The nexus of food security, water and climate change

One of the most repeated sentences throughout the UN Water Conference was, “Around 70% of the freshwater goes into agriculture”. But coming from a monsoon-heavy place like Kerala in India, I sense a half-truth in this statement. Hearing that most freshwater is used for agriculture, the picture before your eyes will be canals and pumps… Continue reading The nexus of food security, water and climate change

Value Paradox of Water

Last weekend, during my morning walk alongside the backwaters of Kerala, I took this picture. What struck me was the number of life forms that are dependent on water for their survival. The thought extended to my next week travel to the UN Water Conference in New York. The Mar del Plata United Nations Conference… Continue reading Value Paradox of Water

Five pointers to avoid Greenwashing

The commitments made by companies around sustainability are not campaign promises politicians make, there is a much higher degree of accountability. Having said that, there is huge amount of discussion on greenwashing in recent times.  Greenwashing – the actions of an organization deviating from what it is stating on environmental consciousness.  Greenwashing can be easily… Continue reading Five pointers to avoid Greenwashing

Private Multilateralism

It was in 1911, The Devil’s Dictionary was published. The idea of a corporation or a company that is encapsulated in that dictionary has been around for over a century. But if Bierce was around and had to define the company again, there would likely be a shift. Indeed, the profits do remain, but there… Continue reading Private Multilateralism

Cow Burps, Chickens and Climate Change

Just a month or so back, a friend asked me in jest if he could get carbon credits by not drinking beer. His argument was that he was saving on the CO2 that would have otherwise escaped as burps by not drinking beer!  If the reduction of cow burp (god bless them!) could earn credits,… Continue reading Cow Burps, Chickens and Climate Change

Loss & Damage Funding is no Charity, it is Climate Justice

While I write this blog, there is an intense negotiation happening at the COP 27 with only hours left. The topic of Loss and Damage (L&D) climate finance has made its way into the COP agenda for discussion for the first time. While it became the hot topic of negotiation over the last two days,… Continue reading Loss & Damage Funding is no Charity, it is Climate Justice

Carbon Offset – Important Ingredient to a Net-Zero strategy

No company can reach a Net-Zero commitment without Carbon Offset. Zero is the hero when it comes to carbon offset. Every business will have to pay for the right to release GHG emissions in the coming future. If, as an organization, you are not working on your offset strategy, you will enter the game with a handicap, and there are no special privileges that you will get for the same.
This article is a guidance on how to evolve the organisations carbon offset strategy.

Limited Or Reasonable?

As regulations worldwide strengthen in the ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) space and the term non-financial is tending towards extinction, a new level of discussion is emerging around the assurance of ESG disclosures — Limited or Reasonable! The European Commission’s (EC) Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) proposal introduces an EU-wide requirement for limited assurance on… Continue reading Limited Or Reasonable?

Indian ESG Funds – Where are they investing?

Couple of weeks back when I posted about the size of the ESG funds in India[1], there were some enquiries regarding where these funds are investing. So, in continuity to an analysis I did in January 2022[2], I gathered data to present the below analysis. The analysis is done on the same 9 funds as… Continue reading Indian ESG Funds – Where are they investing?