BMW flexes its green credentials

German automaker BMW is aiming to further amplify its efforts in protecting biodiversity and promoting sustainability, launching a new environmental protection project－BMW Beautiful Homeland Initiative－earlier this week.

Joining hands with China Green Foundation and China Education Development Foundation-BMW Heart Fund, BMW China Automotive Trading together with BMW Brilliance Automotive held a launch event online on Tuesday.

As the latest program of BMW's sustainability strategy and corporate social responsibility strategy in China, the BMW Beautiful Homeland Initiative will be devoted to biodiversity conservation and public education in and around the natural protected area systems in national parks and contribute to the building of an ecological civilization in the country.

The BMW Beautiful Homeland Initiative, taking biodiversity as the foundation, means and objective of sustainability, will establish a biodiversity conservation public education base in Liaoning Liaohekou National Nature Reserve.

In addition, BMW will donate monitoring, inspection and bird rescue equipment to the reserve, helping protect and restore the habitats of important species there and contribute to local biodiversity conservation.

Liaohekou National Nature Reserve, located at the mouth of Liaohe River and the tip of Liaodong Bay, has an area of reed wetlands, providing a suitable habitat for a variety of rare and endangered wild animals.

The reserve is an important stopping place for red-crowned cranes on their migration, and the world's largest breeding ground for black-billed gulls.

At present, the global rate of species extinction is accelerating, and biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation pose a major risk to human survival and development, according to China's first white paper on biodiversity conservation, which was released in October.

As China upholds the development philosophy emphasizing "clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", the launch of the BMW Beautiful Homeland Initiative demonstrates that BMW is expanding its focus on CSR in the country with innovative thinking and making contributions to China's ecological construction, according to the automaker.

"As China enters the post-pandemic era, we recognize that CSR is more important than ever. We need to rethink how to maintain a harmonious coexistence among humans, the planet and society," said Jochen Goller, president and CEO of BMW Group Region China, at the launch event on Tuesday.

"BMW has been adhering to 'no premium without sustainability' and 'no premium without responsibility'. And sustainability has been at the core of our BMW Group strategy for a long time.

"At the recent IAA Mobility show held in Munich, Germany, our Chairman Oliver Zipse announced that BMW is the first German automaker to join the 'Business Ambition for 1.5 C' campaign targeting net-zero carbon emissions from 2050 onward. BMW has always taken sustainability as the core of its corporate strategy and will leverage innovative thinking and influence to establish connections among its stakeholders to engage in China's biodiversity conservation," Goller added.

Leveraging its influence, BMW is encouraging its stakeholders to engage in its CSR programs. They include BMW associates, dealers, customers and suppliers.

"What we have learned over the years is that if we want to achieve social results and help build a more beautiful China, we need to mobilize all social powers to form a synergy," said Johann Wieland, president and CEO of BMW Brilliance Automotive.

In terms of biodiversity conservation, BMW will mobilize more suppliers to join and reduce carbon emissions in the supply chain.

"We hope to achieve tangible results in environmental protection and social development, so we need to mobilize all parties to participate. In the future, we will continue to develop this approach based on connecting stakeholders, so that it can form a broader participation in the whole industry," Wieland added.

"To contribute to a better Chinese society" has always been BMW's CSR vision here in China, and the BMW Beautiful Homeland Initiative is once more demonstrating decisive actions. In line with its dedicated and long-term commitment for the protection of China's traditional culture, children traffic safety education and rural revitalization, BMW CSR in China has gained a new strategic pillar, which will focus on biodiversity conservation and ecological civilization construction, according to Goller.

His words were echoed by Wieland, who said:"The pandemic has once again deepened our insights into what sustainability and CSR is. A truly responsible and sustainable business must have a higher purpose rather than simply achieving profit and offering employment. It must work to improve the world."

"We are happy to support the beautiful Liaohekou National Nature Reserve－200 kilometers away from Shenyang, our home in China. As an extension of BMW's sustainability and CSR strategy, BMW will not only directly contribute to the Chinese government's revitalization of the northeast old industrial base in terms of industry and economy, but also directly contribute to China's ecological civilization construction," Wieland added.

Sustainability has to be the spirit for resolving current global challenges, which means that man and nature need to coexist in harmony, and humans are part of nature, not the opposite of nature. With this spirit in mind, BMW Brilliance has built an automotive benchmark in the industry, according to the automaker.

The automaker has been rated as a "national green plant" for four consecutive years and won the award of the 2020 Best Enterprise Practices for Achieving Social Development Goals. It once again ranked first in the Automotive Enterprise Green Development Index and has been using 100 percent renewable electricity at its Shenyang production base since 2019.