The Paulson Institute, in partnership with Tsinghua University, announced the winners of the 2023 Paulson Prize for Sustainability in Beijing on Sept. 26, 2023. [Photo courtesy of the Paulson Institute]
The Paulson Institute, in partnership with Tsinghua University, announced the winners of the 2023 Paulson Prize for Sustainability in Beijing on Tuesday. The awards ceremony also crowned a portion of the award's decennial celebrations.
A project by China's electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer NIO related to innovative electric vehicle battery swapping technologies to shape a low-carbon industry won the Green Innovation Award. Meanwhile, the Shenzhen Bay model for social participation in urban biodiversity conservation developed by Shenzhen Mangrove Wetland Conservation Foundation won the Nature Stewardship Award.
Henry M. Paulson, Jr., founder and chairman of the Paulson Institute, praised the winning projects as they point to new paths to clean air and water as well as biodiversity solutions. These projects, which originated in China and can change the world for the better, demonstrate that it's hope, not despair, that we should be looking to when beleaguered by climate change and biodiversity loss, Paulson added.
The Paulson Prize for Sustainability was initiated in 2013 by the Paulson Institute and developed in partnership with Tsinghua University. Every year, it rewards projects in China that present innovative and scalable solutions to address the twin emergencies of climate change and biodiversity loss. It aims to inspire new thinking for global sustainability transformation and shine a light on projects that offer the most sustainable best practices both in China and the rest of the world.
The prize features two categories: Green Innovation and Nature Stewardship. The Green Innovation category recognizes projects that promote climate and environmental solutions, including energy conservation, comprehensive utilization of resources, circular economy, and green technologies. Meanwhile, the Nature Stewardship category focuses on innovative and scalable projects that preserve and restore the natural environment, including restoring natural ecosystems and preserving biodiversity in China. The evaluation criteria include environmental impact, creativity, scalability, financing mechanisms, and social benefits.
Siddharth Chatterjee, the U.N. resident coordinator in China, highlighted that among the current unprecedented challenges to sustainable development confronting mankind, the climate crisis is our most pressing existential challenge. In his view, green innovation and nature stewardship can offer critical solutions to damages caused to the world's climate and biodiversity. He called for quick, concerted efforts by governments, businesses, communities, and stakeholders to combat climate change and biodiversity loss.
Excellence awards in the Green Innovation category were presented to the Bank of Qingdao for its Blue Finance Project and Danone China 's carbon-neutral operation model that looks to empower low-carbon transformation in the consumer goods industry.
In synch, excellence awards in the Nature Stewardship category were presented to the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, for its project to further promote the ecological conservation redline to safeguard biodiversity as well as Dr Plant, a Chinese brand, for its alpine plant conservation and biodiversity project .
Editor: Guo Lili
