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Yet, over the past decade, India has shifted largely to more-efficient LED bulbs. Consider the humble light bulb, whose technology has barely changed in a century. Second, systemic transformation is evident at multiple levels, most obviously in technology innovation but also in regulation. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change database now includes EDF’s study data. Science is at the heart of EDF’s work, which makes our research on emissions from rice cultivation (notably methane, a potent greenhouse gas) of fundamental relevance to India. The results have been startling: incomes increased by up to 50% and the programme is now expanding into Maharashtra. More than 350,000 farmers are enrolled in a digital platform that gives them tips on better ways to farm. We call this ‘climate-smart’ agriculture. Scientists at the Environmental Defence Fund (which I advise in India) support a project in Bihar that secures farm incomes and is also climate compliant. That is an important statement, given that about 40% of all jobs in India are in agriculture. As weather patterns change, reducing emissions will become even more critical, not just for sustainable farming but for its very survival.
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Sustainability is not just about processes, but also people. But cement manufacturers, hardly an advertisement for progressive climate practices, recognize that using fly ash is a cheaper and cleaner substitute for other dirty fossils, and, by recycling this mass of ash particles, they are adopting sustainable practices that point towards green cement. This is as remarkable as it is surprising because there is no obvious consumer, regulatory or even investor pressure behind the adoption. In north India, cement manufacturers are voluntarily using fly ash, a waste product from thermal power plants, in their mix of materials. In the first scenario, I’ve seen evidence of climate mitigation activity that suggests even the most conservative businesses are moving (though not with speed). Three, encourage leaderships to take calculated but substantive bets on innovations.Īnd four, facilitate the investments in technology and innovation required for this green transition. Two, ensure they have adequate technical depth to make technology choices. One, quantify the risks of business as usual, and the business case for sustainability. What should investors, typically untutored in judging non-financial disciplines such as the environment, be looking for? In my view, investors should: In each of these scenarios, investors are the alchemists pressuring managements to adapt, or imposing exacting conditionalities on grants of capital. And third, climate-technology capital is no longer niche, but at scale and global. Next, systemic business transformations such as digital pivots are underway. First, there’s a quiet revolution in ‘hard to abate’ corners of Indian industry.
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In India, whose dilemmas are shared by many others countries, I see three broad themes shaping the relationship of business with the environment. In time, businesses that protect our environment will be rewarded with better valuations, which is what matters to investors. We are in a virtuous cycle of capital enabling and following businesses with sustainability at the core of their model of operation. Sustainability and financial return is the new orthodoxy, and a groundswell of evidence is its firepower.