ANNOUNCEMENTS
Bisleri will share its findings with the central government to facilitate discussions and develop a framework, advancing the concept of water credits for the beverages industry. The proposal is aimed at making beverage makers more accountable towards water usage.
Mumbai: Packaged water maker Bisleri is looking to introduce water credits akin to carbon credits, aimed at making beverage makers more accountable for water usage.
The company has partnered TERI School of Advanced Studies to conduct a study that would set a benchmark for the beverage industry's commitment to water conservation.
The study assumes significance given that several large beverage makers have been criticized for extracting water from water stressed areas. Several companies now report initiatives to replenish water used during their manufacturing process.
Green credit for water conservation
Bisleri said it will share its findings with the central government to facilitate discussions and develop a framework, advancing the concept of water credits for the beverages industry.
“The water sector can generate green credits through water conservation, water harvesting, and water use efficiency, including treatment and reuse of wastewater," the company said. This will be similar to how companies buy credits to offset their emissions.
"This report is about proposing a model to the government—they can use and craft it. So, we are requesting the government to set up a platform as quickly as possible, similar to carbon credits, using this as a template," Angelo George, CEO, Bisleri International said in an interview.
Water savings need localized approaches
The study aimed to review national and international practices and policies in water trading, water credits and fiscal instruments and develop a methodological framework to estimate water footprint of a production unit. The study also tested and estimated the water footprint of two production units of Bisleri in two distinctly different terrains.
Unlike carbon emissions, water savings require a localized approach, factoring in variables such as rainfall and consumption at a watershed level, it said.
Problem of water scarcity
In India, 11 out 15 major river basins will be water-stressed by 2025, with per-capita annual water availability below 1,700 cubic meters, according to data from the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, a New Delhi-based think tank.
Bisleri’s move also comes after the government notified a Green Credit Program (GCP ) in October, 2023. The CPG is a market-based mechanism designed to incentivize voluntary environmental actions across diverse sectors, by various stakeholders like individuals, communities, private sector industries, and companies. In its initial phase, the CPG will focus on two key activities i.e. water conservation and afforestation. However, there is no official platform yet that permits trading of green credits in India.
Those in the beverage industry said that while the idea is novel, it could face challenges in implementation. “This is a responsible way for the industry to be more water-efficient, although several large companies are already replenishing water they use," said a senior executive in the beverages industry, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Additionally, ground water usage in India is already governed by various national and state-level rules that restrict the amount of water companies can draw for industrial and commercial use.
For instance, bottled water companies must obtain necessary No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for groundwater extraction and then undertake measures for groundwater replenishment. Packaged water units are also penalized for going above the minimum quantum of ground water withdrawal. Rates of ground water abstraction charges for packaged drinking water units vary in safe, semi-critical and critical assessment units, per rules laid out by the Central Ground Water Authority. However, companies also use other sources such as surface or municipal water—tariffs on which are different.
Others said the move is largely aligned to step up sustainable and environment-friendly practices followed by companies.
"If companies are able to follow efficient water use practices and earn credits their processes will be considered more environmentally friendly, because they are going to reduce their water footprint. Moreover, internationally, their product will have more acceptance, because you're contributing to environmental conservation. Third, is that it also reduces regulatory and reputational risk for organizations, said Nitin Bassi, senior programme lead for the sustainable water team at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).
However, Bassi warns that creating a baseline water footprint for the industry may have its challenges given the scale and scope of a given water unit. Smaller water units may be at a disadvantage when it comes to assessing their water footprint as their technology may not be at par with those deployed that large companies. "Additionally, while undertaking such projects, validating claims in the long-run becomes a challenge," he said.
Read MoreGuwahati, April 30: A two-day-long ‘Exposure Visit Programme’ for CBSE School Principals has successfully culminated here today at the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) where 34 school principals from various renowned CBSE schools from across the country participated.
The visit has been organized by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in collaboration with USTM from 29th to 30th April 2024. The program has been supported by the Department of Skill Education, CBSE under the Skill Education sector.
