By CBCSD issued at May 11th, 2011/5/13

    The China Business Council for Sustainable Development (CBCSD) and United States Business Council for Sustainable Development (USBCSD) were announced as cooperative partners to the US-China EcoPartnerships Program today at the signing ceremony in Washington, D.C., US.
    The signing ceremony was held at 9:00 a.m. local time and was co-chaired by People's Republic of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and U.S. Department of State (DOS). US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton welcomed the CBCSD-US BCSD and five other new EcoPartnerships that will collaborate on projects in the sustainable development field. After the review by the joint secretariat of NDRC and DOS, the CBCSD and USBCSD were approved to be included in the new round of EcoPartnership.

    The EcoPartnership Program was established under the U.S.-China Ten Year Framework on Energy and Environment. Based on consensus reached in 2007 at the 3rd China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue, on June 18th, 2008, the two governments signed up for the U.S.-China Ten Year Framework on Energy and Environment document that jointly drafted by NDRC, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Science, Ministry of Environmental Protection of China and the Department of the Treasury, DOC, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the US, which marks the official launch of the bilateral cooperation mechanism between the two countries on responding to the challenges of sustainable development, climate change and energy security. As a platform for provincial and institutional cooperation under the Ten Year Framework, the program encourages local governments, enterprises and social organizations from China and US to establish ecopartnerships that aim to push forward the innovative environmental protection projects of mutual interests, the exchange of experience and expertise, as well as the cooperation on capacity building.
    The CBCSD-USBCSD EchoPartnership is dedicated to sharing the best practices and developing projects highlighting economical, environmental and social benefits. The cooperation is to cover areas including by-product synergy, water management, ecosystem assessment and urban infrastructure initiative. The partnership is expected to facilitate the communications on advanced technology and best practices of enterprises, push forward the pragmatic actions and innovation of both countries and expand the use of clean technologies; carry out the SD projects in water, energy, climate and ecosystem and contribute to the ecological civilization and the construction of low-carbon city via the cooperation between the enterprises in the two countries; further enhance enterprises’ capacity building and stimulate proactive actions from business as the projects progress.

China Business Council for Sustainable Development (CBCSD) and United States Business Council for Sustainable Development (USBCSD)

    Since its foundation in 2003, China Business Council for Sustainable Development (CBCSD), as a national business coalition of over 70 Chinese and foreign leading companies, has been serving as a platform, link and bridge in achieving sustainable development of the economy, environment and society. The council highlighted the key projects in focus areas including energy and climate change, corporate social responsibility (CSR), Health, Safety and Environment (HSE), Sustainable Development Reporting etc. The progress made in these areas achieved wide attention and acknowledgement from government, business and society. 
    The United States Business Council for Sustainable Development (USBCSD) is a leading national business organization in the United States and has successfully sought out, designed and implemented sustainability projects both at a national and multi-national level since its inception as the Business Council for Sustainable Development-Gulf of Mexico in 1993. The USBCSD comprises 45 corporate members representing a breadth of industries and sectors including energy, clean technologies, chemical, cement, government, academia, and non-profit.
    The two councils have been working under a MoU aimed at fostering collaborative business development and providing open lines of communication between the business communities of the US and China since 2005.                                                             

Please visit the following link for the remarks at U.S.-China EcoPartnerships Signing Ceremony: http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/05/162947.htm