2015-12-01 SOHO中国

Two months ago, we received an email from Mr. Bill Gates, inviting us to join his Breakthrough Energy Coalition. Zhang Xin and I both believe this is a greatly meaningful initiative, and immediately responded to confirm our interest. Bill then wrote to us to explain the thinking and vision behind this coalition, and to share his development plan.

Why did we decide to join the Breakthrough Energy Coalition?
In light of the terrible effects of climate change, we had two main considerations: Firstly, to solve the environmental issues associated with pollution and climate change, we need to find breakthroughs in clean energy technology with potential to achieve scalability.

As we’ve come to know, Gates’ methodology is primarily technology-driven, his efforts in philanthropy, education, and healthcare all reflect his approach, employing technology to solve big problems.

Therefore, when he gathered leading companies and entrepreneurs from around the world, in search of technological breakthrough for clean energy, we had strong faith in him. We are willing, along with the other members of the coalition, to contribute our energy and resources, to accelerate the breakthrough clean energy technology.

Secondly, to solve the environmental issues associated with pollution and climate change, simply relying on clean energy and breakthrough technology is far from enough. More important than technological breakthrough, is the development of a new consciousness.

Perhaps “new” is not the most accurate word to describe this type of consciousness, because this is a consciousness that is embedded deeply within us. More specifically - it is a sense of duty to be of service, to generously give and to willingly sacrifice for welfare of humanity.

Without this social consciousness, all of our actions will fade in vain, and will fail to succeed. This will require us to further examine the dynamics between society and nature, between individuals and society.

Each individual is like a single cell, and nature and humanity come together to form an organic body. The cell cannot live without its body, and the life of an isolated cell is meaningless.

Today, when a dozen of the world’s business leaders come together, to confront and resolve one of humanity’s biggest dilemmas, seeking solutions hand in hand, their nationality, gender, and ethnicity do not matter. This will surely awaken many others, especially the participants at the Paris Climate Change Conference.

▲ Paris Climate Change Conference participating countries have joined "Mission Innovation" pledging substantial efforts to achieve clean energy solutions.

We hope, that with the establishment of our “Energy Breakthrough Coalition”, they will see that aside from government measures and commercial negotiations, there are more meaningful and valuable resources, and the meaningful and valuable power of social consciousness can be turned into real agreements and concrete commitments.

▲SOHO China provides PM 2.5 purified clean air to all tenants

When the entire human race is faced with such critical challenges, the efforts of a very few can be too little.

It is necessary for each and every one of us to contribute, and give our share, whether it be our time, wisdom, knowledge, financial resources, even a like on social media, or a piece of critical advice. One dollar from an individual is just as meaningful as one hundred million dollars from a businessman.

Perhaps it is times like this that test our human ability to unite, to love, and to care for one another. Some might think this is a payout, a sacrifice, an impediment to economic development. However, focusing solely on GDP growth, not only has severe environmental consequences, It also leads the spiritual growth of the human race to a selfish dead-end. This is truly and completely damaging.

When faced with environmental challenges, there are subtle dynamics between individuals and governments, and between governments. It could be mutual distrust, competition, hostility or doubt. Real solutions require us to push beyond this negativity. They require a coordinated global effort and a shared sense of responsibility for unified action.

Because all of us are faced with the same environmental problems, all people, and all nations are motivated to unite and work together to form a new order. China first emerged as a united country, when we faced the challenge of water shortage and learned to harness the power of China’s Yellow River to enrich society.

The Kuiqiu Coalition, was the embryonic form of today’s China. The Chinese saying “Those who care only about their own households, at the cost of others”, represents selfish actions that lead to decay. We hope the Paris Climate Change Conference is marks an end to “caring only for our own”.

>>>>INTRODUCING THE COALITION

At the Paris Climate Change Conference Bill Gates announced the establishment of the “Breakthrough Energy Coalition” which he will lead along with 28 other business leaders from around the world’s top technology and internet companies, industry groups and investment groups.

Of the 28 members of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition are the leaders of three Chinese companies, Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma, Sequoia Capital Global Managing Partner Neil Shen and SOHO China Co-Founders Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin. The purpose of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition is to investing in the generation and storage of electricity and the creation of an overall improvement in our energy system efficiency. The goal is a “future that produces near zero carbon emissions and provides everyone with affordable, reliable energy”.

>>>>WHO THEY ARE

Mukesh Ambani
Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited
India

John Arnold
Co-chair, Laura and John Arnold Foundation
United States

Marc Benioff
Founder, Chairman and CEO, Salesforce.com
United States

Jeff Bezos
Founder and CEO, Amazon
United States

HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal
Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Alwaleed Philanthropies
Saudi Arabia

Richard Branson
Founder, Virgin Group
United Kingdom

Ray Dalio
Founder, Bridgewater Associates
United States

Aliko Dangote
Founder and Chief Executive, Dangote Group
Nigeria

John Doerr
General Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
United States

Bill Gates
Co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
United States

Reid Hoffman
Founder, LinkedIn and Partner, Greylock
United States

Chris Hohn
Founder, The Children’s Investment Fund
United Kingdom

Vinod Khosla
Founder, Khosla Ventures
United States

Jack Ma
Executive Chairman, Alibaba Group
China

Patrice Motsepe
Founder and Executive Chairman, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM)
South Africa

Xavier Niel
Founder, Iliad Group
France

Hasso Plattner
Co-founder and Chairman, SAP
Germany

Julian Robertson
Founder and Chairman, Tiger Management
United States

Neil Shen
Founding Managing Partner, Sequoia Capital China
China

Nat Simons and Laura Baxter-Simons
Co-founders, Prelude Ventures
United States

Masayoshi Son
Founder, Chairman and CEO, SoftBank Group Corp.
Japan

George Soros
Chairman, Soros Fund Management LLC
United States

Tom Steyer
Businessman, Philanthropist, and President, NextGen Climate
United States

Ratan Tata
Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons
India

Meg Whitman
CEO, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
United States

Ms. Zhang Xin and Mr. Pan Shiyi
Co-founder/CEO, SOHO China
Co-founder/Chairman, SOHO China
China

Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan
Founder, Chairman and CEO, Facebook

Pediatrician and CEO, The Primary School
United States

University of California
Office of the Chief Investment Officer
United States