16 & 17 November 2017 @ India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 16th November 2017 | 0930 – 1100 | Silver Oak, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host:
Session brief:
Many companies know the benefits of producing sustainable products, and consumers often indicate a preference for buying sustainable products. However it is evident that the purchase of sustainable products is not the most common practice and that this is hindered in part by a lack of clear, reliable information.
Claims, labels, campaigns and other product sustainability information tools can help consumers to make informed decisions on what they buy, and how they use and dispose of it. This was recognized by the international community through target 12.8 of the Sustainable Development Goals: “By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature.”
Many good initiatives are already on the way –driven by industry, government or non-governmental organizations. However, there is still room for improvement. In response, the ‘Guidelines for providing product sustainability information’ were developed through a working group of the UN’s 10 Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production, more precisely its Consumer Information Programme. Over 35 organizations supported this exercise, which was led by UN Environment and the International Trade Centre.[1] CRB joined the process in 2016 and will act as a help desk for the Guidelines’ road testing in India.
This workshop forms part of the global road testing of the Guidelines, to ensure their applicability and usefulness on the ground. The goal of the road testing is not to check if or where organizations are making mistakes, but to support them to make their claims as credible and efficient as possible, while improving the Guidelines through feedback.
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 16th November 2017 | 1130 – 1300 | Tamarind, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host: Forest Stewardship Council®
The Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) is an independent, not for profit, non-government organization established to support environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests. FSC’s vision is that the world’s forests meet the social, ecological, and economic rights and needs of the present generation without compromising those of future generations. FSC International Head Quarters is located in Bonn(Germany). The Asia Pacific Regional Office operates from Hong Kong.
Session Brief:
The roundtable contributes to the theme of the ISS 2017 by strategic inclusion of all key stakeholders in sustainable management of forest resources, thus supporting the local communities in and around these forests. On one hand, the government’s role is important in formulating strategies for management of national forest resources, and on the other hand state forest corporations are already playing a leading role by undertaking voluntary certifications to demonstrate benefits of sustainable forest resources. The roundtable facilitates dialogue among state forest corporations, Indian companies, MNCs as well as small and medium enterprises and social and environmental NGOs to explore how sustainable use of forest resources could be achieved with uptake of voluntary sustainability standards.
Speakers:
Adam Beaumont
As Asia Pacific Regional Director at the Forest Stewardship Council, FSC, Adam is driving industry change towards responsible forest management with the help of FSC’s three chambers of membership, certified businesses and partners. A trained Forester with a Masters in Environmental Law, Adam has significant experience in public and private regulatory systems and natural resource management with past roles with International Consultants GHD and the Victorian Environment Protection Authority (EPA). Adam is the Chair of the Australia New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) National Regulators Community of Practice and a past Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA).
Dr T R Manoharan
Dr T R Manoharan is a sustainability professional based in New Delhi. He is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Project Coordinator for India and visiting faculty in the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi. Dr Manoharan’ s experience and interest areas include development and management of projects, stakeholder engagements, research, teaching and policy analysis in the area of environmental economics, forest conservation, trade and environment, environment regulation, forest certification and sustainable standards.
Prof. Prodyut Bhattacharya
Prof. Prodyut Bhattacharya is former-Dean of University School of Environment Management at GGS Indraprastha University, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, New Delhi. Currently he is Professor in the area of Natural Resource Management. He has published more than 130 research papers in international and national journals including articles, technical reports, and conference papers and co-authored six books. His research interest pertain to the broad NRM issues and Livelihood linkages; in subject area of Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Ecology, Sustainable NTFP Management, effect of climate change, Urban-forestry, Forest Governance, Certification and Sustainable Forest Management.
