On May 17th, the first General Meeting of Members and Inauguration Ceremony of the ESG Special Committee of the Chinese Chemical Society (CCS, hereinafter referred to as the "Special Committee") was held in Shanghai. Guided by CCS, the event was co-organized by the Preparatory Group of the ESG Special Committee of CCS, East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), and CNPC Safety & Environmental Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd., with collaborative support from multiple entities including Shanghai Zhuoran Digital Energy Co., Ltd. and the Key Core Technology Integration Platform for Green Hydrogen Production and Utilization of the Ministry of Education. Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and CCS President Dai Houliang, CAE Academicians He Hong, Sun Lili, Tu Shandong, and Wang Hualin, Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Xu Chunming and Ye Guo'an, CCS Vice President and Secretary-General Fang Xiangchen, ECUST Vice Chair of the University Council Shen Haitao, as well as experts, scholars, and industry representatives from national universities, research institutions, enterprises, public institutions, and social organizations attended the meeting, jointly witnessing an important milestone in the government-industry-university-research collaborative innovation of China's chemical industry in the fields of Environment (E), Society (S), and Governance (G).

The opening ceremony was chaired by Wang Jun, Dean of the School of Art at ECUST. The meeting first read a congratulatory letter from Dai Houliang, President of CCS. In the letter, President Dai congratulated the establishment of the ESG Special Committee on behalf of the CCS Council, emphasizing its significance in further improving CCS's governance system, promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of China's chemical industry, and achieving the unity of commercial and social values. In his speech, Fang Xiangchen, Vice President of CCS, highlighted that the Special Committee aims to build an ESG system for the chemical industry by integrating interdisciplinary resources, linking national strategies with ESG industrial practices, and enhancing China's voice in global chemical governance. Shen Haitao, Deputy Party Secretary of ECUST, stated that as the supporting unit of the Special Committee, the university will leverage its multidisciplinary advantages in chemical engineering, environment, and sociology, and actively support the committee's future work through measures such as opening educational resources, building cross-disciplinary innovation platforms, and deepening international cooperation. Zhu Shengzhen, General Manager of CNPC Safety & Environmental Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd., congratulated the establishment of the Special Committee, noting that it will significantly promote the chemical industry's active participation in formulating international ESG rules and enhancing China's international discourse power in the chemical sector. He also expressed that the institute is willing to collaborate with the Special Committee to strive for a favorable position for China in the global industrial chain supply. 

In his inaugural speech, Chairman Wang Hualin first thanked the experts and scholars present for their efforts in establishing the Special Committee and proposed that the committee will focus on three key tasks: First, reconstructing society's perception of the chemical industry with interdisciplinary thinking, advising on policy and regulation formulation, and carrying out public science popularization activities; second, promoting the construction of a clean production system for the chemical industry through interdisciplinary integration of environmental science, sociology, and chemical industry practices, and developing an academic exchange and industry-university-research-application sharing platform for chemical environmental sociology; third, developing pollution reduction and carbon emission reduction technologies through technological development, process coupling, and industrial chain integration, assisting enterprises in establishing chemical ESG rating and management systems.

Professor Wu Yuming, Executive Director of the Oliver Hart Contract and Governance Research Center at ECUST and a professor in the Department of Economics of ECUST School of Business, was invited to attend. During the special report session, he analyzed international ESG policies and chemical industry cases under the theme of ESG and sustainable development evaluation of listed companies. At the subsequent second meeting of the first committee, Secretary-General Bai Zhishan reported on the work plan of the Special Committee, Chairman Wang Hualin organized discussions on the committee's future planning, and the attending committee members and representatives from all sectors conducted lively discussions. Academician Tu Shandong, Honorary Chairman, congratulated the establishment of the Special Committee, affirmed the work plan, and proposed suggestions on the specific forms of future committee activities.

The establishment of the Chemical ESG Special Committee marks a new stage in the development of ESG in China's chemical industry. In the future, relying on platforms such as ECUST, the committee will integrate multi-party resources, promote international exchanges and technological transformation on ESG themes, provide decision-making references and technical support for the green transformation of China's chemical industry, and help achieve the "dual carbon" goals and sustainable development vision.