Our Role For Our Planet

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Today is World Earth Day. As we observe this occasion in the midst of a global pandemic, it serves as a timely reminder for us to not overlook climate change and not put the health of our planet on the back burner. Industry leaders have shared their thoughts on what we can do to nurture a better planet for our present and future generations.

Ramesh Kalanje, Vice President, Center of Excellence, Commvault

“World Earth Day is an annual call to arms for individuals and companies alike to embrace the wonders of the world and more importantly, understand the dangers threatening the natural world order. As we observe this occasion in the midst of a global pandemic, it serves as a timely reminder for us to not overlook climate change and not put the health of our planet on the back burner. Earth Day should be seen as an opportunity for all of us to get together and collectively reflect on the lessons that COVID-19 taught us – about our planet, our environment, and ourselves.

At Commvault, we consider the natural environment as a key stakeholder of our business – and one that requires bold action to protect, conserve and restore. We make conscious and collaborative decisions to pursue sustainability throughout our business operations and strive to inspire others to do the same. We believe in driving the change by recognising that everyone has a role to play in creating a sustainable world – including our business. As members of the Business Avengers task force of the United Nations (UN), we actively support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a universal call to action to reduce our overall carbon footprint through responsible sourcing, use, reuse, and recycling.

The solution to the global challenges that we face today, including public health and the health of our planet, must come from within us. We must embrace the problems of our planet’s health as our own and come together in a collaborative manner to find solutions to restore the balance of our ecosystem through innovative ways.

There is no “silver bullet” when it comes to addressing planet health, but the more organisations and individuals can band together around to not only action but also educate people all over the globe about the role they can play as communities and economies, the more positive the future of our rich and remarkable planet will be.”

Akanksha Sharma, Head CSR and Sustainability, STL

“What we are witnessing today calls for ‘rewriting the narrative for a better world’. The pandemic and the subsequent disarray have shaped a new world order, which is not only embracing the ESG framework on environmental, social, and governance aspects in totality, but is also reinforcing the same up and down the stream.

It’s high time for businesses to take sustainable development centre stage across their value chains. We need to ‘build back better’ together and it calls for reprioritising agendas and not look at crucial parameters like green technology, responsible manufacturing, community inclusion, in silos. It is important for businesses in India to develop ‘Shared Value Propositions’ with communities’ ensuring holistic development. Also, initiatives focusing on Net Zero Carbon Emissions, Zero Waste to Landfills, Water Positivity, Sustainable Sourcing should have boardroom importance more than ever.

We need to act now!

Businesses need to imbibe sustainability not merely as a compliance measure, but as a business driver for a greener, healthier and safer future, beyond tomorrow for everyone.

Amit Banka, Founder & CEO, WeNaturalists

“The pandemic has opened our eyes to the urgency of redefining our relationship with nature. And this is what makes Earth Day 2021 even more significant. Like the younger generation has eloquently put it – there’s no time to deliberate about what we should be doing. We need to take active steps to combat the climate and nature crisis now. It’s about restoring the planet with green technologies and processes, sustainable consumption choices, conservation efforts, and most importantly, environmental literacy. From the food on our plate to the way we live our life, awareness creation about our carbon footprint is important. We have to come together to drive the change and at WeNaturalists.com, we aim to bring people-of-nature together to discuss ideas, exchange knowledge, and much more. I believe the most potent tool in our hands is grassroots movements of nature. They have the power to transform our future. The most vital work of grassroots movements is to strengthen local communities and thus bring about global change. It’s up to us to use education to mobilise the coming generations and keep the momentum of this valuable revolution going.”

George Rajkumar, Country President, Grundfos India 

“Restoring Earth is the theme of this World Earth Day and one of the key elements we need to prioritize is restoring our water. We need to improve the quality and quantity of our groundwater, keep our surface water sources clean and try to manage our wastewater sustainably by treating and reusing it. Water needs to be managed intelligently to avoid wastage through leakages as well as during consumption. Sustainable technology can play a key role in helping us restore and improve our water quality, availability and access. If we all come together to protect our water, I am sure that we can begin our journey towards restoring our planet.

Vinamra Srivastava, CEO, Business Parks, CapitaLand India 

“CapitaLand places sustainability at the core of what we do. We integrate sustainability into every stage of our real estate life cycle, from investment to design, development and operations, garnering international recognition for our efforts in greening our business parks.  Recently we have secured green loans totalling INR 1700 crores marking our foray into sustainable finance in India, with the commitment to grow our business in a responsible manner as we create long-term value for our stakeholders.  We are glad to work with like-minded partners who support CapitaLand’s aim to develop greener buildings while continuing to contribute to the environmental and social well-being of our communities.”

Ravichandran Purushothaman, President, Danfoss India

“Today, the world demands a transformative economic, social, and environmental solution to mitigate the challenges of climate change. While rebuilding our economies after the pandemic, it is essential for us to invest in energy efficiency and action on sustainability. This simple shift in mindset can promote growth across multiple levels and help create new jobs. While India is on track to meet its COP21 commitments, COP26 planned later this year is looking towards a Net Zero or a Race to Zero challenge for a world where energy efficiency and sustainability will be among the main pillars.

Global figures indicate that over 78 per cent of global emissions are generated by buildings, transport, and industry. The technologies that can accelerate green energy transition over the coming decades for these sectors are already present, proven, and ready to be accelerated. However, to move faster, businesses and governments need to push one another and work together. At Danfoss, we wish to create a cycle where bold business commitments support bold policies – which in turn, support even bolder business action and overall change.

Energy-efficiency improvements can account for 44 per cent of the reduction in energy-related CO2 emissions needed to meet our sustainability targets. Therefore, an ‘energy efficiency first’ principle will be instrumental to help us decarbonise our energy system. In turn, this will help us free up electricity to make our transportation systems electric, our buildings green and our cities sustainable. This Earth Day, let us reiterate our commitment to the future generations to help restore and rebuild our planet by laying the foundation for a sustainable way of life, starting today.”