5 June 2022 is World Environment Day. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has decided the theme of this year’s World Environment Day as “Only One Earth.” To demonstrate the social responsibility of Fudan University and energy companies in protecting the environment and the earth, on the afternoon of 31 May 2022, Fudan University and PETRONAS held an online dialogue under the theme of “Energy Transition: Forge Ahead Together for a Green Future.”

(On 31 May 2022, Fudan-PETRONAS Dialogue was held via Tencent Meeting.)

The Fudan-PETRONAS Dialogue was co-organized by the Institute of International Studies (IIS Fudan), the Department of Environment Science and Engineering (DESE Fudan), and the International Students Office (ISO Fudan) of Fudan University. Ms. Lisy Li, PETRONAS China Chairman, and Mr. Ghoh Ban Lee, General Manager of Commercial and Finance at PETRONAS New Energy, were invited to be the keynote speakers. Ms. Liu Li, Director of ISO Fudan, addressed the meeting. Professor Wang Yutao from DESE Fudan was invited to comment on the session. Professor Qi Huaigao, Vice Dean of IIS Fudan, was the host. Apart from faculty members and students from Fudan University, the online dialogue was also attended by nearly one hundred others from other universities, including Xiamen University, Beijing Foreign Studies University and China University of Petroleum.

(Ms. Liu Li, Director of ISO Fudan, delivered opening remarks.)

In her speech, Ms. Liu Li referred to the collaboration between Fudan University and Malaysia as a vital component of Fudan’s international efforts. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Fudan University received about 7,000 international students from nearly 140 countries around the world every year. Each year, the university sent expert delegations to dozens of Malaysian high schools it cooperated with to promote enrollments and organize admission interviews. In January 2016, Fudan established the Malaysia Alumni Association of Fudan University in Kuala Lumpur. In the spring semester of 2022 alone, 212 Malaysian students among the 2,693 international students registered at Fudan. Fudan University looks forward to cooperating with PETRONAS in the training and employment of students. Together the two parties can make contributions to a beautiful and clean world and a shared future for mankind.

(PETRONAS China Chairman Ms. Lisy Li was invited to be the keynote speaker.)

Ms. Lisy Li shared the global overview, business layout in China, sustainability landscape, and net-zero carbon emission vision of PETRONAS. She believed that with the rapid growth of the new energy industry and the accelerating pace of energy transition, the global new energy industry is facing a development dilemma. A healthy industrial chain of the global new energy cannot be accomplished by a single country or company. Stronger international collaboration in the industry is a must. The gap between the supply and demand of talents, which has become an urgent issue for the global new energy industry, must be addressed by closer collaboration between educational institutes and the energy sector, which should be more devoted to training new energy professionals and providing talent support to break through the development bottleneck of the global new energy industry.

(Mr. Ghoh Ban Lee, General Manager of Commercial and Finance at PETRONAS New Energy, shared the “new energy business and energy transition of PETRONAS”.)

Mr. Ghoh Ban Lee shared the key opportunities and challenges in PETRONAS’ new energy business and energy transition. According to him, PETRONAS’ “2050 Net Zero Carbon Emissions Vision” will guide the company to provide the world with three low-carbon solutions, namely renewable energy, hydrogen, and electric vehicles. Citing the PETRONAS Cultural Beliefs of Customer Focused, Innovate Now, Be Enterprising, Speak Up, Courage to Act, he shared his work experience at PETRONAS and encouraged young students to ponder over their career choices and directions.

(Prof. Wang Yutao from DESE Fudan was invited to comment on the session.)

In his comments, Professor Wang Yutao said he was impressed by PETRONAS’ “2050 Net Zero Carbon Emissions Vision” and its efforts to fulfill its corporate social responsibility, such as providing low-carbon solutions. He noted that one of the key objectives of the Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013, is to protect the planet and promote green development. He expected to see more collaboration between Fudan University and the businesses in areas such as clean production, circular economy and renewable energy.

(Fudan-PETRONAS Dialogue on “Energy Transition: Forge Ahead Together for a Green Future” was held via Tencent Meeting.)

During the Q&A session, students and faculty members engaged in active discussions on issues such as “development and career prospects of the new energy industry,” “collaboration forms of achieving energy transition and net-zero emissions,” and “Collaboration between PETRONAS and Chinese new energy companies.”

(Fudan University sent letters of appreciation to the two keynote speakers.)

After the Fudan-PETRONAS Dialogue, Professor Wu Xinbo, Dean of IIS Fudan, Professor Wang Lin, Dean of DESE Fudan, and Ms. Liu Li, Director of ISO Fudan, jointly sent letters of appreciation to the two speakers from PETRONAS, hoping this dialogue could start a new journey of cooperation between the two parties.

(UNEP has decided the theme of 2022 World Environment Day as “Only One Earth”.)

The Fudan-PETRONAS Dialogue was an ice-breaking journey for PETRONAS since it’s the first time that the company went to Chinese campus to exchange with young students. Through the dialogue, Fudan and PETRONAS hope to build consensus on energy transition and green development, so that more companies and young students can stay committed to the vision of sustainable human development, forging a green and beautiful future with net-zero carbon emissions.

Link to the Chinese Version: https://iis.fudan.edu.cn/cb/a3/c7011a445347/page.htm