Group1_D | SDG 13: Climate Action
Climate action
Introduction:
The world's climate is changing, with severe implications for our everyday lives and our countries' resilience. People are experiencing shifting weather patterns, rising sea levels, and extreme weather events. Climate change is affecting national economies. Emissions of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities that are causing this transition continue to increase. They're at their highest rate in history right now. It is estimated that humans have induced global warming of around 1.0°C above pre-industrial levels as of 2017. It is predicted that each degree Celsius raise of temperature in global mean temperature would decrease average global wheat yields by 6%, rice yields by 3.2%, and maize yields by 7.4%. From 1880 to 2013, the absolute sea level rose at an average rate of 0.06 inches per year when measured across all the world's oceans. However, since 1993, the intermediate sea level has risen at a rate of 0.11 to 0.14 inches per year, nearly double the long-term trend. Since 1990, global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have increased by nearly 50 percent, with emissions rising more steadily between 2000 and 2010 than in any of the previous three decades. The world must change its electricity, manufacturing, transport, food, agriculture and forestry structures to ensure that the net emissions do not exceed one trillion tonnes of combined carbon, to meet the UNFCCC goal of restricting global temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to undertake attempts to restrict temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Around the same time, the planet needs to predict, adapt and become resilient to climate change's current and predicted potential impacts.
Companies will contribute to this SDG [i] by decarbonizing their activities and supply chains by constantly enhancing their energy performance, reducing the carbon footprint of their goods, services and procedures, setting aggressive climate-science pollution reduction goals and growing investment in the production of new low-carbon products and services. Moreover, in their processes, supply chains and the neighbourhoods in which they work, corporations can create resilience.
Relevance of the SDG to India
India is the fourth largest producer of electricity in the world and the seventh largest carbon emitter in the world. It is also one of the world's most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The Government of India has taken steps to work on India's INDC on prevention, adaptation, financing, technology and capacity building following the UNFCCC COP 19 in Warsaw, where all parties were encouraged to initiate and/or strengthen domestic efforts towards their Planned Nationally Defined Contributions (INDC).
Established in 2008, the Plan lays out the steps India will take to ensure that both the atmosphere and the development front will progress the Indian cause. India has also dedicated itself to an ambitious increase in its potential for renewable energy and to funding adaptation initiatives by domestic capital in its NDC.
The Government has also taken a big move towards the inclusion of Green National Accounting in 2011. The report of an advisory committee in 2013 presented a five-step implementation framework for India's Environmental Economic Accounting System.
It is not just the Indian government, however, that is responding to the risks of climate change; the value of sustainable growth has been recognised by companies too. At the beginning of 2015, 213 businesses vowed to increase the country's renewable energy potential to 266 GW within the next five years, thus reducing India's reliance on fossil fuels dramatically. Financial institutions have already made a pledge of 78 GW to fund green infrastructure, which the government expects to mean US$ 200 billion in investment.
Company response
Here we take a sample of companies where we will intern during the summer and examine their efforts towards reaching SDG 13.
- AstraZeneca:
At the recently held World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, AstraZeneca launched a program [ii] for zero carbon emission from its global operations by 2025 to make sure that its entire value chain is carbon negative by 2030. The Company seeks to switch to 100% electric vehicle fleet five years ahead of schedule and is planning to invest $1bn to achieve these goals and develop the next-generation respiratory inhalers with near-zero Global Warming Potential propellants. The plan also includes ‘AZ Forest,’ a 50-million tree reforestation initiative rolled out over the next five years.
- ITC:
Not to be left behind on the renewable energy front, ITC has set a target [iii] of achieving a 50% share of renewable energy in its total energy mix. It targets a 50% reduction in specific emissions and a 30% reduction in specific energy consumption by 2030 over a 2014-15 baseline. ITC has started Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies for critical products to evaluate their value chain footprint and identify improvement opportunities. It has located its Logistics facilities for FMCG businesses closer to the market to avoid intermediate movements and optimize distribution logistics.
- Tata motors
Much like Astrazeneca and ITC, India’s largest automobile manufacturers TATA Motors are also looking to drastically cut down on fossil fuel powered electricity. They are seeking [iv] to cut their emissions and encourage customers to join the effort by developing cutting-edge electric vehicles. In 2016 Tata Motors decided to join the RE100 iterative and committed to transition to 100% renewable electricity. IT is currently utilizing ~60 MW of renewable energy and plans to add another 9.5 MW of solar power this year. The Company is expanding its range of electric vehicles and is working closely with the Indian Government and Tata companies to develop urban charging infrastructure. Tata Motors, through its environmental programs called “Vasundhara,” promotes a sustainable lifestyle. This year through this initiative, they sensitized 89,263 people about the environment and planted 1,17,186 saplings.
- Arvind
Textile manufacturer Arvind is committed [v] to limiting global temperature increase to well below two °C, aiming towards 1.5°C, by the end of the century. They have taken green energy measures and moved 80% of their office electricity usage to renewable sources and have entered into an agreement with a third party to supply 14 lac kWh of solar power annually. It would help them minimize their annual emissions of 1300 tons of carbon dioxide from their activities and, in turn, reduce their environmental footprint. New Stores are being launched with LED lighting, and traditional lighting in existing stores is being replaced with LED lighting.
- Titan
True to Tata’s identity as one of the most sustainable companies in India, Titan has taken [vi] up the Climate change challenge and made it central to its processes. The climate change strategy of Titan serves as a mechanism for change and ensures that the changes taking place are institutionalized and internalized. Steps taken in this direction included investing in environmentally sustainable processes in raw material acquisition, vendor management, manufacturing, and recycling. Titan’s lens manufacturing facility is currently in the early stages of implementing ISO14001. Wind energy powers about 54% of Titan’s overall electricity consumption. It has made considerable investments in solar systems at the Hosur factory and significant inroads in installing solar systems at retail stores. Titan has set up reverse osmosis (RO) water systems, commissioned a thermal energy storage system, and an industrial dishwasher to reduce fuel consumption and freshwater consumption.
