Imagine it is 2026. For over a century, we have driven electric cars. We plug them in at home. They hum softly. They have few moving parts. They rarely break down. Cities are calmer. Mobility is seamless, predictable, almost boring in its reliability. And then a startup announces a breakthrough. “Ladies and gentlemen,” the founder… Continue reading The Curious Case of Internal Combustion
Tag: climate change
The “NET” obstacle
Net-Zero, Net-Positive, Net impact, Net……. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) recently faced internal controversy after announcing plans to include environmental attribute certificates (EACs) like emissions reduction credits in their updated corporate net-zero standards. Concerned staff publicly opposed the move, with some even calling for the CEO and board to resign. Subsequently, the SBTi CEO… Continue reading The “NET” obstacle
There is a problem in approaching sustainability as an opportunity
Sustainability is about being on the right side of history rather than being approached as an opportunity. To get eyeballs to sustainability, sometime back, sustainability as opportunity line of communication started. Over the years, it has gained wide popularity as a financial and economic intervention rather than a responsibility purview. Take the term ‘sustainability management’;… Continue reading There is a problem in approaching sustainability as an opportunity
COP28 Declaration and Painkillers
On the second day at Davos, I had a splitting headache while attending the World Economic Forum meetings. My colleague (friend) offered me Ibuprofen tablets. Within 20 minutes, I was relieved and speaking in a panel and discussing the COP 28 declaration and the road map to a sustainable future. After the panel discussion, out… Continue reading COP28 Declaration and Painkillers
Sustainable Future @ the Speed of Trust
As the world leaders converge to Davos for the World Economic Forum annual event, the underlying theme that will cut across the discussions will be “Rebuilding Trust.” This builds from the most ubiquitous buzzword from last year’s WEF gathering – “poly-crisis”. The term polycrisis is defined as a cluster of related risks with compounding impacts… Continue reading Sustainable Future @ the Speed of Trust
Carbon Credits & Indian CSR
The entire carbon credit system is fraught with volatilities. Adding fuel to the fire has been a recent development wherein the Zimbabwean government declared that it would claim half the revenue generated from offset projects developed in the country. All past agreements thus stand null and void [1]. It should also be noted that this… Continue reading Carbon Credits & Indian CSR
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
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