Guest: Tong Shumeng

Vice-chairman of Alxa SEE

President of Beijing Oriental Patek Investment Co., Ltd. 

Interviewer: Wang Linlin, reporter of China Environment News (CEN)

It is necessary to mobilize the power of social groups to construct a social action system for the whole people to participate in environmental protection work and to promote the formation of social co-governance. Enterprises play vital roles in it. Now, more and more entrepreneurs begin to participate in environmental protection work, forming a strong civil environmental protection forces. Our reporter recently interviewed Tong Shumeng, the vice-chairman of Alxa SEE, regarding on how to mobilize the enthusiasm of the entrepreneur group and promote the deep implement of environment education.

The awe to nature and the amity to environment should be transformed into entrepreneurs’ religious pursuit and belief.

CEN: How do you think the significance of entrepreneurs’ involving in environment protection public work and environment education publicity?

Tong Shumeng: Participating in environmental protection and environment education is a part of entrepreneurs’ social responsibilities. Our generation has benefited from the rapid development of China's economy. This benefit is largely dependent on the environment and even at the expense of the environment. After solving the problem of food and clothing and the development of enterprises, China’s entrepreneurs ought to concern on environmental protection and environment education when seeing tremendous environmental damages triggered by rapid development. From the spiritual level, the fear of nature and amity to the environment should be transformed into entrepreneurial religious pursuit and faith.

CEN: What is the most important premise for entrepreneurs to participate in environment protection?

Tong Shumeng: The most important prerequisite is to keep their enterprises environmental friendly. Enterprises should first be green without pollution. Meanwhile, they should communicate this value to the upstream and downstream enterprises, achieving green supply chain. This is more valuable than planting millions of Haloxylons in Inner Mongolia. Only when enterprises have solved their own environmental protection problems can we continue on the issues ofafforestation, protection of wild animals, environment education and publicity.

CEN: In your opinion, which takes more percentage in encouraging entrepreneurs to participate in environment protection work, the personal enthusiasm or the compulsory system?

Tong Shumeng: At present, most of the entrepreneurs are out of enthusiasm. There are always some foresighted entrepreneurs who are willing to join in the Alxa SEE and receive education on ecological protection during the course of environmental protection. By committing themselves to SEE environmental conventions, they have consciously abided by the conventions of protecting wild animals, refusing to buy wild fur-made clothes and ivory, declining to eat protected animals and other alike. They agree to ensure that their enterprises strictly abide by the Environmental Protection Law and the relevant regulations, and ensure to promote the green transformation of enterprises. At the same time, they will also call on employees to join in the environmentally friendly activities.

In recent years, Alxa SEE has attracted a large number of small and medium enterprises to join in it. Currently, there are already more than 500 corporate members, and another 100 members will be developed this year. Small and medium-sized enterprises also have environment protection needs and have the ideas and aspirations to carry on nature and environment education. Except for doing activities like picking up trash, they are eager to participate in more valuable, meaningful and sustainable projects. For small and medium rises, they cannot do these by themselves alone.

Plus, joining in Alxa SEE, enterprises can be guided to have green transformation and obtain more information of sustainable development. Meanwhile, being Alxa SEE members also brings them a great sense of pride. Everyody joins hands together and contributes to environmental protection.

CEN: What are the advantages for domestic entrepreneurs to participate in environment protection and publicity?

Tong Shumeng: Domestic entrepreneurs enjoy exceptional advantages. On one hand, entrepreneurs can change their developing modes to take the road of sustainable development and enhance their competitiveness. They even can be the role models for their own employees and employee’s families, and thus guide more employees participate in environmental protection projects. On the other hand, the participation of some popular entrepreneur will attract more public attention.

But it has to make clear that environmental issues have never just been a matter of the environment itself but the way of development. The premier job for enterprises is to survive, to develop and to reward shareholders. What they can do is limited. They have to rely on the power of the government. The environment problems cannot be solved by several entrepreneurs. The problems only can be solved by more people’s recognition and participation.

Environment education contains huge business opportunities. The market is the best way to allocate environmental education resources in the future.

CEN: Now, many companies have set up foundations to support environment protection. How do you think of this? Is this a future tendency?