Addressing the school principals in an interactive session today, Mahbubul Hoque, Chancellor of USTM said that the role of a school principal is multifaceted and essential for creating an environment where students can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. He welcomed all the participants and said that USTM is always open to extending all kinds of support to uplift school education.
In the inaugural session yesterday, Prof GD Sharma, Vice Chancellor of USTM welcomed all the school principals and said that the National Education Policy 2020 has emphasized on Skill Education to become integral to School and Higher Education. Accordingly, CBSE has envisioned promoting Skill Education from Class 6th onwards in all its affiliated schools. He said that an added benefit of such an exposure visit is that it gives the principals a chance to meet other like-minded school leaders, share stories, and gain a lot in the process.
Speaking on this occasion, Dr Jagadish Barman, Jt Secretary, CBSE Centre of Excellence Guwahati said, “This Exposure Visit is expected to leverage the synergies between schools and Higher Educational Institutions and create a positive platform for cohesive interaction in the future learning ecosystem.”
These Principals may, in turn, mentor the teachers of schools in their neighborhood thus, unfold unlimited opportunities for educator empowerment, he added.
In this context, Prof Amit Choudhury, Dean, School of Technology and Management at USTM said that this year CBSE has selected USTM for principals’ exposure visit apart from six other institutions including TERI School of Advanced Studies New Delhi, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Asian Academy of Film Television Noida, Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati, Whistling Woods International Mumbai, and Indian Institute of Management–Raipur. The resource persons from USTM were: Dr E Karim, Dr Azmol H Barbhuiya, Dr Monalisa Bora Deka, Dr Alika Borgohain, Dr Baharul Islam, Dr K Aye, Dr S Gazi, Dr Nitu Borgohain, Dr Deboja Sharma, Dr Moutushi Das, Dr Mehjabin Rahman, Dr Papiya Dutta, Dr Palme Borthakur.
Dr Nirmaljit Singh Kalsi, Chairman, National Council for Vocational Education and Training took an online session on “Up-scaling of Skill Education in line with NEP 2020”. Several sessions took place on both days.
The participating schools in the program were Christ International School Bangalore, Mahavir Senior Model School Delhi, RS Jhunjhunwala International School Gujarat, Poddar International School Maharashtra, Manipal School, Brahmani Public School Odisha, DPS Ahomgaon Guwahati, Faculty HS School North Guwahati, Sharada Vidyaniketan Public School Mangalore, Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1 Kunjaban, KV NFR Maligaon, Ideal English Senior Secondary School Manipur, Livingstone Foundation International, PM Shri KV Khanapara, Holy Brook Sr. Sec. School, North East Public School Udalguri, Army Public School PRTC Bangalore, SBOA Public School Guwahati, The Priceton School, Sree Swami Vivekananda Higher Primary School, Kendriya Vidyalaya NEHU Shillong, Army Public School Shillong, SJ Patel Eng School Gujarat, Delhi World Public School Haryana, Jnana Ganga Central School, Dr. M Ramanna Shetty Memorial English Medium High School, Kendriya Vidyalaya ONGC Agartala, Kendriya Vidyalaya Assam University, Kendriya Vidyalaya Aizawl, Buhai School Sikkim and Kingcup Public School Itanagar.
Read MoreIPCA Centre for Waste Management and Research, TERI SAS, in collaboration with India Development Service (IDS), USA, organised an international conference on ‘Solid Waste Management for Good Health and Wellbeing’ on 1st March 2024. Several experts from medical services, NGOs, urban local bodies, and recyclers participated in the event. While delivering the keynote address, Deputy WHO Representative to India Ms Payden emphasised that “health sector alone cannot address the issues faced by communities associated with waste management sector, inter and intra-sectoral collaborations is the key and the involvement of people and communities stands important”.
Prof Arun Kansal, Vice Chancellor, TERI SAS, emphasised the need to synchronise the aims of waste management, pollution control, and a healthy, sustainable, and thriving community. Focusing on waste management for health in many ways leads to the definition of purpose for engineers. Health brings in a critical human element to waste management schemes, which is as crucial as trucks and infrastructure. Dr Prasad from the University of Colorado presented a case study mapping health care along solid waste supply chains. Dr Venkatesh from Karlstad University, Sweden, presented his extensive research on ragpickers in India.