Ms. Bhavna Prasad
Sr. Advisor – Sustainable Business, WWF-India
Bhavna Prasad advises WWF-India’s Sustainable Business programme across priority areas, such as agriculture,water, finance sector, climate change and forestry. She has over 15 years of diverse experience ranging frombanking, environmental consulting to working with environmental NGOs and multilaterals. Prior to WWF,Bhavna was a Vice President with JPMorgan Chase in New York. She covered a range of responsibilities, fromimplementing global environmental and social risk management policies to developing green business
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 16th November 2017 | 1130 – 1530 | Silver Oak-1, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host: UNPRME INDIA
Session brief:
The Centre for Responsible Business (CRB), an India based not for profit think-tank, has been successfully conducting the ‘India and Sustainability Standards: International Dialogues and Conference’ (ISS), as international Multi-stakeholder Dialogue Platform since 2014, and is in the process of launching several sector and based forums.
The academic workshop on Sustainability Education conducted as a part of CRB’s 3rd Annual Conference in 2016 (16-18 November 2016), reaffirmed the need for an ongoing discussion for academic institutes on sustainability and highlighted the crucial need to integrate different elements of Sustainable/Responsible Business across various topics of management curricula. CRB is now taking the next step at its 4th Annual Conference (15-17 November 2017) by exploring how such ‘integration’ could be actually undertaken, thereby ensuring continuity of this dialogue through this platform. CRB would be undertaking this session in partnership with UNPRME India.
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 16th November 2017 | 1130 – 1730 | Theatre, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host: Global Production Network Studies
Session Brief:
GPN Studies and CRB are convening this multi-stakeholder consultation in order to discuss a topic of increasing relevance in a world where production is increasingly organized in global and regional value chains. Brands or lead firms in these value chains have a great influence on the economic condition of supplier firms and on employment conditions in these supplier firms. This was the core of the discussion at the 2016 International Labour Conference of the ILO.
We are convening a multi-stakeholder to discuss this topic which is important in attaining sustainable and just production in global value chains. While the focus of the discussion will be on purchasing practices and their impact on supplier firms and workers in the garment value chains, the consultation will also cover leather products and automobile value chains.
We will invite various stakeholders to participate in this half-day consultation – brands, suppliers, government and related industry bodies, associations of small and medium enterprises, workers, and civil society organizations.
Speakers:
1) Prof Dev Nathan, Coordinator, GPN Studies
2) Dr. Bimal Arora, Chairperson, CRB
3) Prof Dev Nathan, Coordinator, GPN Studies
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 16th November 2017 | 1400 – 1530 | Tamarind, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host: Rainforest Alliance
Rainforest Alliance is a leading international NGO promoting and facilitating sustainable supply chains in tropical commodities. It has worked in palm oil since 2012, undertaking assessments of social and environmental risks on large plantations and advising companies on policies for sustainable production. It maps supply chains and helps companies buying palm oil to achieve commitments to sustainable sourcing. It supports smallholders to develop efficient production systems and certifies large and small production units though the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) standard.
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
The vision of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is to transform markets globally to make sustainable palm oil the norm. In response to the urgent and pressing global call for sustainably-produced palm oil, the (RSPO) was formed in 2004 with the objective of promoting the growth and use of sustainable oil palm products through credible global standards and engagement of stakeholders. . It ensures that no new primary forest or other high conservation value areas are sacrificed for palm oil plantations, that plantations apply accepted best practices and that the basic rights and living conditions of millions of plantation workers, smallholders and indigenous people are wholly respected. It is with this view that the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) proactively engages with oil palm growers, oil processors, food companies, retailers, NGOs and investors to work together towards a global supply of palm oil that is produced in a socially and environmentally responsible way.
Session Brief:
Despite good progress on sustainable palm oil production and certification, 80% of palm oil produced remains uncertified and half of all certified palm oil goes ‘unsold’ in the marketplace, meaning that over 45 million metric tonnes of oil is sold without a sustainability claim each year. What is preventing important consuming countries such as India from tapping into the growing interest and improving availability of sustainable products, and how can stakeholders such as supply chain companies, brands, government, and civil society help to drive more uptake in the near term?
Speakers:
Nicole Pasricha, of Toronto, Canada is Manager of Markets Transformation at the Rainforest Alliance, supporting consumer goods and retail companies in their sustainable sourcing strategies across commodities such as palm oil, coffee, tea, cocoa, and paper/packaging. Prior to joining the Rainforest Alliance, Nicole served as director of inclusive rural finance at MEDA, managing international development programs in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and held positions at CGAP/The World Bank(Washington) and Banco ProCredit (El Salvador).
