Frost & Sullivan and TERI’s 2019 India Sustainability Leadership Summit Sought Means to Establish a Circular Economy that Embraces Solutions with Potential to transform our Future

17 June 2019 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Frost & Sullivan and TERI jointly concluded the 2019 ‘India Sustainability Leadership Summit’ and the 10th edition of ‘Sustainability 4.0 Awards’ in Mumbai recently. This year, 28 awards were presented to companies in four major categories: Sustainable Corporate of the Year, Leaders, Challengers and Safety Excellence.

Frost & Sullivan and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) jointly concluded the 2019 ‘India Sustainability Leadership Summit’ and the 10th edition of ‘Sustainability 4.0 Awards’ in Mumbai. The Summit drew key thinkers and business leaders, who have delivered and continued to deliver strategies, ideas and solutions for a sustainable business and shared their views that revolved around establishing a roadmap toward a building a holistic development globally.

The day commenced with ‘India Sustainability Leadership Summit’ where industry experts and dignitaries from various establishments discussed certain pressing issues revolving around the sustainability landscape and emphasized on solutions like resource efficiency, de-carbonized power system, renewable storage to accomplish zero-emission vision by 2050. Industry experts encouraged building an ecosystem for sustainable convergence and how imperative it is to internalize sustainability as a norm within the organization.

Talking about the increasingly important role of corporates on the road to sustainability, Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI, said, “Corporates are the architects of sustainability. Many corporates are enhancing sustainability as a part of their ethos. The challenge is how to increase these best practices from few to many. This sustainability journey is where we all come together. We are here not only to recognize the good and great, but also to set the tone for tomorrow. Technologies of yesterday cannot be the answer to problems of tomorrow. I hope in 2019, resource efficiency comes of age in India, and it will be possible with the efforts of all corporates.”

Raghavendra Rao, Associate Partner & Senior Vice President, Frost & Sullivan, said, “Sustainability has to be a way of life to be a way of business. The coming decade will embrace numerous innovative technological solutions in the space of sustainability enabling corporates to implement initiatives better. At the same time, the implementation of such solutions should go hand in hand with the behavioral aspects of stakeholders.” He also highlighted that sustainability ought to become ‘the boardroom agenda’. “The importance of sustainability risks and disclosures is increasing across the industry sector. Investors, NGOs, and other key stakeholders are requesting greater transparency and disclosure – and this is impacting board-level discussions within companies, across all industries”, he added.

Sarwant Singh, Managing Partner, Frost & Sullivan set the context for the CEO Panel – ‘Moving the needle up on the sustainability ambition scale’ and discussed connectivity and convergence, data monetization, Quantum Computing and more. He emphasized on how future technological Mega Trends will help companies in sustainability aspirations. The panelists discussed various important regulators, monetary instruments, non-financial parameters, and environmental consciousness.

Speaking at the Summit, Lord Adair Turner, Co-Chair, Energy Transitions Commission, emphasized “to limit global warming to 1.5 °C, CO2 emissions must fall to net-zero by around 2050.” He further added that de-carbonization of the electricity sector is need of the hour to achieve sustainability, and the three routes that need to be followed to achieve sustainability are – reducing demand, adopting energy efficiency measures and deploying de-carbonization technology across all sectors.

The Summit also highlighted various aspects of the changing landscape, emerging trends, and drivers against the sustainability background. The distinguished speakers at the Summit represented policy makers, doyens in the field of sustainability and business leaders from renowned organizations, such as:

Ms. Josa Kärre, Counselor, Trade, Economics & Cultural Affairs, Embassy of Sweden
Amb. Ajai Malhotra, Distinguished Fellow, TERI
Mr. Mahendra Singhi, Managing Director and CEO, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd.
Mr. R Mukundan, Managing Director, Tata Chemicals Ltd.
Mr. Satish Pai, Managing Director, Hindalco Industries Ltd.
Mr. R R Rashmi, Distinguished Fellow, TERI
Mr. Chanakya Chaudhary, Vice President (Corporate Services), Tata Steel Ltd.
Mr. Randal Newton, Vice President – Enterprise Engineering, Ingersoll Rand
Mr. Govind Sankaranarayanan, Vice Chairman, ECube Investment Advisors Pvt. Ltd.
Mr. Nawshir Mirza, Member of Board of Exide India, Tata Power and Thermax Ltd.

The evening’s Awards Banquet recognized and honored the efforts made by companies who actively integrated sustainability principles into their business culture. This year the Sustainability 4.0 Awards assessment model comprised four major parameters (4P Model: People, Planet, Purpose, and Partnership) and 13 sub-parameters and recognized the efforts of front runners via a thorough benchmarking process. The model also took into consideration global sustainability frameworks and future requirements of reporting.

This year, 28 awards were presented to companies in four major categories: Sustainable Corporate of the Year, Leaders, Challengers and Safety Excellence. Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited received the Sustainable Corporate of the Year Award followed by Reliance Industries Limited, which won the Sustainable Corporate of the Year Award – 1st Runner up and Mahindra & Mahindra Limited – Igatpuri won the Sustainable Factory of the Year Award.