Tong Shumeng: It is an inevitable choice for large enterprises to set up their own foundations to contribute to the society, when they develop to a certain extent.  Alibaba and Tencent, they all have their own foundation. However, different corporate culture decide the different choices of directions. Two factors should be taken into consideration. One is the characteristics and preferences of enterprises. The other is opportunities. Enterprises set up foundations in accord to their own corporate culture and management preferences. They have a wide selection range from poverty alleviation to education and technology. For example, I have initiated the establishment of the Rainbow Foundation, which has been committed to education equality problem since 2008. One of the projects is doing nature education in rural primary schools in Ludian, Yunnan. We intend to enhance the environment awareness through the nature education for kids.

However, for Alxa SEE, the original intention is to protect the nature and environment. On the one hand, we have led entrepreneurs to practice and participate in environmental protection activities through brand projects such as “One Hundred Million Haloxylon,”“Protecting Millet,”“Protecting Birds,” and “Green Supply Chain”. On the other hand, we set up foundations to support leading institutions in China's natural education field. During the period from 2012 to 2015, 25 nature and education institutions, including the “Firefly Conservation Research Center”, “Hope for Children”, “Eurynorhynchus Pygmeus Protection” have been supported. At the same time, we have supported the National Nature Education Forum for two consecutive years so as to promote the development of nature education theory and practice.

As for the question whether it will become a trend in the future, I think the big companies have the abilities to set up foundations while SMEs may not have such capacities, because establishing a foundation in accordance with the Fund's regulations of the Civil Affairs Department requires careful consideration on funds, donations, projects and the management team.

CEN: In your opinion, what is the most effective way to conduct environment education publicity?

Tong Shumeng: Entrepreneurs are obligated to advertise the idea of protecting environment and to promote environment education. However, comparing with government, both entrepreneurs and individuals are not strong enough to accelerate the progress of environment education.  I think the most powerful and most effective method is to include environment education in the curriculum system of schools and to ensure it through legislative means. In recent years, members of Alxa SEE submit proposals calling for legislation to establish environment education in the construction of ecological civilization and social development so as to create a good atmosphere for all people to participate in environment protection.

CEN: From an entrepreneurial perspective, how can entrepreneurs be better engaged in environmental education?

Tong Shumeng: Innovation is the soul of an enterprise. Entrepreneurs, born with innovative needs, can completely change the growing model through innovation. They can reduce the consumption of nature through innovation of technology, improvement of management capacity and effective allocation of resources.

At the same time, environment education contains enormous business opportunities. Recently, Alxa SEE has established the "Noah's Ark" project which is committed to establishing community-based nature conservation model and to developing ecological industry in line with the laws of nature. This is both a good natural education project and also a good business project. Through the community protection, nature education and other means, we can form an effective access to connect community and market, which is beneficial to villagers. Thus, it will form a long-term protection mechanism to effectively protect the biodiversity of mountainous areas in southwest China.

Furthermore, many large travel agencies and enterprises have also organized travel projects on nature education. One typical case is to go to Taiwan for in-depth nature education travel. This travel needs professional settings and specialized services. Each link ought to give children and parents different experiences. Many parents are willing to pay for such nature education products .

Public welfare is limited to become bigger and stronger in the field of commercial natural education because many children and parents have high requirements on the quality of service. This requirement cannot be met through free of charge. A few years ago, we invited people to observe butterflies for free, but no one came. Now, with the awakening of the awareness of environment protection, with the advertising of media, with the increasing attention of schools, parents and children demand more and more nature education products. The market is the best way to allocate resources. Market brings vitality.

CEN: What are the directions for future environment education?

Tong Shumeng: It may have two directions. The first one is the flourish of the experience-based natural education institutions and projects. Nature education is a big market, and there is not yet a great organization in this field. This is mainly because of the diversity of nature education and environment education, which cannot all be concluded in any environment education institutions. In addition, a very important feature of nature education and environment education activities is the requirement on experience. The experience is no way to be copied. It cannot be monopolized by  several large institutions. So more related institutions will appear and become localized.

Another direction is with the development of information technology, the Internet education products will domain a large market. Technological revolution and the Internet will bring unlimited possibilities to the future of environment education and nature education . For example, they can deliver the education to more people. Let’ take the observing of Houlocks in Gaoligong Mountain in Yunnan as an example. The local reception capacity is dozens of people, while with the help of Internet products, such as VR technology, live video, etc., people all over the world get the chance to see Houlocks. This is the power of business and technology.

But the technology always serves for education. No matter VR or video, what they delivered is always values. Through technology, we want to present our love to nature and the respect to life.