Environmental issues like greenhouse gas emissions, energy
consumption and water and air pollution have become a major concern
in China.
Heightened environmental concerns are reshaping the nation's
approach to economic and social development, pressuring Chinese
companies to manage environmental impact as effectively as other
business operations.
Since China joined the WTO and won the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games, government and business
leaders have been pursuing environmental investment and raising
awareness. They realize that in today's world of global
interconnectivity, companies that remain in an environmentally
unfriendly mode of operation are not going to reach full
potential.
In our report, "Green China: Leveraging innovative technologies
and solutions to uphold companies' environmental responsibilities",
we argue that companies can maximize the opportunities associated
with incorporating environmental considerations into their business
strategies.
Technology is a critical factor contributing to successful
planning and implementation of environmental initiatives. While
modern pollution detection and control equipment are critical in
optimizing resource use and reducing pollution discharge from the
core production process, advanced computing technologies can
substantially reduce power consumption in data centers and by IT
equipment in a typical office environment.
Furthermore, environmental technologies are not limited to
operations within one company, but rather can allow for data
collection, analysis and environmental performance management in
extended organization networks like suppliers and business
partners.
Heavy polluters can implement a comprehensive environmental
management system to drive environmental protection
initiatives.
The system provides a mechanism to facilitate continual
improvement in environmental performance, bringing about enormous
benefits and, more importantly, preventing environmental hazards
that could result in substantial damage to company reputation and
financial loss.
Successful implementation of such a management system requires a
high degree of commitment, proactive communications and training,
and alignment of the existing processes and structure with
environmental improvement and risk management initiatives.
Also, a sound technical infrastructure, including effective
pollution prevention and abatement and monitoring facilities, and
an effective management information system to collect, integrate
and analyze information and generate reports, are critical to
effective environmental impact management.
Incorporating operational energy efficiency into a company's
overall business strategy will facilitate progression toward a
reduction in the environmental impact and cost of business
operations.
One specific area of current focus is energy efficiency. From an
IT standpoint, data center power consumption continues to receive
significant attention. Maximizing computer power use through
technological breakthroughs such as server consolidation and
virtualization is one approach to optimizing energy efficiency.
Our report found that if Chinese companies could achieve a 10
percent energy reduction on all IT facilities, the savings could
supply the entire 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, as well as reduce
China's carbon footprint by 2.5 million tons.
Chinese companies that incorporate environmental considerations
into business strategy and operations will be at the forefront of
changing markets and contribute to strengthening the long-term
sustainability of the Chinese economy.
A company's environmental impact and management initiatives are
now a major factor for consumers, corporate partners and investors
- so the potential benefits are enormous.
By Michelle Kam, Yang Chengbin, Chris Harreld and
Sun Lijun who are researchers and consultants at the IBM Institute
for Business Value, China
(China Daily December 26, 2007)
