Asia-Pacific countries have adopted a road map for regional cooperation on implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD 2017) that concluded in Bangkok recently. The road map lays out priority areas, implementation arrangements and a process for tracking progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), building on the agreements reached at the last two APFSD meetings. It will, with the support of the...

The government argued for a plan for sustainable development, balancing the need to protect the environment and continued growth at the third World Conference on Environment organised by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in New Delhi. Finance minister Arun Jaitley pointed out that the Indian society was at a “critical juncture” with challenges like pulling...

The figures are stark. Nearly 1.8 billion people – or about 25 % of the world’s population, do not have access to safe drinking water and an estimated two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages by 2025. In India, more than 81 percent of adults, well over the global average, say they have changed their behavior...

Development regulations in Tamil Nadu are a taking a definite green turn, with the authorities involved considering a slew of proposals to address water, waste, green cover and other environmental concerns for all the new buildings. The initiative comes at a time when environmental issues are increasingly becoming a matter of serious concern. The...

A lot has happened on the climate change front in the last two years. Around December 2015, in Paris, we as a global community, achieved what was considered to be unattainable - a consensus amongst all countries on a target to combat climate change. They agreed to hold planetary warming to well-below two degrees...

From profit to people and to the planet, an effective CSR policy is a vision of this triple-bottom line concept. Maintaining bio-diversity is as important as producing quality products. A Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) survey in 2004 revealed low awareness amongst Gujarat fisherman on the endangered status of whales. Project 'Whale Shark Conservation’ at Mithapur, Gujarat...

Year by year, expenditure in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) realm is increasing. CSR spending this year increased remarkably by 22% from 6,800 crore last year to Rs 8,300 crore in fiscal year 2016. Moving closer to the mandate of two percent, the average spending rose to 1.64% in fiscal 2016 as compared to...

Human beings are said to have three basic needs- food, water and shelter. But in today’s world, the horizon of human needs has expanded beyond the first stage of needs. Access to electricity has emerged as a fundamental need over the period of years. United Nations also identify access to ‘affordable and clean energy’ as...

There are over 15,000 guards on the Line of Control (LoC) to protect forests and wildlife conservation. To manage human conditions, with the involvement of large numbers is a huge challenge. Especially in far flung areas with little or no connectivity. ICICI Prudential Life and WWF-India have come together to aid the protectors of India’s...

Pavan Sukhdev is Founder-CEO of GIST Advisory, a consulting firm which helps governments and corporations discover, measure, value, and manage their impacts on natural and human capital. He recently won the internationally acclaimed Blue Planet Prize, 2016. It is a recognition for individuals and organisations that make outstanding achievements in scientific research and its...

India generates more than 50 billion kgs of urban waste every year and most of this ends up in illegal dump yards all around the country. Organic waste accounts close to 40% of this urban waste. The perceived value of organic waste is 0 or even negative. There is a still an unexplored opportunity...

A FICCI study on Water Risks for Indian Industries (2012) found that groundwater is the major source of water for different industrial sectors across India. About 55% of those surveyed used groundwater with or without some other source of water. Clearly, this dependence on groundwater makes the industry very vulnerable to rainfall variations and...