How to keep planet Earth alive and well

  • Mint has assembled India’s leading experts for a deep dive into the issues facing the Indian economy from a green angle

Alokesh Bhattacharyya
Published23 Aug 2023, 12:01 AM IST
The centre aims to institutionalize sustainability leadership across Ficci members focusing particularly on decarbonization, green entrepreneurship, and nature-based solutions. (Photo: istock)
The centre aims to institutionalize sustainability leadership across Ficci members focusing particularly on decarbonization, green entrepreneurship, and nature-based solutions. (Photo: istock)

At the COP27 Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in November, UN Secretary-General António Guterres painted a sobering picture of the global climate trajectory. “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator,” he said in a stark warning about the perilous journey ahead.

While nations are embracing the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) defined at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil in 2012, corporations are also trying out sustainability initiatives in the ESG (environment, social and governance) space.

Yet, things aren’t moving as fast as required, experts said.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the annual mean global surface temperature was 1.15 degrees higher than the baseline in 2022. The baseline refers to temperatures seen in the pre-industrial era. The WMO estimates that, between 2023 and 2027, this temperature will be 1.1-1.8 degree higher, potentially surpassing the tipping point of 1.5 degrees, which, if breached, would lead to irreversible climate chaos.

Will it be possible to halt the rise or at least slow it down?

Amid conversations on countering the possible existential danger to humanity, Mint has assembled India’s leading experts for a deep dive into the issues facing the Indian economy from a green angle. The Mint Sustainability Summit, to be held in New Delhi today, will see a star-studded galaxy of speakers debating the issues and striving to find solutions to the challenging road ahead.

Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, along with key figures like Sumant Sinha of ReNew Power and Arunabha Ghosh of CEEW, alongside corporate leaders like R.P. Gupta of Solar Energy Corp. of India, Gurdeep Singh of NTPC, Vikram Pawah of BMW India, Kamran Khan of Deutsche Bank, and Sanjeev Panchal of AstraZeneca India, will join a distinguished group of chief sustainability officers from major corporations, including Hindustan Unilever, Nestle, Larsen & Toubro, ITC, and Greenko, to engage in real, actionable strategies to make a difference.

They will discuss issues including the nature of India’s sustainability playbook, the path to 500GW renewable energy capacity, the green mobility imperative, financing the green transition, and the ESG battles of corporate India.

While the world is perilously close to the cliff edge, fortunately, emissions of the principal component of greenhouse gases (GHGs), energy-related carbon dioxide, slowed to a mere 0.9% in 2022 from 6% in the previous year, according to the International Energy Agency. The global-scale move towards renewable energy sources has seemingly begun to take effect. India is doing its part. A sustained push has managed to get renewable energy to breach 40% of the country’s energy capacity. There are other, bigger targets in the offing, and action is clearly visible on multiple fronts.

Will our efforts make a difference? They have to. Because as Guterres said: “We are in the fight of our lives, and we are losing.” That needs to change. Fast.

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