A recent series of themed briefings titled "E-commerce Observation: Platform Responsibility and Sustainable Consumption" was held, focusing on the role of digital marketplaces in the green transition.
At the event, He Yibing, Chairman of the SEE Foundation's Climate Change and Business Sustainability Subcommittee, highlighted the increasingly critical position of e-commerce platforms. He noted that these platforms are not merely marketplaces but pivotal hubs that connect supply chains and consumers through rule-setting, data integration, and technology application. This unique position allows platform companies to refine their own environmental management while collaborating with merchants and consumers to explore low-carbon transformation paths via technological and institutional innovation.
Alibaba's Taotian Group ESG Operations Director and Senior Researcher at the Research Center, Zhang Cheng, presented on the company's ESG philosophy and practices. He outlined Alibaba's complex business ecosystem and its seven ESG strategic pillars aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Zhang detailed the three-tier ESG governance system—comprising board committees, management committees, and business group working groups—and its "Plan-Do-Check-Act" operational model. On environmental sustainability, he emphasized climate risk assessments based on international standards, the pioneering "Scope 3+" decarbonization target for platform companies, its dual pathways of "enabling emission reduction" and "driving emission reduction," and the "Green Net Plan" aimed at combating online illegal wildlife trade through innovative education.
Several industry research reports were released during the conference. Yi Lanyan, a special researcher with the Green E-commerce Action Alliance, presented the "Observation Report on the Environmental Sustainability Performance of E-commerce Platforms (2025)." The report indicates a significant imbalance in Chinese e-commerce platforms' efforts and disclosures regarding environmental issues. While climate change and packaging have established relatively stable governance and disclosure practices across most platforms, topics directly tied to product and transaction compliance—such as chemical safety and biodiversity—lag notably behind. Based on these findings, the report concludes that Chinese e-commerce platforms urgently need a more comprehensive and systematic identification of environmental sustainability issues related to their operations. It calls for clear goal-setting and systematic management practices to effectively integrate these risks into corporate governance frameworks and foster collaborative environmental action across platform ecosystems.
Huang Guangsheng, a tenured associate professor and doctoral supervisor at Zhejiang University, interpreted the report "Green Shopping Cart: The Current State and Public Vision of Sustainable Consumption in E-commerce." The report points out that Chinese e-commerce consumers exhibit a general characteristic of "high recognition and high willingness" toward sustainable consumption. Nearly 90% of respondents hold a positive attitude toward purchasing sustainable products and show strong social identification. However, the "active group" actually engaging in sustainable consumption constitutes only 56.61% of all respondents. This gap highlights a significant disparity between awareness and concrete action.
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