Ford this week celebrated the accomplishments and achievements of non-governmental organizations at its annual Conservation and Environmental Grants China Awards in Beijing. 11 award-winning NGO institutions, more than 60 media, and over 100 NGO partners and the public gathered together to congratulate the 2018 Ford CEGC Awards honored groups.
Lori Arpin, Vice President of Communications for Ford Asia Pacific, Zhang Zhiwei, Director of The Ford Motor Company Fund Asia Pacific, Li Ruinong, Party Secretary of China Environmental News Agency, Li Yimeng, Senior Media Representative, famous singers Su Xing and Ma Tiao,etc. They all attended the award ceremony and presented awards to the winners of the 2018 “Ford CEGC Awards”. The Energy and Transportation Innovation Center (iCET), one of the outstanding NGOs in the field of environmental protection, won the “Annual Pioneer Award”.
The theme of this year’s “Ford CEGC Awards” ceremony is “Wake up the City with Green Spirit”. Through more than 60 photo exhibitions showing the relationship between the city and nature, and interactive games, the ceremony gave the public a chance to feel the wonderful world of species around that have never been noticed before. Thereby, to enhance the public’s awareness of urban life and environmental protection. Li Ruinong, a senior judge of the “Ford CEGC Awards”, has been working on evaluation for 15 years. During this period, he witnessed the growth and development of China’s environmental protection organizations. Li Ruinong said: “In recent years, China’s environmental protection organizations has been developing very rapidly. We are pleased to see that in line with the accelerating pace of China’s ecological civilization construction and ecological environmental protection efforts, social environmental protection organizations are becoming more professional, scientific and more standardized. Ecological environment protection has effectively promoted the public and society to support and participate in ecological environmental protection efforts. Vitality and strength are injected to accelerate the formation of green production methods and lifestyles, continuously improving environmental quality, and building a better China.”
This year marks the 18th year of the “Ford CEGC Award” entering China. During the past 18 years, the Award has always supported the growth and development of China’s environmental protection efforts. Starting in 2017, the “Ford CEGC Award” has transformed from a rewards program to an incentive institution, and provided non-constrained funding to provide environmental NGOs with the most effective support. The 2018 “Ford CEGC Award” received applications from nearly 100 institutions. In the five-month round of intense competition, 11 environmental protection agencies were selected for the final public speaking session. In the public speech held on December 3, the agency representatives shared and communicated their business models, achievements and future development strategies with the judges and audiences. The public grew a deep understanding about the status quo of environmental protection, the working mode of NGOs etc. throughout the speeches.
