Indian CEO’s group to supercharge race to net-zero
DAVOS: The World Economic Forum (WEF) on Monday announced a new ‘Alliance of CEO Climate Action Leaders India’ that will work towards fast-tracking decarbonisation pathways along India’s net-zero journey.
The Alliance is part of the Forum’s Climate Action Platform and will build upon learnings from global projects.
A collaboration between Kearney and Observer Research Foundation, the Alliance brings together chief executives from India’s leading businesses, the government, and other key stakeholders to achieve the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious, five-part “Panchamrit” pledge, which includes the country’s net-zero by 2070 target, WEF said.
“As a major global economy, India’s role in mitigating climate change is critical and India Inc. must add its full weight to the country’s efforts, as well as to the global endeavour against global warming,” said Sumant Sinha, co-chair, Alliance of CEO Climate Action Leaders India, and chairman and chief executive officer, ReNew Power.
The Alliance will serve as a high-level platform to support business leaders in planning and implementing plans and programmes to achieve climate targets, including net-zero economic growth.
“The Alliance becomes part of our comprehensive nature and climate action agenda in India, which includes collaborative initiatives such as Trillion Trees, Moving India, for rapid electric vehicle deployment, clean energy financing, Food Innovation Hubs, Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics and Clean Skies for Tomorrow,” said Borge Brende, president, WEF.
“The signs of climate change with varying temperature and weather patterns impacting human lives are clearly visible to all of us. Hence, the global initiative and commitment towards climate change, is indeed a positive sign of hope,” said Anish Shah, co-chair of the Alliance and Mahindra Group’s managing director.
“We believe that it is absolutely possible for us to achieve the 1.5 degree Celsius target from the Paris agreement. We at Mahindra have launched a number of initiatives, including ourselves, decarbonising our industry and rejuvenating our planet, and believe that we are making strong progress to be carbon neutral by 2040,” he said.
WEF’s Alliance of CEO Climate Action Leaders India is a “decisive, collaborative step to scale up our efforts this decade in the race to net-zero,” he said.