Kamal Seth is the India Representative for Outreach & Engagement for the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm oil. He is also the founder and chief happiness officer of Human Circle Foundation, creator of Young India Challenge and an influencer for the global goals for sustainable development. In the last 10 years, he has led diverse for-profit and not-for-profit organizations to transform the ecosystem. Some of them include, AIESEC, the world’s largest youth run organization in 120+ countries for international exchange program and leadership development and Human Circle, one of the most influential communities of people driving the #DoWhatYouLove movement through initiatives like ‘Young India Challenge’.
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 16th November 2017 | 1400 – 1530 | Silver Oak 2, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host: Deakin University
Session brief:
Internationally, governance and policy processes and frameworks for resource efficiency and sustainable supply chains are mushrooming. Yet, while researchers, entrepreneurs and businesses are rapidly driving the science of new alternative/renewable energy technologies, there is still little consideration of blending the science with good governance of materials sourcing, respect for land-holders rights, ethical supply chains, and life-cycle and circular economy impacts.
What is the road-map for joining up new technology with good governance and ethical materials sourcing?
Despite the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) providing a comprehensive framework for good governance, there is still much room for linking the SDGs with renewable energy science. How do the SDGs assist more efficient and ethical mineral extraction, processing, product design, production, consumption and recycling of waste?
Speaker:
Dr Natalie Ralph
Natalie is an Associate Research Fellow for the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Electromaterials Science (ACES), and is based at the Alfred Deakin Institute, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. Natalie is part of the Ethics, Policy and Public Engagement (EPPE) team, focusing on energy technologies. She researches the risks and opportunities, policy and regulatory impact and supply chain issues of alternative energy technologies and the materials they use, to assess their impacts on conflict, sustainable development, equity, access and resilience. Prior to this, she received her PhD on mining and oil companies in conflict-prone areas and corporate peace building in 2012. Natalie has worked in industry, business, and formerly held government positions in policy and project management with the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Queensland Government, and the Department of Victorian Communities, Victorian Government where she worked on portfolios including Corporate Social Responsibility, youth, women, and education export.
Prof. Linda Hancock
Prof. Linda Hancock holds a Personal Chair in Public Policy at The Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. She is a Chief Investigator on the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Electromaterials Science (ACES), in the Ethics, Policy and Public Engagement (EPPE) team, focusing on energy technologies. Research interests include: corporate social responsibility (CSR), governance and regulation of renewable energy technologies and the materials they use, public policy analysis, applied social policy, regulatory theory and global governance of business and human rights.She has been a CI on seven national Australian Research Council research grants.
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
Paranjoy is an Indian journalist, political commentator, author and a documentary film maker. He has worked with with major media houses like Business India, Businessworld, The Telegraph, India Today and The Pioneer. His 2014 book Gas Wars: Crony Capitalism and the Ambanis, co-authored with Subir Ghosh and Jyotirmoy Chaudhuri, dealt with alleged irregularities of the prices of natural gas in the Indian market.
Shikhar Jain, Principal Counsellor, Confederation of Indian Industry
Shikhar Jain has over 20 years of experience working with variety of industries, where he has designed, implemented and integrated Quality, Environmental, Health & Safety and Social programs/management systems in over 100 individual facilities and for corporate-wide operations. Shikhar has developed and implemented best practices for several top Indian firms, including in areas of improved operational efficiency, good EHS practices and enhanced compliance management.
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 16th November 2017 | 1600 – 1730 | Tamarind, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host:
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 16th November 2017 | 1600 – 1730 | Silver Oak 1, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host:
Innovative Change Collaborative Services Private Limited (ICCSPL) and The Civic Engagement Alliance
ICCSPL is a value driven social consulting firm providing technical and knowledge support to individual and organizations to ensure lasting social impact. Through our basket of services, we enable foundations, non-profits, corporates, governments, and social enterprises in India to achieve sustainable development in a just and dignified manner. ICCSPL is a subsidiary of the ICCO Group B.V.
