A staff swimming competition held in a river near the Alibaba corporate headquarters seven years ago prompted its chief Jack Ma to do something about China’s environmental pollution.
Speaking at a philanthropy conference hosted by the Alibaba Foundation in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province yesterday, Ma recalled the company had just moved offices from the north bank of the city’s Qiantang River to it south bank.
All of us were shocked at that time. We never imagined that we were living in such an environment – and that was the water we drank
To celebrate, the company held a staff swimming match in the river. When the last batch of contestants came out of the water, plastic bags and other garbage were clinging to their bodies.
“All of us were shocked at that time. We never imagined that we were living in such an environment – and that was the water we drank,” Ma said.
Since then the company has allocated 0.3 per cent of its annual revenue to an environment protection fund. In the latest financial year, that contribution was US$47.1 million on a yearly turnover of US$15.7 billion.
Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general of the United Nations, one of the dignitaries attending the conference, called on governments, the private sector and civil society to work together to achieve the United Nation’s sustainable development goals by 2030.
“We are the first generation that can end global poverty and at the same time we are the last generation that can reverse climate change,” he said. “If we don’t take action now, we will leave only regret to succeeding generations.”