- Wonder Cement
The Wonder Cement plant’s design is based [vii] on the latest environmental standards and integrates highly effective and state of the art equipment for pollution control. The baghouse and ESP installation made it possible for the plant to be clean and free of dust. Effluent and sewage treatment plants have been built with a capacity of 15 M3 per hour and 20 M3 per hour. A green belt of about 1,15,000 trees, shrubs and herbs is being developed with lawns and parks dotting the nearby residential areas and schools. Wonder Cement is committed to maintaining its water supplies effectively. In plants, mines and government schools, rainwater
harvesting systems have been installed to recharge the groundwater.
Analysis and the way forward
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| Image courtesy: Revolution-Green |
A general trend among the coporates in India points to the fact that SDG 13 has taken up with utmost seriousness. Target 13.2 of the climate change SDG, that looks at integrating climate change measures in national policies, strategies and policies has been a priority.
An observation among the companies taken up for our study indicates that shifting to 100% renewable energy is a target for most corporates. Astrazeneca, Tata Motors, ITC, Arvind, and Titan have taken efforts in this direction, as per their CSR activities. In fact, the former two are also RE100 members.
Astrazeneca are shifting to a more eco-friendly supply chain whereas Tata Motors are looking to revolutionize the Electric Vehicle industry. The companies are playing to their strengths in making it happen. Given the nature of their business, FMCG giants ITC are taking the LCA route to playing their part towards reaching SDG 13.
A media release by WWF India [viii] indicated that 70 of India’s top 100 corporates are moving towards Renewable energy. Corporates account for over 50% of electricity demand in India and corporates are hence going big on renewable energy through captive generation, and purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
In 2015, Infosys became the first Indian company to make join RE100. By 2019, they were able to claim a 46% (of overall energy consumption) transition towards renewable energy [ix].
Mahindra Holidays and Resorts, and Dalmia Cement are other Indian members at the RE100 who have set targets at achieving 100% renewable energy. The former has set the target of powering 100% of global operations with renewable energy by 2050 while the latter is looking to increase the carbon neutral share of electricity by fourfold by 2030, taking 2015 as the base.
Changes in technology and policy can bring rapid and radical changes. India seems to be doing good on both fronts. India has become a part of UNFCCC Paris Agreement on December 2015, which is aimed to limit global warming to preferably 1.5 degree Celsius compared to pre-Industrial levels [x]. India has taken significant steps in that direction, before and after signing the agreement.
The National Action Plan of Climate Change (NAPCC) encompasses many initiatives related to SDG 13: solar energy, increased efficiency, sustainable habitat, afforestation, climate research, sustainable agriculture, water and Himalayan ecosystem.
The Government of India aims to produce 175 GWs of renewable energy by the end of 2022, including 100 GW of solar energy [xi] and is taking the desired steps to achieve the same. The government has auctioned 12 GW of solar energy projects, and Adani Green and Azure Power have won the bids. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy mentioned “One Sun One World and One Grid,” an initiative to connect 140 countries via a common grid that transfers solar power.
India has also pledged [xii] to reduce oil imports by 10% by 2022, which is estimated to create 3.3 lakh jobs by 2022. India has targeted to become a 100% electric vehicle nation by 2030, which, if achieved, could make the Indian EV Sector worth $206bn [xiii].
The policies are useful when they work, and the carbon credit system is one of them. Indore Smart City Development Limited has earned 50 lakh rupees by their eco-friendly projects. Those projects mitigated 1.7 lakh tonnes of carbon and these unreleased emissions are converted into carbon credits and then traded. The corporations which needed to meet their emission norms can buy carbon credits [xiv].
In this way, apart from increasing consumer and corporate sensitization, the changes in policies and innovations are helping India achieve the SDG 13.
That said, there is no room for complacency as the road to achieve these goals are long and filled with obstacles. For instance, Ms Bhavna Prasad, Director, Sustainable Business, WWF-India claimed that interviewees from different companies claimed policy and regulatory challenges as one of the biggest hindrances against going carbon neutral. Other challenges mentioned in the report [viii] include infrastructure, technical and financial barriers.
It is also noteworthy that in this rapidly changing world, it is important for companies to be proactive ahead of the challenges they will encounter that could dent their chances of achieving 100% renewable energy. Unforeseen challenges such as the Coronavirus pandemic could dent their goals if they are not agile enough to adapt and improvise.
References:
[i]https://in.one.un.org/page/sustainable-development-goals/sdg-13/
[ii] https://www.astrazeneca.com/content/dam/az/Sustainability/2020/pdf/Sustainability_Report_2019.pdf
[iii] https://www.itcportal.com/sustainability/sustainability-report-2020/sustainability-report-2020.pdf
[iv] https://www.tatamotors.com/press/tata-motors-releases-its-annual-csr-report-fy-2019-20/
[v] https://www.arvind.com/pdf/ArvindSR.pdf
[vi] https://www.titancompany.in/content/climate-change
[vii] https://wondercement.com/pdf/CSR%20Policy.pdf
[viii] https://www.wwfindia.org/news_facts/?uNewsID=18321
[x] https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement
[xi] https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/india-seeks-cheaper-renewable-power-contracts-to-spur-solar-wind-projects-120121000391_1.html
[xiv] https://www.thebetterindia.com/243019/ias-hero-carbon-credits-indore-smart-city-aditi-garg-first-carbon-credit-earn-mitigate-carbon-emissions-compost-unfccc-him16/
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