Beijing: DNV, the world leading provider of risk management and sustainability solutions, has today started operations of DNV Sustainability Centre (DNV SC.)
By setting up this strategic unit in Beijing, DNV again demonstrates its strong and continued commitment to facilitating the sustainable development of China—which continues to advance as the world’s fastest developing economy despite the economic downturn.
“In the Chinese context, sustainability is a conscious effort by companies and the country to achieve better long-term economic, social and environmental performance,” said Per Marius Berrefjord, Managing Director of DNV Sustainability Centre.
To serve as an immediate example of sustainability services, DNV has just started in June an Enterprise Risk Management project with the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC). The SASAC-DNV project is the third joint effort related to Enterprise Risk Management and will have more than 30 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) participating.
The joint project is called “Application of Quantitative Risk Analysis Techniques as decision tools for Major Investment Projects,” and is aimed primarily to develop an optimised decision-making process for project risk analysis. It will be a scientific approach to ensuring that major investments are properly vetted through a formal risk assessment before proceeding.
More broadly, the DNV Sustainability Centre will provide services to support three aspects of long-term development—social, economic and environmental, which are also at the core of DNV’s purpose “To safeguard life, property and the environment.”
“The Chinese development model has gained increasingly international recognition and China’s adoption of sustainable practices creates stronger Chinese enterprises and contributes to a balanced and harmonious economic progress at the national level,” said Mr Berrefjord.
As an independent foundation, DNV has assisted many of the People’s Republic of China’s central governmental bodies, SOEs and private sector companies in setting up and implementing sustainability standards and practices. Other key DNV services focused on sustainability for China include project risk management, wind power development support, energy efficiency, corporate social responsibility, and sustainable financial instruments.
As a response to the financial storm, China’s central government has launched a RMB4 trillion stimulus plan to ensure economic growth, which creates tremendous opportunities for domestic and international players. “China is making a conscious effort to reduce business risk and environmental impact of projects in the stimulus package. Better decision making and implementation can bring economic, environmental and social benefits. We firmly believe that we are well positioned to support the country on its path to a sustainable future,” said Sangem Xu, Business Development Director, who is responsible for the joint DNV-SASAC project on enterprise risk.
In China, the central government is now more than ever decisively creating required standards for national enterprises. DNV has found itself a role as a facilitator of national targeted goals, particularly related to sustainability, and works with both government and enterprises. “In the case of China, we find that so many of the sustainability services in DNV’s portfolio are applicable to Chinese practices. This unique dynamic of change in China convinced us that the creation of the DNV Sustainability Centre is the best platform for DNV as a group to expand our customer-service focus here to more of a country-service focus for China,” concluded Mr Berreford.
Date: 17 June 2009