The Civic Engagement Alliance is a joint collaboration between Dutch and Southern civil society organizations to contribute to inclusive development, reaching the most vulnerable members of society. The alliance’s members contribute their expertise in the fields of inclusive development, capacity development, labour rights, strengthening small-scale farmers, vocational training and working with the private sector, with a focus on the agri-food sector.
Session brief
The agro-food SME sector in India, which is highly labour intensive and heterogeneous, is also to a large extent unorganized and unregulated. This sector employs workers, especially women and children who may be skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled. Female labourers and child labourers are often paid low wages and made to work in the most unsafe, at times hazardous, conditions. Because of the general unorganized and unregulated nature of the sector, these workers are generally outside the reach of protective labour laws and trade union organisations. Women and children are doubly disadvantaged due to poverty and low social status and unable to raise their voice against exploitation.
Agro-food based SMEs, in their pursuance of optimizing business profit, often tend to overlook the human and labour rights of their workers, especially of women and children. Denial of fair wages to female workers as well as practice of child labour in their own business operations or in the supply chain, leads to major human rights violations.
Businesses are therefore; gradually waking up to the need for corrective and preventive actions that ensures adherence to national and international law in the context of fair labour practices. The agro and food processing industry needs to join this bandwagon.
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 16th November 2017 | 1800 – 1930 | Tamarind, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host: Embassy of the Netherlands and CSR Netherlands
Session brief:
The INDUS Forum aims to make trade and investment between India and the Netherlands sustainable and inclusive. The Dutch Embassy, CSR Netherlands (MVO Nederland)officially launch the online INDUS community at the CRB annual conference. INDUS facilitates B2B matchmaking around sustainable business solutions and challenges. It is a place where there is connect between smart minds and smart ideas leading to smart initiatives that make business sense.
Speakers
H. E. Alphonsus H. M. Stoelinga
H. E. Alphonsus H. M. Stoelinga, Ambassador of the Netherlands to India, Bhutan and Nepal joined the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1979 and was posted in Accra, Athens, Lusaka, at the Dutch Permanent Mission to the European Union in Brussels and at the Ministry in The Hague, responsible for the International Development Banks. Since 1995, H.E. Stoelinga has held the position of Head of Mission in various countries and has been acting Secretary General of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Rajesh Srivastava
Chairman and Managing Director at Rabo Equity Advisors, Rabobank
Mike van den Hof
Mike van den Hof is Business Development Manager of CSR Netherlands and responsible for the Futureproof Community. CSR Netherlands is a non-profit organization with a network of 2500 members. We are developing a dynamic and fast-growing business network comprised of members as diverse as beginners, advanced users and leaders, small and medium-sized enterprises and corporate giants.
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 17th November 2017 | 0930-1100 | Silver Oak, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host: ISEAL Alliance
Session Brief
Through 2017 the ISEAL Alliance – the global alliance for sustainability standards – has undertaken a number of consultations with stakeholders and members around the world to learn more about the strategies that companies and governments are using to advance their sustainability agendas and how these trends are impacting on the structure, performance and uptake of voluntary sustainability standards at the global level. This session will present these trends and then invite a number of international and Indian commentators to reflect on these developments and discuss their implications for Indian businesses and standards organizations.
Speakers
Arindom Datta
He is the Asia Head, Sustainability Banking for the Rabobank Group. He is also the Head of Rural & Development Banking / Advisory. Arindom has over 24 years of experience in Rural Finance, Cooperative Banking, Microfinance and Agribusiness banking. Currently he is leading Rabobank’s sustainability agenda on knowledge, risk management and business development across Asia. He also heads the Rural banking and advisory portfolio in India and for Rabobank Foundation oversees projects in agriculture cooperatives and “access to finance”. His earlier experience was with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, IDBI Bank and CARE.
Mr S Karthikeyan, Principal Counsellor, Confederation of Indian Industry-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre (CII-Godrej GBC)
S Karthikeyan is currently heading ‘GreenPro – Green Product Certification’ division in CII-Godrej GBC, India. He has been instrumental in designing and developing the Indian Ecolabel – GreenPro, which aims at facilitating green product market transformation in India. He is also leading the facilitation and certification activities related to Green Building rating systems for Health care, Existing buildings, Factory buildings and Data Centers.
