(Yicai Global) Oct. 19 -- Safeguarding the environment is key to achieving economic security. With this theme as the main focus, industry leaders are gathering at a forum in central China to explore how new technologies can make industrial processes more green and help countries achieve their carbon neutral goals.

Economic development depends on technological innovations that are energy and cost efficient and can be implemented in large-scale commercial use, Li Yilun, deputy general manager of China General Nuclear Power Corp., said at the first Global Economic Development and Security Forum of the Boao Forum for Asia yesterday.

The cost to build nuclear power plants, for example, has dropped as more equipment is made locally and technologies improve, Li said. There is still much more to be done, such as reducing loss during long distance power transmission and storing wind power and photoelectricity more efficiently, he added.

Fortescue Future Industries, an arm of Australian iron ore giant Fortescue Metals Group, is aiming to produce 15 million tons of hydrogen as green energy every year by 2030, said founder and Chair Andrew Forrest, who joined the three-day event in Changsha, Hunan province by video link.

The Perth-based firm will also find a way to convert iron ore into “green” iron and from there into “green” steel without blast furnaces. “We are going to give this technology as soon as we have it to our customers,” Forrest added.

One of the biggest buyers of Australia’s iron ore is China, accounting for 82 percent of exports. Fifteen percent of China’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the steel and iron industry so Fortescue’s green transformation will benefit the country greatly, he added.

China, the world’s biggest CO2 emitter, has set itself the goal of achieving peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and zero emissions by 2060. This commitment is welcome and fundamental to address our global challenges, said Marco Lambertini, director general of the World Wide Fund for Nature, who was one of the 3,000 guests to participate both online and in person.

The climate goal has disrupted the energy sector, global markets and our own society and lifestyles in a positive way, driving a transition to renewable energy, said Lambertini. A Nature Positive global goal is needed to create change in other economic sectors that are the main causes of nature loss, such as agriculture, fishing and infrastructure. It is necessary to redirect public subsidies and private investments to support these nature positive transitions.

Editor: Kim Taylor