Pioneering Solutions for India: 14th National Convention of Global Compact Network India brings leaders from around the globe to address the SDGs
• The summit emphasized real, on-ground actions that businesses need to take to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and create economic value for India
• Key theme at the summit was ‘Sustainable Development Goals: Pioneering Solutions for India’
• Announced 3rd Innovative Practices Awards- Corporate Winners were J K Tyres, Winners in Public sector were Indian Oil, NGO Winners were RO Foundation, B School Winners were TERI. HUL bagged the Special Jury Award for Innovative Practices. The Young Sustainability Champions award was bagged by Empower.
• The summit witnessed several leaders across the sectors sharing insights on the question of ‘solutions for the country’
Mumbai, 31st May 2019: Aiming to highlight issues related to solutions at Business Inc in India, Global Compact Network India – Local arm of UN Global Compact, New York organized its 14th edition of National Convention today at Grand Hyatt, Santa Cruz, Mumbai. The summit was organized in the backdrop of the increasing conversation around on ground actions that businesses need to take to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and create economic value for India. This year’s theme- ‘Pioneering Solutions for India’ was chosen keeping in sync with the UN Sustainable Development Goals that target creating the most conducive work practices for them. It looked at solutions on wide implementation of sustainable innovations and leadership stance taken by various organisations in India.
This summit today aimed towards building a concrete roadmap towards sustainable solutions in India. It focused on driving and bringing in change for sustainable innovations. It was one of the largest national convention of Global Compact Network India with more than 500 delegates from corporate professionals, policy makers, UN officials and researchers who came together to share insights on the emerging trends of gender equality.
The Summit marked presence of eminent leaders like Dr.Bibek Debroy,Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and Member, NITI Aayog summed up the key role of government IN his inaugural address by saying that, “Do not think of SDGs in isolation they exist in framework of government schemes.” thereby stating that government agencies and the corporate sector need to work far more closely.
At the summit, Mr. Rajeev Dubey, Convener, GCNI 14th National Convention and Group President (HRM Corporate Services) & CEO (Aftermarket) & Member of the Group Executive Board, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd added, “SDGs present a large business opportunity and if India’s progress is so crucial to achieving the SDGs, it is easy to understand that corporations like Mahindra will play a key role in the way forward.”
Vishwesh Prabhakar MD – Operations & Sustainability, Accenture, highlighted the role of technology in India’s Sustainability Agenda and stated that the five advantages of Accessibility, Affordability, Rapid Scalability and Reliability will help the country move forward in its SDG Agenda.
While noting the importance of SDGs in solving the complex issues faced by India as a country, Kamal Singh, Executive Director, Global Compact Network India said,” Our aim in hosting summits like these is to ensure that stakeholders from across the spectrum- corporates, NGOs and indiviuals are able to take concerted actions on SDGs through collaborations.”
A research paper on Role of Technology in transforming India’s Sustainability Agenda was also launched today, in association with Accenture. The paper showcased the best practices and scope of work being done on SDGs by enabling technology towards addressing these issues.
Amongst others, distinguished names who graced the summit included Renata Dessallien, UN Resident Coordinator in India ; Sumant Sinha, CEO, ReNew Power; Mukund Rajan, Chairman, ECube Investment Advisors Private Limited and Former Chairman – Tata Global Sustainability Council; R Mukundan, MD & CEO, Tata Chemicals ; Arundhati Bhattacharya, Independent Director on the Board of RIL, Wipro, Piramal, CRISIL and Former Chairperson, SBI ; Anuj Sharma, CEO, Piramal Sarvajal Pvt. Ltd. ; Sanjiv Mehta, CMD, Hindustan Unilever Ltd ; Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, Secretary General, Indian Steel Association; Anirban Ghosh, CSO, Mahindra Group; Dr. H Chaturvedi, Director, BIMTECH; Dr. Alka Mittal Director (HR) ONGC Ltd. Dr. Shalini Sarin, Chair – Signify Foundation, Netherlands; Vishvesh Prabhakar, MD – Operations & Sustainability, Accenture Strategy; Aalok A. Deshmukh, Director, Energy Efficiency, India, Schneider Electric, India; Joe Phelan, Director, WBCSD India; Harsh Gandhi, Jt MD, GRP Group; Brieux Boisdequin, VP – South Asia, BASF ,Meenakshi Gupta, Co-Founder, GOONJ and Meenakshi Batra, CEO, CAF India amongst others.
About Global Compact Network India (GCNI)
As a United Nations Global Compact local arm, Global Compact Network India (GCNI) has been acting as a country level platform in providing a robust platform for Indian businesses, academic institutions and civil society organizations to join hands for strengthening responsible business practices. We and our members remain fully committed to the ‘10 Principles of United Nations Global Compact’ in areas of Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anti-corruption and the 17 ‘Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’ adopted in September 2015, by all 193 Member States of the United Nations including India in order to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and protect our planet. It has also emerged as the largest corporate sustainability initiative in India and globally with a pan India membership of over 370 leading business and non-business participants their commitment to the UNGC.
