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Kelsie DeFrancia
April 9, 2015 – Columbia Global Centers | East Asia and Columbia University’s Earth Institute will host a high-level forum on May 8, 2015, titled “Sustainability Policy and Practice – Promoting a Sustainable Supply Chain.” In partnership with The Sustainability Consortium, the forum will discuss Chinese enterprises’ experiences and strategies in sustainable development, focusing on the supply chain.

In recent years, China has been focused on accelerating its economic development through the four pillars of “Industrialization, Informatization, Urbanization, and Agricultural Modernization.” In March 2015, the pillar of “Greenization” was officially added to this development framework in order to reflect the importance of environmental sustainability to China’s goals of economic progress. With advanced policy development, sustainability can stimulate huge economic opportunities, investment, and consumer demand. It is in this context that the forum will discuss how green supply chains provide a unique opportunity to bolster Chinese enterprise and create a positive and lasting impact on sustainability in China.

The Earth Institute and the Columbia Global Centers | East Asia will also present their findings from a recent project with The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) evaluating TSC’s work in China, which aims to improve the systems and tools for assessing product sustainability. The evaluation team will share lessons learned for promoting a sustainable supply chain in China, specifically relating to establishing partnerships, engaging local stakeholders, and building capacity for Chinese suppliers.

Forum sessions will also cover existing green supply chain policy and standards, present urban sustainability metrics and frameworks, and share international and domestic best practices in sustainability for businesses. Zhang Dawei, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), will give a keynote speech. CCIEE, one of China’s preeminent think tanks, is currently working with the Earth Institute to design a sustainability measurement and metrics system and evaluation framework adapted to specifically to China’s unique economic development situation.

About Columbia Global Centers | East Asia
Columbia Global Centers | East Asia, launched in March 2009, is one of eight Global Centers established by Columbia University operating around the world to connect the university’s faculty and students with the thinking communities in the regions working on global issues. The Center’s projects aim to engage the University with issues, ideas and counterparts in China and the East Asia region through collaborations across a number of fields, including sustainable development, urbanization, urban health, international relations and global governance, gender equality, educational reform, social media, public health, and arts.
http://globalcenters.columbia.edu/beijing/

About the Earth Institute
The Earth Institute is a new form of academic institution designed to institutionalize interaction among many academic fields and professional disciplines to address the problems of global sustainability. With Columbia University as its foundation, the Earth Institute draws upon the scientific rigor and academic leadership for which the University is known to create an inter-disciplinary community dedicated to cutting-edge research to help develop solutions to the challenges to global sustainability.

The Earth Institute Research Program on Sustainability Management and Policy provides a rigorous analytic base to help inform sustainability decision-making. Leveraging the diverse subject matter expertise from the research centers, faculty, and students at the Earth Institute and Columbia University, the Research Program on Sustainability Policy and Management addresses the fundamental issues facing professionals and policy makers implementing sustainability strategies.
earth.columbia.edu

About The Sustainability Consortium (TSC)
The Sustainability Consortium® (TSC®) is a global nonprofit organization working at the intersection of science and business to enable the consumer goods industry to develop, produce and sell more sustainable products. TSC creates tools, strategies and services that are based in science, informed by stakeholders and focused on impact across the entire lifecycle of consumer products, including environmental, social and economic imperatives. The Sustainability Consortium is comprised of more than 100 members, including manufacturers, retailers, NGOs, civil society and corporations that work collaboratively on innovation for a new generation of products and supply networks. The Sustainability Consortium is jointly administered by Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas, with additional operations at Wageningen UR in the Netherlands and Nanjing University in China.
http://www.tsc.org.cn/ http://www.sustainabilityconsortium.org

Contact
For more information please contact Eyra Xiong, Senior Program Officer for Columbia Global Centers | East Asia at mx2129@columbia.edu or visit their website at globalcenters.columbia.edu/beijing.