India Is At The Centre Of Global Debate For Sustainability: Dr Mukund Rajan
The Business and Climate Summit (BCS) is one of the most prominent annual forums for businesses, investors and policymakers on climate action. It is where business and governments will come together to agree on a roadmap for reaching net zero emissions over the next half century. It will provide the platform for business to turn commitments into real action and look at how they take advantage of a swift transition to a low carbon economy while reducing the risk of climate change. BCS is held every year in different countries for building partnerships needed to accelerate the low carbon transition. BCS was launched in France in 2015 while the second edition of BCS was held in London in 2016. The third edition of BCS is being held in India for the first time to showcase the voice and engagement of Indian industry in the global cause of climate change.
The third edition of BCS will bring together top business conglomerates, investors, national and international policymakers from different countries to amplify the key policy messages prior to UNFCCC COP23. The Summit will have more than 75 high-profile speakers from around the world, comprising 34 CEOs of top companies, 6 ministers and other high-level representatives of governments, international agencies, global climate-related organizations with participation from more than 15 countries and representing over 30 sectors of the economy.
Dr A Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI; Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai, Past President, FICCI and Chair, Steering Committee; Dr. Mukund Rajan, Chairman, FICCI Environment Committee and Chief Ethics Officer & Chairman, Tata Global Sustainability Council, opined their views around the expectations from this Global Climate Summit on how business and government can collaborate to create new partnerships for low carbon growth. Focused discussions are slated to be held around some of the major themes of BCS such as Mobilizing Finance for Climate Action; Innovation in Technology and Business Models for Mitigation, Emerging Scenario for Carbon Market; Urban Environment & Cities; Collaborative Approaches for Energy Access and Energy Security, Creating Markets for Wastewater, Solid Waste and Sanitation; Foregrounding Adaptation in Climate Change Action and jobs in low carbon spaces.
Ms Naina Lal Kidwai, Past President, FICCI and Chair, Steering Committee, highlighted that it is an honor for FICCI to host the Business and Climate Summit, which is happening for the first time in an emerging market economy, like India. “It is in fact that the Summit is a great opportunity for India to showcase their actions on climate change to the rest of the world. It will also provide opportunities to other countries in Africa and Asia for replicating and scaling up Indian business action in the space climate change mitigation and adaption”, she said.
Ms Kidwai also spoke about the various themes at BCS that garner significance for businesses and industry to capitalize on opportunities that will be thrown at them in this transition to a low carbon economy. She added, “Paris Agreement, itself talks about the pivotal role that non state actors are required to play to implement the climate goals in the Paris Agreement”. She emphasized the sessions on spatial planning, clean energy, and creating markers for solid waste, water and sanitation will further open the doors for private participation.
She said that “Government is key, however we cannot be where we want to be without business cooperation”. She also spoke about the need for regulations and ensuring compliance to policies is very important for corporate engagement in areas of energy efficiency, emissions and effluent control and the need to develop incentives for enhanced participation of SMEs. She emphasized on the role of governments to create ecosystems to enable private sector to participate in low carbon spaces
Dr Mukund Rajan, Chairman, FICCI Environment Committee and Chief Ethics Officer & Chairman, Tata Global Sustainability Council, stated, “We are delighted to host BCS in India as India is at the center of global debate for sustainability”. He further shared the corporate perspective on climate change bringing in experiences from Tata Group. He spoke about corporate sustainability stressing that protocols are being created for evaluating the environmental and social capital. Presently 2% of net profit of companies is spent on CSR initiatives. He also emphasized that circular economy, which aims to create markets for waste and their efficient utilization is gaining traction among Indian businesses.
He quoted the example of Indian steel industries, which is planning to reduce emissions by 20% next year and 50% by the next three years. Speaking about the creation of skills in the low carbon space, he insisted the industries solar, drip irrigation and Electric Vehicles has significant opportunities that can be deployed in the market in the next few years. He thanked the media for pushing the significance of transparency, compliance and disclosures by companies, which as a co benefit has empowered consumers to make right decisions to buy products that align with their lifestyle and value system. “As an overall impact, leading companies are placing sustainability into their heart of businesses which will be explored in detail during the Business Climate Summit”, he added.
