In this critical year for climate action, IKEA Group and IKEA Foundation are making bold new commitments to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy and to support the communities most at risk. Announced today, the EUR 1 billion total is made up of an IKEA Group commitment of EUR 600 million for investment in renewable energy and a EUR 400 million IKEA Foundation funding commitment to support communities most impacted by climate change.
NEW DELHI: Samsung India Electronics has been awarded two Golden Globe Tigers Awards for its initiatives to empower disadvantaged children and youth through its CSR initiatives.
The “Samsung Smart Class” initiative received the award for Excellence & Leadership in CSR under the category Support and Improving the Quality of Education, while the “Samsung Technical School” initiative was awarded for Excellence for Sustainability Leadership under the category Best Project Collaboration. The Awards were announced last week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Commenting on the Awards, Mr. Rajiv Mishra, Vice President, Samsung India Electronics said, “We are delighted to receive the Golden Globe Tigers Awards for our work to empower communities. The Awards are testimony to our focus on harnessing Samsung’s legacy of innovation to transform communities and their lives for the better while opening a new world of possibilities for them.
The Smart Class and Technical School initiatives have grown from strength to strength in a short time and reach out to thousands of students; the awards encourage us to continue our work and expand their scale to reach many more students this year.”
The Samsung Smart Class initiative aims at bridging the digital gap in India while improving the quality of education provided to disadvantaged children. Smart Classes are equipped with Samsung interactive whiteboards, laptops, printers and Wi-Fi to enable students to learn in a digital, interactive environment. Over 120,000 students in 200 schools across India have benefitted through the initiative to date. Teachers who teach using Smart Classes testify to increased attention and participation from students during lessons, as well as higher familiarity among students in using laptops and printers.
The Samsung Technical Schools are a response to the country’s need for skilled manpower and an opportunity to engage disadvantaged youth to contribute to the economy. Set up in collaboration with the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Departments of Technical Education in states such as Delhi, Bihar, Rajasthan, Kerala and West Bengal, the Technical Schools enable youth to gain technical skills that will equip them to seek job opportunities in the consumer electronics manufacturing and service sector.
As of March 2015, 18 Technical Schools are operational and over 3,000 students have enrolled in the Schools. Over 1,500 students have already graduated and many of them had job offers at the time of graduation.
The Golden Globe Tigers Awards was established in 2013 and is a multifunctional, multidiscipline industry award that attracts participation from across the world.
This will enable Bodhi leverage low cost mobile technology at health facilities to provide scalable, high quality eLearning solutions for the primary health workers. ‘We are excited with this support from TAKE Solutions given their deep expertise in the Life Sciences industry. Inputs from TAKE Solutions would be highly valuable in developing relevant training products and engaging with clients where Bodhi Health Education can maximize the impact to the communities,’ said Shrutika Girdhar, Chief Technology Officer, Bodhi Health Education.
Bodhi’s seed funding round has been an instance of diverse investor cohorts converging towards promoting early-stage entrepreneurship. Apart from funding the start-up, the investors and TAKE Solutions also bring in significant strategic benefits that Bodhi can leverage in the future. These include intensive mentoring and advisory support, fund-raise support, networking and linkages, and media coverage.
Mijar, Karnataka Project by: Pattra
CATEGORY: IMPACT INVESTMENT
Funding Required: Rs 30 Lacs
The Organization: Pattra manufactures disposal dinnerware made from the palm leaves of Arecanut trees. This eco-friendly venture was started by a family of doctors with a vision to set up micro enterprises for the women in rural Karnataka and simultaneously create an environmental product – Arecanut Leaf Plate – to replace the use of the disposable plastic, thermocol paper plates and dinnerware that pollute the environment.
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Auroville Bio Region Project by: ADCERRA
The CSR Journal aims to create genuine impact in CSR & Sustainability in India by presenting the proposals of grassroots sustainable enterprises and NGOs that seek funding to keep their work growing at a steady pace and have the power to impact more communities in the future. With this in mind, we are re-introducing our first ten FUND MY PROJECT stories to The CSR Journal readers to read, share and support.
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Speaking on the occasion, N Chandrasekaran, CEO and MD, TCS said “The restoration of the iconic Mumbai landmark – the Rajabai Tower is a matter of great pride for all of us at Tata Consultancy Services. It has been a privilege for us to play a part in the effort to restore it to its original grandeur and glory and extend our support to this initiative.”
He further added, “Alongside restoration, another objective was to convert the conventional library into a digital-led, technology-enabled learning of excellence which continues to house a collection of rare books. We thank the University of Mumbai for this opportunity and are extremely proud of the efforts by all stakeholders in restoring this Mumbai landmark to its rightful glory.”