Participants organised themselves to deliberate on community health and waste management, New imperatives for waste management policies and regulations, Fiscal measures, and stakeholder roles.
Mr Ashish Jain, Founder Director of IPCA, thanked participants and summarised the need for an integrated community-based approach through effective intersectoral coordination where waste management for health leads to the definition of purpose for Engineers in municipal bodies.
Read MoreDate | News Title | Source |
02-June-2024 | Bisleri proposes water credit ... | Mint (Online) |
30-April-2024 | Principals from CBSE schools a... | The Shillong Times (Online) |
02-March-2024 | International Conference on So... | Skilloutlook (Online) |
28-February-2024 | Rising medical costs is eating... | Deccan Herald (Online) |
29-January-2024 | Padma Shri for Kurseong man Dr... | The Statesman (Online) |
08-September-2023 | G20 & Climate Change & Action:... | Online |
16-July-2023 | Trans Yamuna area of Delhi has... | Jagran (Online) |
11-June-2023 | Surya Foundation dwara Rashtri... | Uttam Hindu; Page No. 05 |
07-June-2023 | Hurdles on the way. Why India ... | The Hindu Businessline (Online) |
23-April-2023 | Subsidence in an Indian town r... | The Japan Times (Online) |
“The next 1,000 unicorns won’t be search engines or social media companies, they’ll be sustainable, scalable innovators — startups that help the world decarbonise and make the energy transition affordable for all consumers,” Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of US-based multinational investment management corporation BlackRock said in his annual letter to CEOs in January this year.
While companies in the developed economies have been focusing more on environment, social, and corporate governance (ESG), for their Indian counterparts it’s for long been an exercise-driven largely by the pressure from investors and the need to maintain their brand image.
As per US-based management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group’s Report on Readiness of Indian Industries towards Climate Change Guidelines of COP26, which was published in April this year, organisations were adopting sustainable business practices for select reasons including brand image, growth, and pressure from investors and stakeholders such as rating agencies, customers, employees and so on.
“About 51% of the organisations ranked pressure from stakeholders as one of their top reasons to invest in sustainability initiatives, especially those focusing on ESG- based considerations,” it said.
Experts point out that around 25 countries have made ESG disclosures mandatory and that number is only going to grow in the coming years. In India, the top 1,000 listed companies (by market capitalisation) have to mandatorily file Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) from the current financial year.
Reporting ESG performance by large companies is likely to have a trickle-down effect on the entire business ecosystem.
And startups, too, are feeling the heat.
Sanjeev Kumar Singhal, chairman, the Sustainability Reporting Standards Board, set up by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), points out that ESG has become imperative to the success of any business.
“BRSR or ESG parameters would become the norm of the day for all businesses. A high score on ESG norms will give an added advantage to startups and they will be able to attract better talent and funds,” he says.
To be sure, private-equity (PE) investors regularly undertake pre and post- investment checks on ESG performance in startups.
Satish Ramchandani, co-founder, Updapt, an ESG-tech firm that otters ESG as a SaaS-based solution, points out that several of its clients are startups. “There is no escape from ESG. The venture capital (VC) community in India, too, is catching up” he says.
BRSR is likely to become mandatory for all listed companies in the near future and is a key action point for India to reach the net-zero goal by 2070. “Startups, too, would be part of this ecosystem when they want to get listed on stock exchanges or to be supply-chain partners with corporates that are either large or listed,” adds Ramchandani.
Rajesh K, chief quality and sustainability officer at direct-to-consumer meat brand Licious believes that while investors have started to look at companies through the ESG lens, it is more an assessment of the business to ensure the long-term sustainability and resilience to uncertainties and risks arising due to various aspects of ESG.
“We are living in a world where climate action and sustainability issues are imminent and all stakeholders expect businesses to be responsible in carrying out the business objectives considering needs of our future generations.” he savs.
N Chandrasekhar, founder, Jivoule Biofuels, a Hyderabad-based biodiesel production startup, points out that already there is a perceptible change in the attitude of investors towards ESG performance in investee companies. “Investors are very particular on ESG progress, especially after investment”.