Rajeev Baruah – Country Director Better Cotton Initiative
Mr. Rajeev Baruah is currently the India Country Director for the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI). BCI is a global multi stake holder initiative which brings together producers, ginners, traders, spinners, mills, cut & sew, manufacturers, retailers, brands and civil society organizations in a unique global community committed to developing Better Cotton as a sustainable mainstream commodity. MrBaruah has a Masters in Social Anthropology from Delhi University.
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 17th November 2017 | 1130 – 1300 | Theatre, IHC, New Delhi |
Host/Co-host: Green Electronics Council.
The Green Electronics Council (GEC) is a mission-driven non-profit organization that seeks to achieve a world in which only sustainable electronics are designed, manufactured, bought, used and recycled. Founded initially to manage EPEAT, the definitive global ecolabel for IT products, GEC advocates for sustainable electronics by facilitating manufacturers and large-scale purchasers to understand the challenges facing sustainable electronics; to commit to address those challenges; and to act and change internal operational, manufacturing and procurement behaviors. We understand the power of partnership, we celebrate the strength of vision, and we apply both to the work we do.
Session Brief:
Standards are a way to address negative environmental and social impacts associated with IT products. One of the major issues facing India is the increasing tide of electronic waste (e-waste) that is addressed by an informal sector. Handling of e-waste is challenging due to the complex nature of electronics products containing hundreds of components, including materials that are hazardous to human health and the environment.
In view of the growing problem of e-waste, the Indian Government adopted the E-Waste (Management & Handling) Rules 2011 in May 2011, which were amended in March 2016 with the intent of making them more stringent. The amendment widened the coverage of the e-waste handling responsibility to all players in the value chain — from producers of equipment, components, consumables, and spares, to dismantlers – and introduced financial schemes /economic instruments for encouraging implementation of the rules. The e-waste industry in India is characterised by deep inter-linkages between the formal and the informal actors who are connected through material transfer, economic transactions and information exchange. This seminar looks at how IT product focused voluntary consensus standards can include informal sector focused capacity building criteria. It proposes specific capacity building criteria that are relevant to India’s approach to end-of-life management of IT products.
Speakers:
Ms. Nancy Gillis
CEO, Green Electronics Council (GEC)
Nancy Gillis has more than 20 years’ experience leveraging sustainability to increase competitiveness, reduce risk and foster innovation in both public and private sector organizations. Prior to joining GEC, Nancy was a senior executive with Ernst & Young (EY), where she managed client engagements related to supply chain resiliency and sustainable procurement for Fortune 100 companies in numerous sectors. She also launched EY’s Resilient and Responsible Supply Chains suite of services and served as the Global Lead. She also served as the Director of the Federal Supply Chain office, at the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), responsible for developing sustainability-related supplier evaluation criteria, and chaired a cross-governmental working group seeking to expand the use of sustainability standards and certifications in federal procurements.
Ms. Pamela Brody-Heine
Director, EPEAT Standards Management
Green Electronics Council (GEC)
Pamela is the Green Electronics Council’s lead for designing and managing standard development processes and special projects. Pamela co-chaired the IEEE 1680.2 Working Group managing and facilitating the multi-stakeholder process for the electronic imaging equipment standard and assisted in development of the parallel IEEE 1680.3 standard for televisions. Pamela also supported the development of the NSF International 426 Environmental Leadership Standards for Servers and the UL 110 Standard for Sustainability for Mobile Phones. Previously, Pamela managed and facilitated the development of the ground-breaking Outdoor Industry Association and European Outdoor Group Eco Index Green Standard and facilitated the multi-stakeholder process for the Council for Responsible Sport to revise and expand their sustainability standard for certifying sporting events.
Ambika Khurana
Head- Public Policy, Government & Regulatory Affairs (IBM India Pvt. Ltd.)
