Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)- Emerging Role of Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs): Charanjit was a panelist for the session by organised by SCOPE-GIZ on December 17-18 in New Delhi.

The objectives of the event were:

1) To improve awareness amongst PSE executives regarding SDGs, climate change related risks and opportunities

2) To deliberate on the key action areas through experience-sharing and evolving strategies for achieving excellence.

3) Approach to mobilising climate finance

The session highlighted how India is already introducing relevant measures to attract financing for green assets. It deliberated on potential enablers for bringing together relevant stakeholders towards responsible and sustainable business practices, necessary policy interventions and measures such as capacity building and sensitisation. It further showcased best practices for the development of a robust financing framework to mobilise finance from banks and financial institutions to operationalise India’s NDCs through increased engagement of stakeholders. The session also explored the viability of using green assets of the public sector for attracting capital and financing, especially for PSEs working across borders.

Charanjit highlighted the impact of ESG ratings on a company’s cost of capital, and the approach to growing climate finance in the Indian capital markets, particularly for climate change adaptation investments. Other speakers discussed some of the initiatives being taken by their organisations to reduce GHG emissions and the financing of these initiatives. The measures discussed for coal power plants focussed on making changes to the fuel mix by introducing wooden pellets, while also reflecting on its cost implications, and the approach to managing supply chain challenges during execution. The initiatives discussed energy efficiency measures, and brought out the benefits of bulk sourcing by the Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), particularly in terms of scaling-up the market for efficient technologies by driving down the production costs, thereby creating a win-win for all stakeholders. It was highlighted that green bonds could be a good mechanism for financing many such initiatives of the PSEs.