WEF forms alliance of Indian CEOs to speed up race to net-zero
The World Economic Forum (WEF) on Monday launched the India chapter of the Alliance of CEO Climate Action Leaders to supercharge India’s climate action and decarbonisation efforts.
A collaboration between Kearney and Observer Research Foundation, the alliance brings together chief executives from India’s leading businesses. It is part of the WEF’s Climate Action Platform and will build upon learnings from global projects such as the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders and the First Movers Coalition.
It will bring together the government, businesses and other key stakeholders to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious “Panchamrit” pledge, which includes the country’s target to become net-zero by 2070, the WEF said in a statement.
“As a major global economy, India’s role in mitigating climate change is critical, and India Inc must add its full weight to the country’s efforts, as well to the global endeavour, against global warming,” Sumant Sinha, co-chair, Alliance of CEO Climate Action Leaders India, and chairman and CEO, ReNew Power, said.
The alliance will serve as a high-level platform to support business leaders in planning and implementing programmes to achieve climate targets, including net-zero economic growth.
“The alliance becomes part of our comprehensive nature and climate action agenda in India, which includes collaborative initiatives such as Trillion Trees, Moving India for rapid electric vehicle deployment, clean energy financing, Food Innovation Hubs, Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics and Clean Skies for Tomorrow,” said Borge Brende, president, World Economic Forum.
Anish Shah, co-chair of the alliance and managing director, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, “The signs of climate change with varying temperature and weather patterns impacting human lives are clearly visible to all of us. Hence, the global initiative and commitment towards climate change, is indeed a positive sign of hope.”
Shah said, “We believe that it is absolutely possible for us to achieve the 1.5 degree celsius target from the Paris agreement. We at Mahindra have launched a number of major initiatives — greening ourselves, decarbonising our industry and rejuvenating our planet — and believe that we are making strong progress to be carbon neutral by 2040.”
A just transition could generate annual business opportunities worth over $10 trillion and create 395 million jobs worldwide by 2030. India alone could create more than 50 million net new jobs and generate over $15 trillion in economic value, the WEF said.