joined its global board of directors in April 2010. In 2013, he became chairman of the board for The Nature Conservancy's China Program; this was one day after he stepped down from Alibaba as company CEO. In 2014, he was ranked as the 30th-most-powerful person in the world in an annual ranking published by Forbes. In 2015, Asian Award honoured him with the Entrepreneur of the Year award. In 2016, he was awarded the Chevalier of the French Legion of Honour by French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development Laurent Fabius. In 2017, Fortune ranked Ma second on its World's 50 Greatest Leaders list. In 2017, a KPMG survey ranked Ma third in global tech innovation visionary survey. In October 2017, Ma was given an honorary degree of Doctor of Science in Technopreneurship from De La Salle University Manila, Philippines. In May 2018, Ma was given an honorary degree of Doctor of Social Sciences by the University of Hong Kong in recognition of his contributions to technology, society and the world. In May 2018, Ma received an honorary doctorate from professors Yaakov Frenkel and Yaron Oz at the Tel Aviv University. In May 2019, Ma and other 16 influential global figures were appointed by Secretary-General of the United Nations as the new advocates for sustainable development goals. In July 2020, Ma received from King Abdullah II a first class medal for his contribution in fighting back against the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2020, Ma was to receive from the President of Pakistan a Hilal e Quaid e Azam medal for his contribution in fighting back against the COVID-19 pandemic. Views Ma is a adherent of both Buddhism and Taoism. At the annual general meeting of shareholders for Alibaba.com in May 2010, Ma announced Alibaba Group would begin in 2010 to earmark 0.3% of annual revenue to environmental protection, particularly on water- and air-quality improvement projects. Of the future of Alibaba, he has said, "our challenge is to help more people to make healthy money, 'sustainable money', money that is not only good for themselves but also good for the society. That's the transformation we are aiming to make." On September 24 2014, in an interview with Taobao, Ma attributed the strength of American society, due to the country rooted in its Judeo-Christian heritage, and expressed his belief in the importance for China to implement a positive value system, in