses reduce their negative impact on water resources, and can also help organizations identify areas for optimization within their systems, such as water harvesting and reuse.
4. Information Disclosure
By publishing water-related information in sustainability reports, organizations and businesses can take responsibility for their water footprint and provide stakeholders with insights into water management practices, goals, and achievements.
Many companies are already leading the way in positive change and innovation when it comes to water management and environmental sustainability. Yili Group, one of China's leading dairy companies, is one of them. In 2022, Yili obtained the ISO 14046 Water Footprint Verification Opinion Statement, and has made great efforts to conserve water resources, improve water resource utilization and reduce water footprint through the implementation of water footprint life cycle management.
Every year, Yili Group will issue water conservation targets and indicators to measure and reduce water consumption, and water conservation projects cover multiple factories, and manage factory wastewater discharge according to standards.
In addition, Yili has also intensified water-saving transformation, strictly managed all aspects of production water from the source, vigorously increased the use of alternative water, and promoted the use of water in series in factories, water by quality, multi-use and recycling of one water.
Q: Regarding sustainable development, BSI What is the vision and what is the strategic plan for the future? 2024 What's the focus of the year? Susan ：We want to accelerate the construction of a fair society and a sustainable world. This means not only addressing practical issues such as environmental climate, quality of life, digital trust, etc., but also driving profound changes in these areas. In the process of promoting sustainable development, we cannot afford to wait.
Achieving net-zero emissions, creating an ethical workplace and supply chain, and ensuring the safety of our products and services are our top priorities. However, we can't achieve these goals alone, and we can only work together to achieve them by organizing all parties to brainstorm and collaborate on innovation.
Innovation can bring about positive social change. This is exactly what AI is, and when we are at the beginning of the world's AI development journey, we have already seen the potential of AI to be a positive force for the protection of people and the planet.
If we can work together as a whole to harness AI for the benefit of humanity, such as by using AI tools to increase crop yields and reduce the negative environmental impacts of agriculture, then we can collectively contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Therefore, leveraging digital technologies and building digital trust in people, systems, and processes is also essential for a sustainable future.
A recent global 'AI trust' survey by BSI revealed opportunities to use AI to advance society. According to the survey, by 2025, 40% of respondents in China (compared to the global average of 29%) believe that the priority of AI is to help us reduce our impact on the environment, and 32% of respondents (global average of 22%) believe that the key role of AI is to help achieve social equity and equality.
We believe that a sustainable future is achievable, and we will focus on leveraging our unique expertise, experience and strength to accelerate its arrival for the benefit of all. Ultimately, our goal is to provide organizations with the confidence to thrive by working with them to address society-critical issues, from climate change to building trust in digital transformation.
Q: To achieve net zero, BSI What are the goals and strategies, and how to empower the Chinese industry to achieve them " Carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals " to promote sustainable development? Susan ：At BSI, we are committed to shaping a better society and a more sustainable world. Our business model dictates that we view all initiatives from the perspective of social progress.
We believe that practical solutions and deep collaboration can help us tackle challenges such as climate change.
We have now officially announced our goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2030 because we believe we need to act quickly to ensure we can all have a safe, sustainable future.
This means that in just a few years, we must reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions (emissions from energy and combustion gases and road miles of industry vehicles) by 90% and Scope 3 emissions (emissions from fuel and energy, business travel and upstream leased assets) by 42% from a 2022 baseline, as required by the Paris Agreement.
The cornerstone of our methodology is the adoption of standards and BSI's own solutions to achieve our goals. Therefore, the measurement and reporting of our greenhouse gas data is carried out in accordance with the Quantification and Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals at the Organizational Level (ISO 14064). However, we understand that eliminating greenhouse gas emissions is not an easy task, and businesses and organizations around the world need innovative ways to motivate and engage their employees to make sometimes tricky decisions to ensure we can all achieve our goals. One of the ways we're doing this is by assigning ownership of carbon targets to our business leaders and introducing carbon budgets for each department and function.
In order to empower industry and businesses on this issue and help society achieve net zero, we are also working on a number of different models. For example, BSI led the "Our World 2050" collaboration and launched the Net Zero Guidelines (ISO IWA42:2022) at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27). The guidance aims to accelerate action by governments and organisations, providing a practical end-to-end framework for organisations at different stages of their net-zero journey to help achieve the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The ISO Net Zero Guidance has been accessed more than 100,000 times since its publication and has helped organizations develop a comprehensive net zero strategy by providing trusted best practices. Among the first agencies to adopt the guidelines are the U.S. automaker General Motors and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Both institutions have used the guidance to accelerate their net-zero transition.
In addition to the Net Zero Guidelines and our most widely adopted Environmental Management System (ISO 14001), BSI continues to empower industry and businesses by setting new standards in areas such as energy management and sustainability. For example, we have an international standard, the Event Sustainability Management System (ISO 20121), which aims to address the issue of improving sustainability management throughout the event management cycle, which has been adopted by organisations such as Liverpool Football Club, the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), and more.
We have also launched the Sustainable Finance Framework: Principles and Guidelines (ISO 32210) to articulate sustainability principles for financial sector organizations. The recently launched carbon neutrality standard (ISO 14068) not only helps organizations and businesses deal with the quality issues associated with carbon neutrality claims, but also provides them with a standardized and verifiable framework to ensure that organizations are making a real positive impact. BSI's Net Zero Pathway provides a comprehensive solution to help embed robust management control systems to ensure organisations can achieve their net zero targets on time and on budget.
Going forward, BS will continue to make it its mission to accelerate progress towards a sustainable world. BSI, and the other stakeholders we work with, including governments, have recognised that consensus-based, international standards and validation are essential to achieving the transition to a net-zero economy.
Q: What have you learned from this visit to China, and what are your prospects for future cooperation with Chinese enterprises and organizations? Susan ：This trip to China gave me an insight into the potential of the Chinese market and how we can work with businesses and organizations to accelerate progress towards a fair and just society and a sustainable future. The companies I interviewed demonstrated their commitment to sustainable roads and digital security, and they were eager to build more trusting and reliable relationships with their global partners and customers. They are taking proactive steps to ensure compliance with international safety standards and regulations to better and sustainably address pressing global challenges.
Among them, I was very impressed by the experience of visiting a well-known electric vehicle manufacturer. Their willingness to obtain BSI's anti-bribery management system certification demonstrates their commitment to ESG leadership, industry best practice, and their commitment to compliance, transparency and accountability.
I am pleased to see BSI in China as a strong partner to work with Chinese companies and organisations to address sustainability and digitalisation challenges. We will continue to provide support and solutions that enable Chinese companies and organizations to continue to make a positive impact on a global scale."