Environment

As individual philanthropy, policy backed-business responsibility and corporate commitment to society takes prominence in India, change agents find themselves constantly grappling with the issue of effectively navigating through a complex ecosystem to create lasting impact. Stakeholder engagement lies at the heart of enabling change and achieving outcomes that are lasting and impactful. Change agents –...

A world-first milestone in sustainable and responsible tourism management, 50 individual hotels from India’s Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, one of Asia's largest hotel companies achieved Earth Check Gold Certification. Individual hotels in the Taj Group portfolio, ranging from Rambagh Palace, Jaipur to Taj 51 Buckingham Gate Suites and Residences, London, have been awarded...

Climate change is emerging as one of this century's greatest destabilizing forces, undermining the global economy, impacting food and water security, and affecting health and wellness. It is now firmly on the global agenda and governments, corporations, and communities are joining hands towards securing the planet’s future. The historic Conference of Parties (COP21) at...

Monsoon is nearing, chances are that we easily ignore the currently prevailing severe drought conditions in our country and assume that rains will do their bit. But come summer next year and we may have similar or worse situation again. The drought phenomenon has been repeating itself consistently every summer since the past few years...

Environmental protection is one the biggest challenges world is facing today. Industrial growth is blamed to have caused major ecological degradation. But with education, growing awareness and peer pressure, many companies are now making it a point to focus on inclusive growth where environment is not neglected. Time has come when corporate houses and...

The drought situation in India needs increasing effort so as to overcome this scenario. Many individuals and NGOs have come forward to contribute to improve the condition faced by people who have been affected by drought. Since 1st May, Maharashtra Trucks & Lorry Association has volunteered to use their vehicles to provide water to...

With the need of creating more residential areas due to rising population and rapid urbanisation, emphasis on greener construction and energy efficiency is also becoming important. The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Mahindra Lifespaces announced the creation of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) focused on improving energy efficiency in India’s residential buildings sector. The...

India’s renewable energy sector has been ranked third in the Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) with US and China at first and second place respectively. The so-called emerging markets now represent half the countries in the 40-strong index, including four African markets featuring in the top 30. Only a decade ago, China and...

On 30 April, Etihad Airways announced that it will forego the traditional water cannon salute for the maiden flight of its Airbus A380 to Mumbai on 1 May. Provided by airports to mark the arrival of a first flight, Etihad took the decision to do away with it because of the drought in Maharashtra. Taxi...

The historic agreement on climate change marked a major milestone on Friday with a record 175 countries, including India, signing on to it on opening day. But world leaders made clear more action is needed, and quickly, to fight a relentless rise in global temperatures. With the planet heating up to record levels, sea levels...

On 1 April, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Rules complete two years of existence. The two years have been a learning curve for all stakeholders. They have also seen an ever-increasing number of claims being made to funds available under the head. Given the level of interest, one would think that the corpus available under...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan seeks to promote a culture of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation. Eager to gain momentum, the Centre is considering a proposal to ask private companies and PSUs to spend around 25- 30% of CSR funds on the cleanliness programme. It expects to garner close to Rs 2 lakh crore...