Dow Signs MOU to Work on Environmental Protection in China
The Dow Chemical Company and the State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Jan. 18 in Beijing that call for them to collaborate in environmental protection in terms of scientific research, policy counsel, technical service, and applications, in addition to training and coaching sessions. Dow said the aim of the agreement is to help build a solid scientific and technological foundation to boost China's environmental quality while raising the bar for theory and practice in environmental and chemical product governance in the country. A China-U.S. Seminar on Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment was held after the signing ceremony with more than 60 experts and scholars discussing environment and health, environmental toxicology, and environmental criteria and standards.
China's President Xi has stressed the importance of this recently, calling for an accelerated pace of reforms in an effort to build a beautiful China with a balance between economic growth and social progress and an ecological civilization built on green, sustainable, low-carbon growth.
The Shanghai Dow Center is Dow's largest integrated R&D center outside the United States with more than 600 scientists working in some 100 world-class laboratories. The State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment also has top-tier scientists, including five academics from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and is China's first key state laboratory focused on environmental protection, Dow reported.
"We are pleased to be sharing our environmental technical expertise with the Chinese government to help accelerate positive change. It is through these kinds of collaborations that society will progress the most, and we appreciate this opportunity to learn together how to best develop public policy blueprints that incorporate global private sector experience," said Neil Hawkins, corporate vice president, Environment, Health and Safety, and chief sustainability officer for Dow, during the seminar.
"Sustainability cannot be achieved without constant innovation. At Dow, we strive to advance sustainability through ongoing innovation. Advocating and practicing 'collaborative innovation,' we have been working closely with the Chinese government and academia to advance scientific innovation in the country. We are very pleased to sign this MoU with the State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, and we strongly believe that by leveraging our respective resources and strengths, we will help drive China's environmental protection initiative and build towards a beautiful future where a harmony between human beings and our Mother Earth can be achieved," added Yoke Loon Lim, president of Dow Greater China.