Ambika is a Corporate Affairs professional with 18 years of leadership experience in Government Affairs and Strategic Planning. Her specializations include advocacy with governments and strategic stakeholders on public policy and regulatory issues critical to business agenda.
Ambika has extensively promoted ICT Policy agenda with World Bank InfoDev, UNESCO, Ministries of IT of various international and national entities- enabling business ecosystem and growth. She is an executive member of various industry associations and is a trusted IT Policy professional.
Satish Sinha
Satish is Associate Director at Toxics Link, a leading environmental group working on issues of waste and chemicals. Responsible for successfully leading various waste and chemical campaigns and policy initiatives in the country. Authored several reports and articles on E waste management, Mercury and hazardous waste management. Member UNEP Advisory Group on Mercury.
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 17th November 2017 | 1130 – 1300 | Jacaranda 2, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host: Rabobank Group
Rabobank is an international financial services provider operating on the basis of cooperative principles. It offers retail banking, wholesale banking, private banking, leasing and real estate services. As a cooperative bank, Rabobank puts customers’ interests first in its services. Rabobank is committed to being a leading customer-focused cooperative bank in the Netherlands and a leading food and agriculture bank worldwide. Rabobank Group is active in 40 countries.
Session Brief:
Sustainability standard systems in agriculture (SSA) are considered as an innovative market based approach to promote sustainable agriculture production and business practices. The SSA is being promoted by global businesses, thereby, achieving their sustainability commitment and reducing impact on footprint. The growth of these standards are well established and widely recognized. To take examples; the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has the second-largest area of all the standards, accounting for 0.07% of the global agricultural area, GLOBALG.A.P. has more than 3.1 million hectares in 2015, making it the biggest standards in terms of area certified, Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) saw the greatest jump, with a nine fold expansion in its certified area between 2011 and 2015, the area of the Round Table for Responsible Soy (RTRS) increased nearly fivefold over the same period. However, in region dominated by small holders, standards like BONSUCRO and RTRS hasn’t grown as it was expected.
While efforts are underway to mainstream the SSA in the global supply chain, it has been found that commodity wise there has been asymmetrical growth curve for different operating standards. This gives a room to understand the challenges & opportunities for each of the commodity standards facing to meet the expansion trajectory.
Speakers:
Arindom Datta is the Asia Head, Sustainability Banking for the Rabobank Group. He is also the Head of Rural & Development Banking / Advisory. Arindom has over 24 years of experience in Rural Finance, Cooperative Banking, Microfinance and Agribusiness banking. Currently he is leading Rabobank’s sustainability agenda on knowledge, risk management and business development across Asia. He also heads the Rural banking and advisory portfolio in India and for Rabobank Foundation oversees projects in agriculture cooperatives and “access to finance”. His earlier experience was with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, IDBI Bank and CARE.
Arindom is a Mathematics honours graduate from St. Stephen’s College and has an MBA with specialization in Finance and Strategy.
Murli Dhar is Director of the Sustainable Agriculture Program of WWF-India, as independent, institution works on footprint and biodiversity issues in India. With experience in more than 15 years, Murli has devoted his career in Agriculture ever since he got graduated in Agriculture School in specialization of Agriculture Economics. His works intersects primarily with Sustainability in Agriculture including Water, Emissions, Biodiversity and Trade.
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 17th November 2017 | 1130 – 1300 | Jacaranda 1, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host: PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
Session Brief:
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME’s) contribution to the Indian economy, in terms of generating employment, reducing regional imbalances, promoting equitable economic growth and enhancing export potential, has been quite phenomenal. Aware of this, MSMEs have been accorded a strategic position in various prestigious government initiatives towards fulfilment of the socio-economic objectives, particularly in achieving growth with equity.
Furthermore, with globalization, MSMEs in India now hold an economically valuable position in the supply chain of the global brands as well. While, on one hand, this has opened up many opportunities for this sector to enhance its productivity and expand in new markets – domestic as well as global, it has also, on the other hand, put an obligation to upgrade the sector’s competencies to meet the global demands of changing responsible business behavior.
