Wang Wenbiao (R), the chairman of China’s largest private green industries company in Ordos, Elion Resources Group, receives the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) highest environmental honor, the Champions of the Earth award, during the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, on Dec 5.

Wang Wenbiao, the chairman of China’s largest private green industries company in Ordos –– Elion Resources Group –– received the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) highest environmental honor, the Champions of the Earth award, during the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, on Dec 5.

The Champions of the Earth award has five categories, and Wang won the category for Lifetime Achievement, becoming the first Chinese citizen who has received such an award.

Better known in China as the “Son of the Desert”, Wang, 61, bought the Hanggin Banner Saltworks in the middle of the Kubuqi desert, the seventh largest desert in China, in 1988. He quickly realized that the salt works’ financial woes and the problems with poverty in the region were down to the desert –– sand interfering with production and making it difficult to transport products out.

He partnered with local communities and the Beijing government to combat desertification in the region, which covers around 18,600 square kilometers in Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Centuries of grazing had stripped the land, leaving around 70,000 people struggling to survive.

Now, around two-thirds of the desert has been greened and local communities have jobs and a more pleasant environment. UNEP research has estimated that the project will have a net value of $1.8 billion over 50 years.

The project shows how private industry can both turn a healthy profit and make a massive positive contribution to climate change, sustainable development and many other environmental issues.

In November 2007, Wang was elected as the vice-chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and, in 2008, won the China Charity Award. In January 2012, he won the title of “Chinese model worker in green work” for the second time.

“Our marathon of desertification control has not come to an end,” Wang Wenbiao said during his acceptance speech, emphasizing the challenges that lie ahead. 

The annual Champions of the Earth prize is awarded to outstanding leaders from government, civil society and the private sector whose actions have had a positive impact on the environment.

Since being founded 13 years ago, the awards have recognized 84 laureates –– ranging from leaders of nations to grassroots activists –– in the categories of policy, science, business and civil society.

Wang delivers a speech after receiving the award. [Photo/xinhuanet.com]