APEC Women Leadership Forum and JD.com co-launched the "APEC Report：Observation of Women's Value in Sustainable Consumption and Production," which adopted extensive surveys and consumption data to examine the role of women as both producers and consumers in advancing sustainability.
The report found that women are instinctively leading the green consumption path with their actions, and their shopping choices often determine the consumption patterns of each household. Meanwhile, women demonstrate prominent leadership in driving the "Sustainability/ SDG / CSR" fields in the corporate world.
Based on the results of a survey conducted by JD.com's Consumption and Industry Development Institute on over 2,000 respondents on the topic of responsible consumption, women weigh "environmentally friendly" as a much higher consideration than men when considering products. In fact, it is the only factor on which they outscored men, whereas the latter showed comparatively more concerns for other factors such as brand, culture, and price.
According to the surveys on which the report is based, women leaders demonstrate stronger focus on long-term value and innovation for sustainable solutions, with respondents expressing that they started formulating relevant thinking 6 to 10 years ago (30 percent). A majority are driven by the factors of "enterprise development need" (76 percent), "inspired by global trends" (73 percent), and "guided by domestic policies" (73 percent).
The report also noted that it is urgent for the whole society to enhance awareness of responsible consumption and production amid global uncertainties in order to continue making progress toward the Sustainable Development Goal. Meanwhile, how to strike a balance between the Goal and enterprise ROI, and the lack of unified ESG standards, talents and corporate capacities, all pose threats to this course.