The architectural restoration was undertaken by Somaya and Kalpana Consultants. It involved structural services (stoning, restoring woodwork, water – proofing, electrical work and fire alarms) interior works along with ensuring the longevity of the building for future generations. One of the enormous challenges of this project was to implement sensitive restoration and repair work of the clock tower, with the clock functioning and working at a height of 870m (approximately 29 floors). This was carried on successfully via specialist workers and restorers. The end result is a phenomenal building reinstated to its magnificence.
Given the demand for more transparency on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, sustainability reporting is increasingly adopted by corporations worldwide as a tool to engage with stakeholders. Although the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) requires the inclusion of context within sustainability reports prepared in accordance with its guidelines yet not many corporations actually do so effectively. GRI guidelines in particular states that:
“Information on performance should be placed in context. The underlying question of sustainability reporting is how an organization contributes, or aims to contribute in the future, to the improvement or deterioration of economic, environmental, social conditions, developments, and trends at local, regional or global level. Reporting only on trends in individual performance (or the efficiency of the organization) will fail to respond to this question’.
Therefore, the expectation is not just for corporations to disclose simplistic efficiency indicators such as the percentage of water or waste reduction in a year but rather provide an in-depth discussion of the performance of the corporation in the context of limits and demands placed on environmental, or social resources at all levels (sectoral, local, regional or global). For example, a corporation may need to disclose not just its annual water consumption but discuss this in relation to available water supply in a particular location. Any initiatives run by corporations should ideally contribute to a wider agenda.
The term context-based sustainability (CBS) has thus been introduced to encourage corporations to rethink their strategy and approach when attempting to measure, manage and report on sustainability performance taking into account social, economic and environmental global thresholds instead of ignoring them. To do this effectively requires thorough thinking about who the stakeholders are and the type of capitals that a corporation has that can contribute to a wider objective. One way in which companies can do this is by linking their company initiatives to some of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
SDGs were developed as an outcome of the Rio 20+ conference in 2012. They were set to replace the millennium development goals (MDGs) which expire in 2015. SDGs consist of 17 goals and 169 targets across broad areas such as poverty eradication, equitable quality education, building resilient cities and infrastructure as well as climate change among many others. Many of which have a close link to the private sector. For example, Goal 17 speaks about global partnerships which include the role of the private sector and the groups that represent them in the implementation of SDGs. Under Goal 12, large and transnational companies are encouraged to adopt sustainability practices and integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle. It remains to be seen whether corporations would take up the challenge of aligning their sustainability initiatives to SDGs in the next few years.
Dr Renard Siew is a researcher based at the Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets (CEEM). His research interest lies in sustainability, integrated reporting, ESG research, socially responsible investment (across different asset classes: equities, infrastructure and property, real estate), climate change, sustainability strategy and green construction for the building/infrastructure sector. Renard did his PhD at UNSW with the support of the Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) Scholarship. He has published in international refereed journals on various sustainability issues in Asia.
Giving the example of a tomato cultivator’s plight, Gajodhar said: “We are forced to sell our produce for Rs 20 a kilo, whereas, it is made into chutney, bottled, branded and sold for Rs 80 for 100 grams. Why does this happen? Nobody asked me before fixing a rate for my produce.” The role of policies at the state and global level reflected this apathy for agrarian communities. “Initially, the government encouraged use of fertilisers by giving subsidies and promising increased yield. But the result was the continuing need to increase the dose of fertilisers and water, ultimately leading to the depletion of soil fertility,” Ram Lachan Manjhi from Bihar. “Even the proposed Sustainable Development Goals related to sustainable agriculture with focus on high yield to eradicate hunger. It is all about food security, not the security of farmers,” the panel noted in its observations on global policies.
Another significant issue that surfaced at the interaction was how farmers, especially small farmers and agricultural labourers, were forced to make way for economic development. We are supposed to be a country of farmers, but we are nowhere at the centre of policies or discussions. Instead, we are continually pushed to the margins, one of the farmers on the panel said. Pooja Parvati, Research Manager at Oxfam India, set the context for the discussion by highlighting the forces of marginalisations in understanding and experiencing agriculture and climate change.
Ramesh Sharma, activist from Ekta Parishad, recalled the fact that no other country has as high a rate of farmer suicides as India. He wondered at the logic and the practicality of several policies oriented on climate change. In a different context, he raised the contrast in the low mortality figures of Andaman and Nicobar islands on one hand and the high figures of the rest of coastal India to stress on the need to use local and traditional knowledge. The plight of farmers has, increasingly of late, been the subject of television prime time debates, campaigns, and discussions by lawmakers. In addition, climate change is a significant issue. A recent World Bank commissioned study predicted a grave future for agriculture and livelihoods in India, of which some impacts will start becoming prominent within the next two decades.
