Delta Founder and Honorary Chairman Bruce C.H. Cheng became the sole Taiwanese entrepreneur to win the “2016 China Outstanding Individuals in Social Responsibility” award when he was named at the combined 2016 Gala Event for Social Responsibility that Benefits the General Public in China and launch event for the China Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Yearbook 2016, held at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse Beijing on December 2, 2016. Cheng topped the Outstanding Individuals ranking when he received 197,100 votes during the online voting segment of the process. His outstanding achievements were also included in the China CSR Yearbook 2016.
Delta has long been committed to its mission of “providing innovative, clean and energy-efficient solutions for a better tomorrow” and of fulfilling its corporate social responsibility by continuously focusing on the energy savings delivered by its products and achieved at its business locations, as well as by promoting environmentally-friendly buildings. Cheng has always paid close attention to the topics of climate change.
In 1990, he founded the Delta Environmental & Educational Foundation to foster education and advocacy of issues concerning energy and climate, as well as to promote the advantages of green buildings and foster the training of new talent. The three programs, the Delta Science & Technology Educational Development Program, the Delta Scholars' Program and the Delta Environmental Law Scholars' Program, funded by the foundation, have been widely recognized for their achievements of sponsoring 237 research programs, awarding grants to 75 leading scholars, and scholarships to more than 1,000 outstanding graduate students.
Cheng expressed his appreciation to the co-organizers Xinhuanet and the Research Center for CSR at the Institute of Economics of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences for their recognition of Delta and for his own achievements in CSR. In response to global climate change, which is becoming more apparent by the day, Delta has combined its CSR efforts with business strategy to work closely with its customers to reduce carbon emissions by continuously strengthening its key power and electronics capabilities and developing innovative products.
With the support of Delta's global workforce and widely-used energy-saving solutions, the energy usage intensity (EUI) at the company's major business locations worldwide was reduced by 50% from 2009 to 2014. The company has promised to reduce electricity consumption a further 30% by 2020. In addition, as part of its efforts to create a sustainable environment, Delta also designed and organized the Delta Green Building Exhibition in 2015 and 2016 where it shared its practical experience in advocating for higher energy efficiency in buildings.
During a speech that Cheng delivered at the discussion session that was part of the Gala Event, he stressed that education and the fostering of talented individuals are fundamental to doing away with poverty, which reflected the theme of the event: An Innovative, Precision-driven Way of Helping the Disadvantaged.
The Delta Foundation, an organization which has long supported the "Hope for Pearl" program, has to date funded the establishment of eight Delta Pearl classes at four schools, and financially supported 270 Pearl students who excelled in their studies during their 3-year senior high school program but live in exceptionally disadvantaged circumstances.
The Pearl students put outstanding effort into their studies and eventually performed extremely well on their National Higher Education Entrance Examinations, commonly known as "Gaokao", which is the academic examination held annually in China. The examination is a prerequisite for entrance into almost all of the country's higher education institutions at the undergraduate level.
In addition, given the rapid rate at which the global economy is becoming high-tech, digitalized and intensively data oriented, Delta has created the DeltaMOOCx, a massive open online course (MOOC) platform designed for senior high school students majoring in natural sciences and for college students majoring in automation at science and engineering universities. One of the goals of the MOOC is to eliminate the gap between urban and rural education and between theory and practice via the use of the digital learning platform.
In addition, through the Delta Science & Technology Educational Development Program and by hosting green building design competitions, Delta has supported university fellows and graduates engaged in energy conservation and environmental protection as well as advocated for the improvement of the energy efficiency of products. The company has also pushed for the improvement of environmental laws and regulations. One of the aims of these efforts is to persuade more talented individuals to choose a career in the environmental industry and to contribute to building an industry manned by serious professionals.
Since 2000, the foundation has partnered with around 10 leading universities including Tsinghua University and Zhejiang University via the Delta Science & Technology Educational Development Program. The program has sponsored 237 research programs, awarded grants to 41 leading research programs, scholarships to more than 1,000 outstanding graduate students, and Cai Xuansan scholarships to seven doctoral students.
Twenty-seven outstanding students have received the Delta Scholar award, twelve have been named Delta Young Scholars, and twenty visiting scholars have been sponsored by Delta. The Delta Power Electronics Seminar, which has been held sixteen times, also exerts a far-reaching influence across the educational system that trains students that eventually become executives in Mainland China's power generation and electronics industries.
Since 2011, four talented individuals have received the Delta Environmental Law Scholar award while twelve have been named as Delta Environmental Law Young Scholars. Eighteen graduate students have received the Outstanding Dissertation award and 229 students have been awarded dissertation scholarships. The 6th Delta Environmental Law Forum was also recently held.
Since 2007, the foundation has sponsored the International Solar Building Design Competition six times. The worldwide contest has received 1,032 qualified proposals from 5,537 teams spread across more than 90 countries.
Under Cheng's leadership, Delta has remained committed to promoting environmentally-friendly design and manufacturing, developing innovative green products and energy-saving technologies, continuously upgrading the energy conversion efficiency of its products as well as helping customers enhance energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption. Between 2010 and 2015, Delta's efficient and energy-saving products have helped customers save 17.3 billion kWh in electricity and 9.2 million tons in CO2 emissions.
Since 2006, all of the factories and offices, as well as buildings the firm has constructed around the world as a part of its own donations, have adopted environmentally-friendly practices. To date, Delta has built 23 green buildings, including the Yangjiazhen Delta Sunshine Elementary School, the result of its own 10 million yuan donation following the Wenchuan earthquake in Mianyang, Sichuan Province, and the Delta Sunshine Junior High School in Longmen, Sichuan Province, the result of another 10 million yuan donation made by the company following the Lushan earthquake. In 2015, Delta's 12 certified green factories, offices and donated buildings saved 9.79 million KWh in electricity, and reduced CO2 emissions by 6,961 tons.
Delta has received many international awards for its extraordinary CSR achievements. Since 2009, the company has been selected as one of China's Top 100 Green Companies by the China Entrepreneur Club for five years running. It has also been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) since 2011 for the sixth consecutive year. Since 2013, Delta has been named one of China's Top 10 Best CSR Foreign-funded Companies by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences for four years running. The company also participated in the creation of the Climate Performance Leadership Index (CPLI), a part of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).
Cheng has received honorary doctorates from nine universities, among them Taiwan Tsing Hua University, in recognition of his significant contributions as a result of taking the lead in transforming the industry, in developing innovative technology and incubating talent. He received the CSR Lifetime Contribution Award from Global Views Monthly in 2015 and was conferred the title of Taiwan's first Gentle Entrepreneur in 2016.
The Gala Event was jointly held by Xinhuanet.com, the Research Center for CSR at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The event's theme, Bring Honor to Your Organization through Engagement that Changes the World, accurately reflects China's innovative approach to CSR and CSR development. The event recognized companies and individuals in ten award categories including the 2016 China Outstanding Individuals in Social Responsibility award and the 2016 China Outstanding Companies in Social Responsibility award for their outstanding contributions to CSR based on their overall performance for 2016.