The second Sina Finance ESG Global Leaders Summit was held from June 28th to June 30th, where global ESG business leaders, enterprises, financial institutions, and academic representatives gathered to discuss the development trend of ESG. Li Liangbin, Chairman of Ganfeng Lithium Industry, attended the meeting and delivered a speech titled 'ESG Assists Sustainable Development of Enterprises'.

The speech detailed Ganfeng's attempts and achievements in ESG in recent years: from 2015 to 2021, new energy vehicles equipped with Ganfeng lithium salt products have traveled over 80 billion kilometers globally, equivalent to helping society reduce 22 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions; To ensure the supply of raw materials, Ganfeng also insists on investing and constructing upstream resources during the downward cycle; Self built photovoltaic power stations, and carbon emissions throughout the entire lifecycle of statistical products.

We are in an era of great change, not only reflected in important fields such as energy and technology, but also in the formation of the values of a 'community with a shared future for mankind', 'Li Liangbin said.' What the world needs is enterprises that can safeguard the interests of the general public and promote sustainable development of humanity. When enjoying the opportunities brought by the tide, we should also shoulder the social responsibility entrusted to us by the times.

This summit is guided by the Climate Change Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and co hosted by Sina Finance and CITIC Publishing Group. The theme is 'Jointly promoting global ESG development and building a sustainable future'. More than a hundred guests delivered keynote speeches, including World Bank President David Malpas, President of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christina Georgieva, Director of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former Minister of Finance of China, Lou Jiwei, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and co chair of the China ESG Leadership Forum, Tu Guangshao, and Director General of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Marco Lambertini.

The following is a transcript of the speech by Chairman Li Liangbin:

Dear friends and guests, hello everyone!

I am delighted to discuss the topic of corporate social responsibility with everyone at this Sina Finance ESG Global Leaders Summit.

I founded Ganfeng for 22 years. Along the way, when Ganfeng finally got rid of the state of bankruptcy at any time, I began to think, what is the mission of the enterprise?

Vigorously developing green industries

We are engaged in the lithium industry. In the early years, lithium was only a minor auxiliary material in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, or a lithium-ion battery used in the manufacturing of electronic products. Until recent years, the public's increasing attention to climate issues, the continuous maturity of lithium battery technology, and the rapid development of the new energy industry have brought a qualitative leap to the lithium industry.

At this moment, we suddenly realized that we could do more for society and the Earth.

Lithium, used as an energy storage battery, can store the wind and sunlight bestowed on us by nature, which is an inexhaustible source of energy; Used as a power battery, it can replace internal combustion engines and prevent car exhaust emissions. We have compiled data that from 2015 to 2021, new energy vehicles equipped with Ganfeng lithium salt products had a global driving distance of over 80 billion kilometers, which is equivalent to helping society reduce 22 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

This number may seem large, but we need to know that the global annual carbon dioxide emissions are in the tens of billions of tons. What we have achieved is still far from enough.

So starting from 2019, although the industry is in a downward cycle, we are still accelerating the layout speed of upstream lithium mines. In Australia, Argentina, Mali, Mexico, China's Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Jiangxi, we have invested in various types of lithium resources such as spodumene, lithium salt lakes, and lithium clay, hoping to ensure the supply of lithium products in the industry as much as possible.

This year, we will welcome the production of the first phase of our project in the Cauchari Salt Lake in Argentina, and the mines in Mariana Salt Lake and Mali in Argentina have also started smoothly. We look forward to the production of these projects, which can bring stronger development momentum to the new energy industry.

Adhere to green and low-carbon operations

Being in the lithium industry is a fortunate thing, as every practitioner's efforts are driving humanity towards a greener, cleaner, and healthier world. But it should be emphasized that we cannot ignore the green behaviors that should be achieved in the production process because of the green benefits brought by the product.

More and more industry insiders are paying attention to this now, and there are more zero carbon projects, zero carbon factories, and zero carbon industrial parks emerging globally. We also obtained the first carbon label for the domestic lithium industry in 2021, which records the carbon emissions generated in all aspects of the product, including raw material extraction, production, transportation, production, packaging, and waste treatment during the process. Based on the detailed data behind the carbon label, we can focus on monitoring and targeted carbon reduction of important links.

We are also making more attempts. Last year, we installed solar panels on the roofs and open spaces of our domestic production bases to increase the proportion of clean energy; Build a 150 megawatt photovoltaic power station around overseas projects to fully rely on sustainable electricity operation; And continuous process upgrades and equipment upgrades to reduce energy consumption and emissions.

Practicing corporate social responsibility

These energy-saving and emission reduction measures are applicable to many production enterprises and are conducive to their long-term development. Because we have seen too many companies facing resistance from global buyers and users due to ESG issues. In the past, when we talked about the sustainability of a company, we mainly judged it based on its financial operations. However, in today and the future, ESG indicators will definitely be more important than financial statements in measuring the sustainability of a company.

We are in an era of great change, which is not only reflected in important fields such as energy and technology, but also in the formation of the values of a 'community with a shared future for mankind'. What the world needs is enterprises that can safeguard the interests of the general public and promote sustainable development of humanity. When enjoying the opportunities brought by the tide, we should take on the social responsibility entrusted to us by the times.

The success of a company depends not only on how high revenue and profits it has created, but also on how many beneficial things we have done for the world. This is the ultimate mission of a company and entrepreneur. I hope that in a few years, when we talk about these companies, everyone can sincerely say that they are making the world a better place.

Thank you all.