Towards A Greener, Cleaner India

Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) continues to be the buzzword enabling a large number of private and public companies to be conscious of the subject. The Government of India is highly focused on introducing policies and strategies that encourage sustainability-first plans. Being mindful of climate and environment is a necessity now more than ever before. 

Therefore, all major big-wigs in the corporate sector came together at the second edition of BW Businessworld’s India’s Most Sustainable Companies’ awards to celebrate, deliberate and discuss this important topic at the Sustainability Conclave that preceded the awards. 

Participating in one such discussion at the conclave, Sanjeev Aggarwal, Founder, MD and CEO, Amplus Solar explained what ESG meant to him, “ESG is about being good to the society at large. We have to find the balance between all the three pillars of ESG and make it work. People who have been working for the society are favoured more by the investors.” Echoing the thought, Anshul Rai, Founder, Earthwise Investors hinted that balancing ESG with profits is a challenge for companies. “Placing sustainable investing as a thematic proposition is needed, and make sure it does not become another label. The key to achieving UN SDGs is access to capital,” Rai added. 

Call To Reduce Carbon Footprint

Many organisations have created specific wings dedicated to reducing their carbon footprint, alongside government intervention and support. Deliberating on this subject, Manish Chourasia, Managing Director, Tata Cleantech Capital said, “When we select our projects, it is not only good for the environment in terms of reducing carbon footprint, but it also has a positive social impact. Furthermore, we make sure the project is sustainable.” 

Can Hydrogen be expected to become an alternate source of clean, green energy? “Hydrogen has the potential to be the clean energy source globally,” Samir Shah, Managing Partner, Peak Ventures believes.

Conversations around Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) have also increased in recent years, thanks to the booming social media ecosystem, policy initiatives and some forward-thinking court judgements. Industry captains from across the sectors shared their views on the subject matters related with sustainability. These included Alka Raza, Chairperson, CGEIL, XLRI, Jamshedpur; Aseem Kumar, Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact Network India; Tejashree Joshi, Head - Environment & Sustainability, Godrej & Boyce; and Sandeep Chandna, Chief Sustainability Officer, Tech Mahindra.

While experts agreed that taking care of the employees was extremely important, they also encouraged everyone to eventually give back to the planet. Equity, diversity and inclusivity in corporate India were strong aspects to achieve sustainability, they emphasised.

Stepping Towards a Circular Economy

As ongoing issues like war and climate change threaten to live, a circular economy can definitely bring together a set of practices, prioritised as per their impact, intended to optimise the utilisation of materials and energy. To recall, according to the Brundtland Commission, "A circular economy is a system of production, exchange and sharing, enabling social progress, the preservation of natural capital and economic development."

A gradual shift to more renewable sources as against coal can also be witnessed. Explaining the challenges with coal, Rajendra Shrivastav, President, AES India said, “Coal is a baseload plant, it can run 80 per cent of the time in a year, we are substituting that with renewable sources which can run much lower times in a year. The intermittency of coal is a big challenge.” 

The day packed with enthralling and meaningful conversations ended with the award ceremony. The outstanding and impact-making organisations whose trajectory and results deserved to be in the ranking, bagged India’s Most Sustainable Companies’ awards in its second edition presented by BW Businessworld, ranging across various categories.