Expectedly, both the issues are highly visible agenda points in national and global policy debates. However, despite the high-profile buzz, there seems to be a gap in terms of people’s perspectives in the understanding around climate change and agriculture. Climate change has not yet become a political issue, let alone an electoral issue in India. It has not been able to percolate into popular discourse – this, despite the fact that more than 70% of India’s population still depends on climate change-sensitive sectors like agriculture, fishing and forests. People at the margins, that is, the landless, small and marginal farmers, dalits and tribals, rural women and children and such other relatively voiceless communities, suffer the most as they are pushed to the periphery. Their experience of climate change and its impact need to inform the policy debates and solutions.
To this end, Praxis set into motion a series of processes in 13 habitations in 6 districts across Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand that enabled these communities to engage more substantively with climate change through community-led mapping and analysis of local realities, experiences, perspectives and strategies they employ to cope with the effects of climate change. The Ground Level Panel process brought the 13 farmers to the national capital to collectively analyse their issues. As Tom Thomas, CEO, Praxis, pointed out, the process aimed at grounding science in local realities by creating spaces for farmers to address policy makers, civil society, media and others at a national forum. The Food and Agriculture Organisation India representative Kevin Gallagher was also present at the event and promised to convey the voices of the farmers and agriculturists to the relevant audiences.
Reports were also released on the Ground Level Panel’s response to the State Action Plans on Climate Change and on the Sustainable Development Goals.
‘They See, They Learn’, a campaign for under privileged students has been launched with the aim to provide better education. Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), a chemical company based in Riyadh is driving the campaign for children in Gurgaon.
Local administration is helping the company to get the campaign going. Appreciating the drive, T L Satyaprakash, IAS, Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon, says, “Vision care is an important aspect of health which directly affects the academic performance of children.”
Joining hands with Arunodaya Charitable Trust, an NGO, SABIC will screen to identify vision related problems and provide free corrective spectacles for vision treatment. About 10,000 children from government owned schools in the age group of 6 to 18 years are to benefit from it. The project will gradually be implemented in all government schools of the city.
“With our prior experience of providing vision care through eye screening of nearly 25,000 children in Delhi (NCR), we look forward to extending our efforts to another 10,000 children in Gurgaon,” says Janardhanan Ramanujalu, Vice President, SABIC, South Asia & ANZ.
Education being very important for India’s development, eye sight holds great significance too. Dr. Arun Sethi, Arunodaya Deseret Eye Hospital, a unit of Arunodaya Charitable Trust, says, “Vision care is a serious problem in India which often gets neglected due to lack of awareness. We are happy to leverage SABIC’s experience in this area and support the cause of Literacy and Healthcare to economically backward children in schools in Gurgaon.”
SABIC recorded a net profit of US$ 6.2 billion in 2014. They manufacture on a global scale in Saudi Arabia, America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
MUMBAI : Re-iterating its commitment to safety regulations for water quality, UL (Underwriters Laboratories), a global safety science organization, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Water Quality India Association (WQIA). With this MoU, UL will be recognized and accredited by WQIA to conduct product testing as per WQIA’s arrangements with its clients. This certification of products will be performed according to the WQIA Guide standard for microbiological evaluation of drinking water treatment units.
WQIA, an independent, not-for-profit organization, is dedicated to providing guidelines for the evaluation of drinking water treatment devices for conformity to safety standards for use in drinking water treatment. The Water Quality Association, USA has more than 2,700 company members worldwide, including approximately 600 manufacturing/supplier companies, 1,700 dealers and 200 allies. The WQIA Microbiological Guide standard provides basic criteria to promote product performance claims and protection of the public health.
UL has expanded its global water operations with a new laboratory in Bangalore, which offers exposure, extraction, chemical and microbiological testing capabilities, using the state-of-the-art instruments. In India, UL is the first and only independent, third-party certification organization to offer local laboratory operations.
According to Mr. Suresh Sugavanam, Managing Director and Vice President, UL South Asia, “We at UL are constantly identifying avenues to support global customers through our technological expertise in terms of safety testing, certification and standards development. Through this association, we will provide best in class testing services for WQIA through our India Water Laboratory.”
“WQIA is a trusted voice for the industry, and provides an independent seal of approval on a variety of drinking water treatment products, which is only awarded after rigorous laboratory tests, literature review, facility assessments and materials assessments. With this engagement, we show our faith in UL’s India Water Laboratory, and its team of Indian water experts with their extensive experience in both Indian and international market requirements. We trust that UL’s portfolio of testing will be an able measure of water standards to the international industry,” said Dr. K. Chandrasekhar, Chief Operation Officer of WQIA, speaking on this association.
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