Mainstreaming Sustainability in Business Planning & Practices   Newsletter | February 2019       TERI Views   Editorial by Arupendra Nath Mullick, Vice President - TERI CBS     Two weeks ago, we concluded yet another successful edition of our annual World Sustainable Development Summit. In his inaugural address, Mr M Venkaiah Naidu, Hon'ble Vice President of India reiterated that sustainable development is inclusive development which includes sustainable agriculture, sustainable mobility solutions, urbanisation, energy security and clean energy, waste management and efforts in wildlife conservation. Dr Harsha Vardhan, Hon'ble Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change acknowledged that the Resource Efficiency Cell – jointly set up by MoEF&CC and TERI – will enable inter-ministerial and inter-departmental synergy in promoting material resource efficiency in India while helping frame the blueprint of the integrated Resource Efficiency policy for India. In fact, the recognition for our Summit by the United Nations, in its Roadmap to Climate Summit 2019, illustrates its growing relevance. The Summit sought to create action frameworks to resolve some of the most urgent challenges facing developing economies in the backdrop of climate change, including – clean oceans, transport & mobility, sustainable agriculture, climate finance and energy transition. Our Council for Business Sustainability serves as the interface for our research work to be connected to the corporate world and enables a two-way communication and engagement. TERI CBS engages with the core issue of what businesses must do to shape and lead in sustainability. Activities of the Council are governed by an Executive Committee - comprising CEOs from amongst the member companies. During the Summit, a video was unveiled – in which Indian CEOs part of the Executive Committee talk about the achievements, benefits and future potential of the Council. Your active participation and continued support acts as a constant source of inspiration and encouragement for us. To access the array of recorded webinar sessions, articles, blogs and reports, please visit our website http://cbs.teriin.org/ We hope that our fourth newsletter of FY 18-19 provides a good and insightful reading for you. And we look forward to your suggestions and opinions.           Upcoming Event highlights   28 Feb, 2019 | India Habitat Centre, New Delhi   COP 24 and implications for Indian Businesses   12 June, 2019 | Hyatt Regency, Mumbai   India Sustainability Leadership Summit           Around the World in Sustainable Development   TERI, Bloomberg join hands with Centre to reduce air pollution in India With an aim to address air quality issues at the national scale, Bloomberg Philanthropies and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) joined hands on Tuesday to provide technical assistance to the Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry in implementing the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).     Amazon to share its carbon footprint for 1st time as part of new ‘Shipment Zero’ sustainability initiative Because of improvements in areas like electric vehicles, aviation bio fuels, reusable packaging and renewable energy, the company says it “can now see a path to net zero carbon delivery of shipments to customers.”     Executive Perspective: Transparency, the foundation to any solution for climate In this interview with Paul Simpson, CEO of CDP, we explore the foundational role of transparency in the journey towards decarbonization.     TERI increases its solar footprint TERI laid the foundation stone of a 228 kW solar rooftop system and of a new solar pump testing facility in its campus in Gurugram, Haryana.     Blockchain and distributed clean energy: How do the twain meet? Innovative application of blockchain can empower the smart distribution grid of tomorrow.     Shifting to cycling can result in an annual savings of up to 1.6% of India’s GDP: TERI Report To promote the widespread use of bicycles, dedicated initiatives such as tax concessions for low-income individuals, construction of adequate and safe cycling infrastructure, and measures to reduce the use of private vehicles such as congestion and parking pricing and awareness campaigns to highlight the benefits of cycling need to be undertaken.     Highlights from Past Events   Demystifying the Rulebook: COP24 Outcomes & Road Ahead for India   The Energy and Resources Institute with the support of MacArthur Foundation and Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation hosted a COP24-Demystifying discussion on Tuesday, 15th January 2019, at India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi. This discussion aimed to sensitize the relevant stakeholders about the emerging challenges and help inform about the implications in the run-up to the implementation of Paris agreement stated to begin from 2021. Over 60 participants, including those from relevant line ministries, think tanks, corporates such as the TERI-CBS members, attended the discussion.         IN-FOCUS   Financing a 1.50C world The session chair, Dipak Dasgupta, Distinguished Fellow, TERI, said amid a new atmosphere of climate urgency, which gives humanity only a 10-year window of climate action to arrest global warming, the financial sector will need to restructure how it assesses the perceived risk of climate investments.   Accelerating Climate Action Toward 2030: An Opportunity the World Cannot Pass Up Thought leadership piece by Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai, Chairman, Advent International Private Equity, India Advisory Board   Enabling oceans to heal themselves Immediately establishing the urgency of action against marine plastic waste with such statistics, Dr M. Rajeevan, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, India, set the context for the plenary titled 'Moving Towards Cleaner Oceans' at World Sustainable Development Summit 2019.   India on track to fulfilling climate commitments: Harsh Vardhan at World Sustainable Development Summit 2019 Resource Efficiency Cell in collaboration with TERI to help frame blueprint for national integrated resource efficiency policy   Good governance of land, forests and oceans key to achieving SDGs Speaking at the World Sustainable Development Summit, Dr Naresh C Saxena, Former Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, talked about issues pertaining to policy and laws and stressed on the need to keep diligent land records.   4th India-EU Water Forum steps up cooperation on water resources management in India Strengthening the EU-India water cooperation further, six Expressions of Intent and Memorandum of Understandings were today exchanged between the India-EU Water Partnership (IEWP) and several European Member States, international organisations as well as an Indian institution at the 4th EU India Water Forum (IWF), which was hosted by the IEWP and TERI as part of the World Sustainable Development Summit, New Delhi.   How India can go further than its NDCs Adding to the World Sustainable Development Summit 2019’s stated theme of ‘Attaining the 2030 Agenda: Delivering on Our Promise’ is another, more urgent aim: to go beyond India's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).       Publications     1. Accelerating India's transition to renewables: Key findings from Energy Transitions Commission India Three detailed ETC technical reports on how India can grow the share of renewables in its electricity system by 2030 were released at WSDS 2019. A. Exploring Electricity Supply-Mix Scenarios to 2030 B. Analysing and Projecting Indian Electricity Demand to 2030 C. Developing a roadmap to a flexible, low‐carbon Indian electricity system: interim findings       Greenhouse Gas Emission Modelling and Its Validation - A Case Study for Okhla Disposal Site This study was undertaken with an aim to evaluate the emissions from a non-engineered landfill site and validate the findings with past pilot study. This study is the first-of-its-kind in India providing an impetus for other cities to evaluate their non-engineered sites and validate models for better reporting purposes. Project Report       Green, Reliable and Viable: Perspectives on India's shift towards low-carbon energy The book, released during WSDS 2019, has contributions by key stakeholders and sector experts on India's transition to low-carbon energy. As demonstrates this book, there is a plethora of options available, key actions, policies and finance mechanisms that can make it feasible for India to meet its rapidly rising energy demand with an increasing share of RE, limited coal-based generation investments, and high standards for affordability, reliability and minimal disruption in all the involved sectors. But the right policy and investment decisions need to be made now.         Creating an integrated resource efficiency policy for India - with public input TERI prepared the 'Reference Document towards Developing an Integrated Resource Efficiency Policy for India' in consultation with the Resource Efficiency Cell of the MoEFCC. Reference Report for “Integrated Resource Efficiency Policy” for India