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Colloquium on Corporate Responsibility in Environmental Protection

(World Environment Day, June 05, 2006, New Delhi)

In an effort to commemorate the World Environment Day, the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), Government of India - in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) - arranged an awareness-cum-appreciation programme on the situation of the environment. The Colloquium on Corporate Responsibility in Environment Protection had adopted the theme from the UNEP “Deserts & Desertification - Don’t Desert Drylands”.

Speaking on the occasion the Chief Guest Thiru A. Raja - India’s Minister of Environment & Forests - said the theme was very appropriate for India which has over 127 million hectares of arid / semi-arid land spread across 10 states, and amounting to 39% of the country’s land area.
 

India’s National Environment Policy (NEP, 2006) - approved by the Cabinet in May 2006 - has undertaken a diagnosis of the causative factors of land degradation with the intent of arriving at the remedial measures. The NEP recognizes that fiscal and sectoral policies need to take explicit account of their unintentional impacts on land degradation so that the livelihoods for the vast populaces are not irreparably damaged.

He also added that several programmes initiated by the Government of India in various Ministries are watershed based. Also, as per the Planning Commission there is an allocation of Rs. 17,100 crores for such programmes for the arid and semi-arid areas. Further, the MoEF is the nodal Ministry for the UN Convention for combating Desertification (UNFCCD).
 

The MoEF is developing MoUs to implement multi-stakeholder partnerships to allow for private sector investment in the restoration of degraded forest areas and community lands with sharing of the benefits with the local community. The Minister was happy to note the significant improvement in attitude and approach of the corporate sector, as also their willingness to voluntarily invest in pollution control. This has resulted in the Charter on Corporate Responsibility for Environmental Protection (CREP) adopted in March 2003, which focuses on 17 categories of polluting industries. Finally, the Minister called for a resolution by the law-makers, law-enforcer and law-implementers to arrest degradation and work towards protecting the environment as partners.
 
Earlier, Mr. R. Seshasayee – President of CII and Managing Director of Ashok Leyland – welcomed the Minister, distinguished guests and delegates. He highlighted the efforts taken by CII in encouraging successful implementation of practices that were less resource intensive, and thereby contributing to the development of the nation. He added that CII had started a Mission for Sustainable Growth, and at the macro level there were three levels of initiatives: national, sectoral and firm-level. All these efforts only underlined the role of industry as a responsible partner with the Government in making India more sustainable and competitive.

There were a few short films (public service messages) shown on the twin themes of Climate Change & Biodiversity.These were in Hindi and English, and were part of MoEF’s efforts to build awareness in the masses.
 

The Keynote Address was delivered by Dr. A N Hegde (President - BAIF Development Research Foundation). He pointed out that drylands in India contributed to over 70% of the total cultivated area. Drylands were not static, and if ignored could turn into deserts. States like Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are severely affected, and arid lands in these areas support one annual crop. However, with irrigation these areas are capable of yielding 6-8 times more. Consequently, there is greater employment and therefore greater prosperity.

BAIF has started several initiatives to overcome these problems. For example, in Karnataka they set up a network of farm ponds; such a network not only helps prevent soil erosion but also helps to recharge the ground water.
 

Another example is the promotion of community pasture in Rajasthan. This was an enormous success as it involved the participation of local people. BAIF also experienced success in partnership with industry, as was shown in Maharashtra in the Thane-Belpaur industrial belt with support of NOCIL, in Gujarat at Hazira with L&T, and so on.

Lt. Gen. S S Mehta, Director General, CII concluded the Inaugural Session and gave the Vote of Thank.

The programme then had a moderated Panel Discussion, after Dr. Prodipto Ghosh, Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests summed up the Colloquium and gave the Concluding remarks. The programme was attended by over 175 participants from various government departments, industry representatives.
 
   
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