Investors demand transparency, right metrics reporting, and the measurement of impact-generated, among other things. “No greenwashing practices are tolerated,” he adds.
However, most challenges faced by startups in meeting ESG parameters arise from the lack of awareness of their ESG impact, say experts.
Chandrasekhar adds that resource constraints add to their challenges in meeting ESG performance expectations.
Just as how investors help startups bring in corporate governance, they also help set standards (both internally and externally) to ESG reporting, which automatically orients startups in that direction. However, startup founders point out that ESG compliance is expensive and funds diverted for the same would add to financial burden.
“It needs prior planning and is a part of the culture,” says Tarun Jami, founder of climate-tech startup Green Jams.
The ESG myth
Most startups operate on the philosophy of‘hyper-growth’, which means they dedicate all their resources to acquiring customers. In most cases, this means sacrificing early profits to control market share and make super-normal profits in the future.
“Hence, some startups treat ESG as an additional cost. However, it is a misconception,” says Sandeep Kumar Mohanty, partner, ESG Strategy and Net- Zero at global consulting firm PwC.
Mohanty points out that ESG is not about investing money and time to manage compliance. “It is more about changing our mindset and how we do business.”
Experts point out that ESG-focused startups have stood out of late. They have attracted investors at a better capital cost and accelerated sales while optimising the use of resources. They also continue to attract young talent.
Mainstreaming ESG
VCs could play a key role in mainstreaming ESG in the Indian startup ecosystem. In Europe and the US, the VC community has been ahead of the curve in terms of sensitising startups about ESG issues.
“However we don’t find enough conversations of this kind happening in India,” says Timothy Hendrix, general partner at San Francisco-based early-stage VC firm Agility Ventures, adding that investors have been telling large companies to invest in ESG to bring more transparency and accountability in their business.
“We are now asking the businesses at the startup stage to do so from the beginning so that they can be both — have a growth mindset and be sustainable at the same time,” says Hendrix.
Jami, meanwhile, points out that considering how most VCs were predominantly tech investors, it takes a lot of grit to come out of their comfort zones to relearn, recalculate and re-evaluate their investment theses based on ESG parameters. It is now time for the founders to bite the bullet.
Startups can begin their sustainability journey in a small way, says Ramchandani…
"BRSR or ESG parameters would become the norm of the day for all businesses. A high score on ESG norms will give an added advantage to startuJ2S and they will be able to attract better talent and funds.
— Sanjeev Kumar Singhal, Chairman, Sustainability Reporting Standards Board
VCs on the boards of startups are in a good position to influence their thought process to achieve growth in a sustainable manner. However, for any ESG-focussed startup to attract the attention of VCs, they have to meet the acid test of financial viability, says Viney Sawhney, a professor at the Harvard University. Sawhney and Hendrix were recently in India to conduct a workshop on VC and ESG investing for startups, along with New Delhi-based Teri School of Advanced Studies.
Sawhney’s observations were that the failure risk of ESG-related ventures is low. However, most startup founders in India are still weaned towards retail, SaaS, and e-commerce ventures which have high failure rates. As a result, the pipeline for ESG ventures is not enough. “There is a lack of high-quality deal flow in ESG,” he adds.
However, given the agriculture and climate-related issues faced in India, there is a huge opportunity for ESG ventures to deliver an internal rate of return (IRR) in the range of 15% to 20%. That level of IRR is necessary for VCs to get interested in such ventures. To deliver such levels of IRR, the projects have to be well thought through, funded, and executed, he says.
Sawhney is of the view that lack of awareness among entrepreneurs is one of the key reasons for the dearth of high-quality ESG ventures in India. “In the US, when someone wants to start up, they first join a course to get a better understanding of the business ecosystem and the do’s and don’ts that they should be mindful of. In India, there are hardly any courses that give entrepreneurs such in-depth knowledge,” he adds.
The government, too, needs to play a significant role in propagating ESG practices among the startup ecosystem, says Sawhney.
“If India wants to mainstream ESG, startups and VCs have to play a key role,” he concludes.
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