GEI Vision

The Global Environmental Institute (GEI) envisions a diverse and healthy world shaped and shared by all, in which economic well-being is directly linked to ecological and social well-being, industry is accountable and clean, and rural communities flourish at the local level.

GEI Mission

GEI is a Chinese non-profit, non-governmental organization established in Beijing, China in March 2003. Our mission is to make conservation profitable and economic development ecologically sound by supporting conservation efforts with market-oriented solutions. We aim to solve environmental problems holistically, through evaluation of their economic, environmental, and social elements.

GEI Goals

# To integrate environmental and economic problem-solving in China by building local and international collaboration between government agencies, institutions, private enterprises and non-governmental organizations in addressing these issues.

# To achieve self-sustaining and ecologically sound rural development by linking local communities directly with outside partners in such areas as biodiversity conservation, bioremediation, and organic agriculture.

# To mitigate global warming and increase energy conservation by commercializing environmental technology, fostering sustainable enterprises and developing innovative business and financing models.

# To develop the capacity of China's leaders and civil society to design, implement and enforce socially and ecologically sound development policy in rural, urban and industrial sectors.

GEI Approach

We at GEI have realized that the lack of sustainability of traditional environmental and poverty alleviation programs is often due to the absence of market incentives and the long-term profitability of projects. We have developed an approach which links primarily non-profit environmental conservation and community development initiatives with for-profit business management skills, market access channels, and the establishment of functional, self-sustaining businesses that last beyond the lifetime of our programs.We believe that formulating economically viable models and working across sectors of society is crucial to addressing China's rural and urban environmental dilemmas.

GEI emphasizes economic viability in conservation efforts, promoting the adoption of environmentally sound practices and technologies and engaging the private sector as major stakeholders in our conservation projects. Furthermore, we promote a decision-making process that integrates environmental protection and economic development, short and long-term planning, and local and global interests. Our successful projects are followed with policy recommendations and media outreach for public education.

About Us

China has become crucial to global efforts to achieve ecological, social and economic stability. It's rapid and continued economic development in the last decade has led to major changes in lifestyle and consumption patterns of its 1.3 billion people. With 21 percent of the world's population, China has only 7 percent of the world's fresh water and cropland, 3 percent of its forests, and 2 percent of its oil. This has brought unprecedented pressure on resources within China, where consumption now exceeds production of most natural resources.

Rural communities that have subsisted relatively harmoniously with their environments for thousands of years are now ensuring their continued poverty as they plunder their natural resources at unsustainable rates. Without appropriate and sustainable livelihoods for these rural inhabitants, biological conservation remains an empty slogan. On the other hand, China's current low per capita consumption provides an opportunity to avoid the mistakes of many other countries that have developed high levels of material and energy consumption. Because of the size of the Chinese economy, a decisive move towards new sustainable technologies and industries could have a global impact—lowering costs and providing viable models for other developing nations.

We at GEI have realized that the lack of sustainability of traditional environmental and poverty alleviation programs is often due to the absence of market incentives and the long-term profitability of projects. We believe that formulating economically viable models and working across sectors of society is crucial to addressing the rural and urban environmental dilemma in China.