Indian MSMEs, therefore, need an enabling environment to remain competitive by improving its environment and social impacts. However, the sector continues to face challenges of lack of support, access to finance and often outdated technologies. The discussion will highlight several such challenges that the MSMEs today are facing to integrate sustainability into their business practice and remain competitive both in domestic and international market.
Speakers
Yasir Ahmad
Yasir is Partner and leader for the Responsible Business Advisory group at PwC, where he is involved in developing sustainability strategies for a number of national and international clients, ranging from Private Companies to Government(s), including multilateral agencies and “Not for Profit” organizations.
He has worked with MSMEs and the unorganized sector for developing and implementing various sustainability initiatives in their business practices and therefore, understands the challenges between interlinkages of sustainability with the SME sector.
Himanshu Gaur
Founder Managing Director – Balts Global Private Limited, also Founder Member – Central Leather Consultants (India LWG Audit firm). He has worked as CEO – Xenos Automotive Ltd.[Pricol Group], Global Marketing & Supply Chain Division Head- Apollo Tyres, General Manager – Reliance Industries, and leaders – Castrol, Bridgestone, MRF, Glaxo& Marico, having 28 years of proven success in strategic planning, profit-center operations, sales & marketing, business development, retail rollouts, product portfolio management, brand building, channel and team management &handled turnovers of INR 20 billion, while working in 32 countries
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 17th November 2017 | 1130 – 1300 | Silver Oak 1, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host : CSR Europe
CSR Europe is The European Business Network for Corporate Social Responsibility. Through its network of 48 corporate members and 42 National CSR organisations, it gathers over 10,000 companies, and acts as a platform for those businesses looking to enhance sustainable growth and positively contribute to society. In its mission to bring the sustainability agenda forward, CSR Europe goes beyond European borders and cooperates with CSR organisations in other regions across the world. CSR Europe builds on its Enterprise 2020 Initiative with the Sustainable Business Exchange which incubates multi-stakeholder initiatives that tackle the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Background
Human rights make business sense.
Businesses of all sizes should be seizing opportunities to secure their futures and safeguard their brand by adopting human rights policies and integrate those into their processes, thus fulfilling their responsibility to respect human rights – as outlined in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Such integration is still a challenge for many companies and this is why CSR(E) developed the ‘Blueprint for Embedding Human Rights in Key Company Functions’: to provide a guide for companies in driving the effort of integrating respect for human rights in their company’s DNA, drawing lessons learned directly from company practices.
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 17th November 2017 | 1130 – 1300 | Silver Oak 2, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host: IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a membership Unionuniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together. Created in 1948, IUCN has evolved into the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network. It harnesses the experience, resources and reach of its 1,300 Member organisations and the input of some 10,000 experts. In India, IUCN has 44 members. Government of India is also a member of IUCN with MoEF&CC as nodal agency.
Session brief:
Biodiversity is the variety and variability of life forms found on earth: from tiny microbes to plants and animals. These life forms have evolved as a result of the interaction of elements of earth with the physical environment thereby embodying in their genetic makeup adaptability to all types of climatic and environmental conditions. Biodiversit is currently being lost at unprecedented rate due to human activities that degrade or encroach on habitats, increase pollution load, and contribute to climate variability. This rapid declining of biodiversity is a huge problem for entire humanity and this can’t be averted unless relevant stakeholders come together to fight it.The business sector, being a major impact sector, can play a vital roal in combating biodiversity loss. This session provides the key precedents of business playing singnificant role in biodiversity conservation and management and hence sets a stage for other corporates to follow.
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 17th November 2017 | 1400 – 1530 | Theatre, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host:
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 17th November 2017 | 1400 – 1730 | Jacaranda 2, IHC, New Delhi |
Co-host: Traidcraft
Traidcraft is one of the pioneers of the Fair Trade movement. Traidcraft started as a private limited company in the UK, with product sales of £11.3 million in 2015. From the experience of running this Fair Trade Company emerged the development charity (Traidcraft Exchange) – which focuses on making trade fair for the most marginalized participants in the value chain of trade. In India, Traidcraft has undertaken pioneering work over last two decades in facilitating development of Fair Trade supply chains in Cotton, textile, artisanal craft, tea and other commodities. It has supported building business organizations of the producers, especially women producers; social enterprises that bring value to the primary producers and making these businesses viable.
