04 Jun 2018
Today, the world faces significant challenges from a variety of environmental issues – climate change, energy efficiency, water use and conservation, biodiversity, and waste management, to name a few. Growing pressure on natural resources, increasing levels of carbon emissions and rising inequalities have the potential to impact all countries, especially the developing ones, and if not addressed on time, could pose significant risks for the current as well as future generations.
This has made sustainability a major global concern for citizens of the world as well as governments and industry alike. India’s rapid growth trajectory too needs to be prudently managed to ensure sustainability of its development process.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) prioritises addressing these critical challenges and recognises the role of industry in mitigating and managing them. A pioneer in actioning sustainability measures, CII has been working to deepen industry engagement in the area since 1991, when the landmark Rio Summit was held. Since then, it has established a suite of institutions of excellence for the development and adoption of environment friendly practices for ensuring a sustainable growth trajectory for the country.
CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development
The CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development (CESD) advances the agenda of sustainable business practices in India and is on a mission to catalyse innovative ideas and solutions in Indian industry, and globally, to enable businesses and stakeholders in creating sustainable value.
Capacity Building
Through some 75 intensive training and dissemination programmes, conducted both in India and abroad during 2017-18, CII-ITC CESD enabled around 2000 participants to build their skills on topics such as value innovation, CSR rules and impact measurement, sustainability reporting, and biodiversity, among others.
Climate Change
To take the climate change agenda forward, three working groups were created under the CII Climate Change Council as per the Paris Agreement during 2017-18. The 23rd Conference of Parties (CoP23) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was held at Bonn, Germany and emphasised the need for considering resource efficiency as a key enabler in meeting climate objectives as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
CII, along with the Global Business Coalition, is engaged in the process of informing the G20 policymakers of the trends within industries, with the perspective of supporting the development of an integrated international policy framework that benefits from good practices and business experiences of promoting resource efficiency activities globally.
CII in partnership with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), also hosted the curtain raiser for the founding ceremony of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), at the conference. The ISA, a unique platform for collaboration on solar technology to provide affordable solar energy for all, was conceptualised by India and provides the opportunity for the country to take a leadership role globally in its fight against climate change.
The CII-NITI Aayog Cleaner Air Better Life Initiative
The CII-NITI Aayog “Cleaner Air Better Life Initiative” was launched in November 2016 and has been engaged in building consensus among diverse stakeholders for actionable solutions towards cleaner air in Delhi NCR and its neighbouring regions.
CII National Committee on Environment 2017-18
The CII-National Committee on Environment during 2017-18 provided inputs to the Government on the interface of industry with environment conservation and forest protection. Plastic waste management, e-waste management and environment and forest clearances were other important focus areas during the year.
12th Sustainability Summit 2017
CII holds the high-profile Sustainability Summit every year with the objective of raising the bar for dialogue, practice and performance of sustainable business. The conference has become a focal point for sustainability practitioners and industry experts to share perspectives for joint action. At the 12th Sustainability Summit 2017 on “Driving Inclusive Growth” for achieving SDGs by 2030, participants deliberated on climate change, business responsibility, business ethics, and sustainable mining, among others.
CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre
The CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre (GBC) was established in 2004 with the objectives of promoting green practices and businesses and offering world-class advisory services on conservation of natural resources. As on March 2018, the Centre has facilitated over 19 million tons per annum of CO2 reduction.
IGBC Green Building Rating system
The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) commenced the unique program of assessing and certifying green buildings, which has since become a movement in the country. On a continuous path of expansion, IGBC in 2017 launched specific rating systems for health and well-being, existing cities, and affordable housing. Over the years, 22 green building rating systems have been designed to address national priorities. As on March 2018, over 4,500 green building projects amounting to over 5.26 billion sq. ft. have adopted IGBC Green Building Rating System.
GreenCo Rating System
A first of its kind in the world, the GreenCo Rating system is a robust process that rates the degree of environmental performance of a company based on evaluation of different parameters such as energy efficiency, water conservation, renewable energy, GHG mitigation and waste management. More than 450 companies including several SMEs are pursuing the system, and 161 have been awarded the prestigious GreenCo rating, which is now becoming highly prized.
GreenPro Certification
Green Product Certification or GreenPro was launched in 2015 with the objective of facilitating green product market transformation in the country. The greenness of a product is assessed on the basis of a holistic life cycle approach. As on March 2018, over 350 products under 18 product categories have been GreenCo rated.
Energy Management
The Centre has conducted more than 1,615 detailed energy audits including international assignments in Korea, Australia and Qatar, which has further strengthened its global presence. It has undertaken a host of other important initiatives including facilitation of development of eco industrial parks, facilitation of clean technologies and finance for Indian MSMEs, among many others.
Partnership with Indian Railways
The CoE is working closely with the Indian Railways on over 50 projects in greening of their workshops/production units. 15 production units have already achieved GreenCo rating and, Jaipur, Secunderabad and South Central Railway’s Nilayam-zonal head quarter were awarded recently.
280 energy efficiency projects were identified for facilitating energy efficiency in Indian Railways, leading to savings of INR 365 lakh in one year.
CII Triveni Water Institute
Cognizant of growing challenges such as water scarcity and water pollution, the CII-Triveni Water Institute was set up in 2015 and provides integrated water management solutions through the use of innovative state-of-the-art digital analytic tools and frameworks such as WATSCAN and WatSmart. These tools can assess water risks and guide decisions for prioritizing investments.
CII-TWI conducts water risk evaluation and planning using its WATSCAN tool for watershed and hydrological mapping and implements WatSmart, the Water Smart Rating System. The Institute’s Water Pinch Analysis and water audits across sectors, municipalities and buildings helps improve water management in the country. The institute undertook more than 150 comprehensive water audits across sectors and achieved a water saving potential of about 100 billion litres by 2017. Benchmarking and baseline exercises were also conducted which helped improve water efficiency.
CII Centre of Excellence for Competitiveness for SME
The CII Centre of Excellence for Competitiveness for SME has over the years, undertaken a variety of energy management practises to promote energy efficiency in the Indian SME sector for enhancing the competitiveness of the sector and for transitioning to a sustainable energy system.
Energy Efficiency Mission and Technology
CII promotes energy efficiency in Indian industry by sensitizing stakeholders and providing competitiveness enhancing solutions. EEETech 2017, a technical conference on Energy Efficiency, Environment and Technology was organized with a view to inspire energy managers and discussed latest standards in energy efficient equipment, systems and processes. Renewable energy industry applications and other key issues to make India energy self-reliant were also deliberated upon.
World Class Energy Efficiency Initiatives
The CoE has conducted more than 1,550 energy audits, both in India and abroad, which has resulted in annual recurring savings worth INR 3,360 million. It is projected that these audits would result in further savings of INR 510 million. High impact training programmes on Energy Efficient System and Energy Efficient Design Stage Considerations, and ISO 50001 Internal Auditor Certification Programme, among others have helped build capacity in this area.
The Centre is working closely with stakeholders in promoting world class energy efficiency in auto, auto components, engineering, pharmaceutical, food processing, FMCG, refinery, and power sectors, among many others, to help Indian industry reach world class standards.
With the pressures on sustainability bound to increase further, businesses are increasingly recognizing the need to adapt accordingly and develop practices that meet the needs of the changing environment. CII recognizes the current as well as the ecological challenges ahead and is committed to the goal of ensuring a sustainable future for the country.
Read more:
https://www.ciiblog.in//cii-igbc-spearheading-the-green-building-movement-in-india/
https://www.ciiblog.in//facilitating-smart-informed-water-decisions/