Chinese company sets out course in race against climate change

A scale replica Formula E race car made of 100 kilograms of single-use plastic waste attracted the attention of participants at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP26, in Glasgow, the United Kingdom.

The event, held from Oct 31 to Nov 12, attracted senior officials from countries around the world to discuss ways to collaborate and tackle the pressing issue of climate change.

The race car, called Recover E, was the result of efforts initiated by Envision Racing, owned by Chinese greentech company Envision Group, in collaboration with Kids Against Plastic, a campaign group founded by teenage sisters Amy and Ella Meek.

Envision Racing, the only racing team partner at COP26 and the only Formula E World Championship race team certified as being carbon neutral, chose to display the replica to raise awareness among young people about problems of using single-use plastic.

Figures show the world produces more than 380 million metric tons of plastic annually, and up to 50 percent of that is for single use. Up to 10 million tons of plastic are dumped into the oceans each year, according to Plastic Oceans, a nonprofit organization.

Sylvain Filippi, managing director and chief technology officer of Envision Racing, said plastic has long been regarded as a major issue when it comes to the environmental efforts of economies across the globe.

"Calls to tackle the plastic problem have led to a raft of green initiatives … The time for action is now and the fantastic efforts of young people such as Kids Against Plastic show the next generation is driving the Race Against Climate Change."

Race Against Climate Change is a program started by Envision Racing in 2014. It aims to accelerate the transition to clean, secure and affordable renewable energy and speed up the mass adoption of e-mobility.

Envision Racing's efforts to fight against climate change do not stop at plastic. As one of the founding and most successful Formula E teams, it unveiled the team's new "green" look for the new season, which is scheduled to kick off on January 28, 2022.

Envision Group, a major owner of the racing team since 2018, announced it had become the total owner earlier this month.

"We are proud to be owned by one of the world's leading, most sustainably innovative companies and this will inspire the continued success of Envision Racing and energize our Race Against Climate Change," said Filippi.

Envision Group is a globally leading climate technology company. Earlier this year, it announced that it will achieve carbon neutrality in its operations by the end of 2022, and achieve carbon neutrality throughout its supply chain by the end of 2028.

It ranked second on Fortune's 2021 Change the World list, in recognition of its decarbonization innovations for solving the world's toughest sustainability challenges.

Fortune's Change the World list acknowledges companies that have made measurable progress addressing pressing social problems as part of their core business strategy.

Franz Jung, vice-president of Envision, said: "COP26 is one of the best platforms to showcase the future of green mobility technology. Chinese green technology companies like Envision Group are proving to the world at COP26 that technological innovation is driving the future global net-zero transition and can engage more people in this exciting process in even cooler ways.

"Partnering with Envision Racing helps to achieve this by showcasing the possibilities of electric vehicles, which supports Envision Group's commitment to achieving decarbonization," said Jung, who is also chairman of the board of Envision Racing.

Besides owning Envision Racing, which competes in a championship that attracted 316 million fans last season, Envision Group designs, sells and operates smart wind turbines and smart energy storage systems through Envision Energy; AIoT-powered batteries through Envision AESC; and the world's largest AIoT operating system through Envision Digital. It also manages the 10-billion-yuan ($1.56 billion) Envision-Sequoia Capital Carbon-Neutral Fund. The group has a network of R&D and engineering centers across China, the United States, Germany, Denmark, Singapore and Japan.

During this summer, Envision AESC achieved strategic cooperation with Renault and Nissan to make power batteries. Envision AESC also announced the building of new "gigafactories" in France and the UK, the combined annual capacity of which may finally reach 75 gigawatt-hours.

"Both plants will be powered by 100-percent renewable energy and support our global ambition to make high-performance, longer-range batteries for electric vehicles more affordable and accessible for hundreds of thousands more motorists annually," said the company.