IIT Goa Rallies Key Stakeholders to Catalyse ESG Adoption

The Indian Institute of Technology Goa-Mission LiFE Cell is fast emerging as a platform for eminent sustainability leaders to engage in conversations to catalyse climate action. The representatives at the workshop ranged from central public sector undertakings, private sector, energy sector regulators, central and state governments, academics and experts from across the country.

While setting the context, Sundeep Nayak, Professor of Practice, IIT Goa, and workshop chair elaborated on the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) landscape in India, various actions taken by the government how ESG is impacting businesses worldwide and the need for capacity building. The former IAS officer said, “If we need to handle non-tariff barriers, we need to build our own taxonomy and our framework of assessment.”

Vivek Bhardwaj, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India, said at the inaugural, “While our weather is changing, our geography too will change in the next few decades due to the conflict between decarbonisation and development.”

Dr Satyendra Kumar, Director, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), said, “ESG is an investment imperative. If a company is actually following ESG principles, then investors would come in and invest in the businesses or not invest in your businesses depending on how you are performing.”

In her special address, Surabhi Gupta, Chief General Manager, Securities and Exchange Board of India, said, “We have taken a climate plus approach in our sustainability reporting framework. Globally countries are focussing on climate first approach, but they are not considering the entire ‘E’; they are considering greenhouse gas emissions only.”

Nimit Aggarwal, Managing Director and founder, EcoEx deliberated on Mission LiFE and the principles of circular economy, reflecting on how circular economy can be propelled through learnings from the past and shape young minds.

The event witnessed eminent green leaders Dattaraj Salgoacar, Chairman, V M Salgaocar Corp Ltd, Goa; Satya Prakash Choubey, Director, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP); Dr Amit Ranjan Chakraborty, Chief, Environment Management, Tata Steel Ltd; Dr Yu Jen Huang, Head, Taiwan Green Productivity India; Anil Kumar Yendluri, Managing Director, Vishwa Samudra; Professor Manell Zakaria, International Tech Expert, Expertise France Groupe, AFD; Mahesh Patil, Chairman, Goa State Pollution Control Board; D N Thakur, National President, Sahakar Bharati; Ashish Kuvelkar, CDAC Pune; Sanjeev Singhal, Executive Director, ONGC; Auduth M Timblo, Chairman, FOMENTO Resources; Ratnesh, Executive Director, UN Global Compact India, Nimit Aggarwal, Founder and Director, EcoEx; and Akshaya Rath, Co-founder and CEO, EcoEx, Prof B K Mishra, Founder Director, IIT Goa, Dr Sharad Sinha, Dean Faculty IIT Goa, and Dr Thaseem Tahjuddin, Dean R&D IIT Goa.

The workshop was held in collaboration with the MoEFCC, EcoEx was the industry partner and the Outlook Group was the media partner.