Dehradun: India Meteorological Department (IMD) has developed heat forecasting systems which are helpful in minimizing human losses due to Heat Waves., said, Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General of Meteorology, India Meteorological Department, Government of India while addressing the gathering as a Chief Guest at the inaugural session of the CII Conference on Building Climate Resilience and Transition to Circular Economy held today over virtual platform. Dr Mohaptra mentioned about various impacts of climate change causing huge economic and social losses in recent years and how IMD through its Environmental Monitoring and forecasting is helping in minimizing the impacts.
The focus of the conference was to deliberate on the challenges of climate change and collaborative actions required by Indian businesses to build a resilient economy. The conference also aimed to provide an overview of the principles of a circular economy and the benefits arising from its implementation especially in terms of climate, resources, and cost benefits.
Ms Sonia Garg, Chairperson, CII Uttarakhand & Director & CEO, Forace Industries, Haridwar in her welcome address shared that Northern Region Comprises of 8 states and 2 Union territories and out of these 3 states are in the Himalayan region and are ecologically fragile. She expressed that conference is being organised since it is imperative to maintain balance between development and ecology in North India.
The session on Building Resilience by Accelerating Climate Action was organized to explore the challenges of climate change, and collaborative actions required by Indian businesses to build the resilient economy. Leading Indian businesses are also taking leadership in climate action and developing Net Zero commitment. There is an urgent need to scale the endeavor in Indian Business by adopting ambitious climate and sustainability goals along the entire value chain to drive just, equitable and resilient climate transition.
The session was moderated by Mr Shikhar Jain, Deputy Head, CII – ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development (CESD). Speakers at the session included – Dr Jatinder Kaur Arora, Executive Director, Punjab State Council for Science & Technology and Member Secretary, Punjab Biodiversity Board, Mr Paneesh Rao, Global Head of Sustainability, Mindtree Consulting & Ms Ritu Lal, Senior VP & Head – Institutional Relations, Amplus Energy Solutions.
In a circular economy, resources are designed to remain in the value chain for the longest period possible. This is achieved by extending the value, minimizing waste, and maximizing the reuse and recycling of materials and resources. Being a major resource consumer and emitter of greenhouse gases, the industry has the responsibility to transition to a circular economy; this will allow the industry to decouple resource consumption from economic growth while remaining competitive. The Session on Transition to Circular Economy: Business Opportunities with this background. The session was moderated by Dr Nandini Kumar, Consultant, CII – ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development (CESD). Speakers at the session included – Mr Ramnath Vaidyanathan, General Manager – Sustainability, Godrej Consumer, Mr Prabhjot Sodhi, Sr. Program Director, Circular Economy, Centre for Environment Education (CEE) & Mr Ashish Singh, Pan India Head Facility Management & EHS, Factory Manager Daman, Panasonic Life Solutions India Pvt Ltd.
The session was well attended by over 100 delegates including business leaders and stakeholders from the Industrial fraternity from across the country.
