ISC China | New Environment, Health and Safety Academy Opens in Jiangsu

New Environment, Health and Safety Academy Opens in Jiangsu

[May 13th, 2011 Suzhou]

The Yangtze River Delta region has helped spur China's development, and it is a powerful engine of growth for many companies and their supply chains. But the region now faces many challenges due environmental degradation, climate disruption and poor occupational health & safety.

However, a partnership between a US-based non-governmental organization called the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Nanjing University's School of the Environment, with support from international companies and foundations is working hard to address these problems.

Another important step in this effort was taken today, with the launching of a new Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Academy here in Suzhou at a conference entitled "Building Sustainability with Industrial Companies and Suppliers."

The "EHS Academy Jiangsu" will train factory managers to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, implement energy efficiency programs, as well as teaching fundamental to advanced-level EHS courses, so as to encourage a more sustainable pathway of development.

The launch of the EHS Academy Jiangsu is part of the "US-China Partnership for Climate Action" (PCA) which was established in October 2009 to achieve significant, meaningful and lasting reduction in GHG emissions and to develop a platform for scaling-up, replicating and sustained energy savings. The PCA is an alliance between U.S. and Chinese governmental agencies, international NGOs, and private sector companies and their foundations, and it receives funding from USAID, General Electric Foundation, Alcoa Foundation, Pfizer, Honeywell, Wal-Mart, Adidas, and SABIC-IP.

The conference and the EHS Academy Jiangsu launch brought together industrial business leaders, government officials, international experts and local practitioners to discuss policies, challenges, and best practices to develop sustainability for industrial companies and suppliers.

According to U.S. Consul General Beatrice Camp "Suzhou is an excellent choice for this new Environment, Health and Safety Academy. With Jiangsu Province as a center of dynamic economic growth, this EHS Academy can be an important catalyst for environmental protection in the region."

During the one-day conference, policy makers presented China's new 12th Five Year Plan targets to reduce carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency. Then representatives from companies and their suppliers discussed how to reduce emissions, improve health & safety and achieve sustainable development.

"Pfizer is very pleased to support the development of the EHS Academy with ISC and Nanjing University in Jiangsu Province,"says Dr. Jifu Gao, Pfizer Manufacturing Lead for China. "The Academy provides a sustainable opportunity for high-quality, cost-effective training in environment, health and safety in China. It also complements the work of Pfizer's EHS team responsible for improving the performance of our key suppliers in China and elsewhere across the globe."

EHS has become an important indicator for measuring an industrial company's sustainability, and many multi-national corporations now evaluate and report their suppliers' EHS performance. The establishment of the EHS Academy is aimed at providing companies and their suppliers with the technical knowledge and management methods to tackle the EHS challenges. The Academy in Jiangsu will give its students the opportunity to learn the best EHS management techniques, as practiced by the world's leading EHS companies.

The USAID-ISC EHS Academy program began in October 2008 in Guangdong province in partnership with Lingnan College of Sun Yat-San University. Since then the EHS Academy in Guangdong has trained over 3,500 individuals. Based on its successful experience in Guangdong, ISC and its partners decided to establish the second EHS Academy in the Suzhou Industrial Park of Jiangsu province, which is easily accessible to many major cities in the Yangtze River Delta region.

"We have found that continuing to build the leadership of Guangdong managers and sharing the tools to improve their EHS processes boosts their companies" compliance and their ability to compete," said Jeff Sommer, Asia Global Supply Chain General Manager of GE Healthcare. "These are the businesses that will continue to drive China's growth as it moves to a cleaner and greener economy."