Fighting For Mother Earth
“The Earth is a fine place and worth fighting for.” —Ernest Hemingway
The highest ever April temperatures in the national capital in 72 years and summer heat swallowing up the sweet interlude of spring in most parts of the world, tells us that climate change has moved way beyond melting glaciers. Even as the world acknowledged the need to cut back on carbon emissions at the Conference of Parties (COP 26) for the UN Climate Change Conference summit in Glasgow, differences arose over the need to phase out fossil fuels. India, which committed to ensure net zero carbon emissions by 2070, also demanded a change in the text, because most of the electricity generation in our country is through thermal power plants. India has prioritised and incentivised sustainable energy sources, such as solar and hydro power, but the coal-fired power stations cannot be abandoned overnight. Nor can a developing nation’s energy security be compromised without hurting industry and the domestic consumer.
BW Businessworld finds that not just nations, but also corporate houses that are striving to adopt sustainable practices, today struggle with these contradictions between growth and sustainability. The commitments made by nations at the COP 26 summit, now need to be translated into business practices that respect the environment, sustainability and governance (ESG). The need to adopt sustainable business practices have compelled industries, companies, businesses, organisations, and governments to rethink the way they have worked so far and rise to the challenge. Our cover feature examines these challenges on the ground and also tracks the rapid progress being made by Indian businesses to incorporate ESG goals.
India’s southern neighbour, Sri Lanka, is in the throes of a severe financial crisis and in danger of faulting on sovereign bonds. Its foreign exchange reserves have dipped to less than $2 billion. In an exclusive interview with BW Businessworld, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister G. L. Peiris, talks of the crisis and some mega projects the country is embarking on.
The war in Ukraine continues to rattle the world and has led to the largest refugee crisis since World War II. Pradeep Multani, President, PHDCCI, assesses the impact the Russia-Ukraine conflict could have on India’s trade in The Last Word. Of course, we also bring to you all the regular columns and features you look forward to. I hope you enjoy reading the magazine as much as we did compiling it. Happy Reading!