Session brief:
Half of the world’s population and almost 40 percent of the global workforce are women[1]. Yet on a global scale, women and girls continue to face discrimination in access to education, finance, opportunities and resources. This includes unequal access to productive assets, skills, finance and technology. However, women also play multiple roles in market systems, as farmers, employees, workers, and entrepreneurs. It is estimated that, if women had the same access to resources as men, they would produce 20-30 percent more food and their families would enjoy better health, nutrition and education[2]. The estimated annual value of women’s unpaid work is equivalent to $10 trillion, equivalent to 13% of global GDP. With the right interventions, it is anticipated that $28 trillion will be added to annual GDP by 2025 when gender gaps are closed[3]. The public and private sectors have a critical role to play to bridge this gap.
This is even more germane in current times with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), part of the wider 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. SDG 5 for example says ‘achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’. The SDG 2030 agenda sets out to “reach the furthest behind first” and concludes with a pledge that “no one will be left behind”[4]. Hence it is imperative that all companies, governments and NGOs enable women to participate in and profit from trade and business (as in any other field). A multiplicity of sustainable standards exist which strive for changes at the environmental, economic and social levels. While there is little wrong with the standards themselves, their application often seems to pay lip service to core issues, in order to gain deferential market entry. These standards therefore need to do much more to change the status quo and effect deeper change.
Traidcraft and C4RB would like to engage multiple stakeholders during this session at the 4th ‘India and Sustainability Standards Conference’ on this topic.
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 17th November 2017 | 1400 – 1530 | Silver Oak 1, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-hosts:
International Trade Centre (ITC)
Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME)
Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) evolved into a large national Federation of geographical and sectoral associations of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in 1995 following India’s embarking upon liberalization in 1991 and India’s accession to WTO in 1995. Till then it used to be known as National Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs which was established in 1967. FISME’s mindset, mission and activities have been shaped by these national and global developments. It works for ‘Survival and growth of MSMEs’. It focuses on creation of an eco-system which is enabling to entrepreneurship and competitive at the same time. With over 730 associations as its members, FISME network reaches out to over 2 million MSMEs. Ministry of MSME, Govt. of India has entrusted it to run three IPR Facilitation Centers at New Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad. FISME has recently launched India’s first IPR Exchange also.
Session Brief
To advance and encourage sustainable trade, all levels of supply chains, from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to large multinational companies and governments, must be involved. The session will discuss IT solutions towards facilitating the empowerment and connectivity of upstream value chain actors with downstream buyers in the agriculture and textile sectors. Specific case studies will be presented that address concerns such as traceability, the need for capacity building and for the harmonization of voluntary sustainability standards. In short, how to make inclusive trade the norm.
Speakers:
Joseph Wozniak, Head, Trade for Sustainable Development, ITC
Joseph Wozniak has over 15 years’ experience in international trade and development. He heads the Trade for Sustainable Development programme (T4SD) at ITC where he is responsible for the development and implementation of the Sustainability Map and T4SD’s related platforms and projects. Prior to ITC he worked for KPMG LLP and as a Senior Economist with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) in Washington, D.C. He was responsible for the monitoring and evaluation of the Agency’s portfolio and the development of analytical tools for the impact assessment of OPIC’s emerging markets investment projects in sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and consumer products.
Anil Bhardwaj
Mr. Bhardwaj is Secretary General of Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), New Delhi and holds a Masters in International Trade. His specializations include industrial and trade policy issues and framework conditions of promotional and regulatory environment for SMEs and Market Access issues of MSMEs Multilateral Trade Negotiations (such as WTO) and at Regional Trade Agreements. He has served on many high profile Committees recent being as member of Domodaran Committee on Regulatory Reforms in India and a member of Drafting Committee on National Voluntary Guidelines for Responsible Business under Ministry of Corporate Affairs. He has advised and worked on several SME development projects supported by Govt. of India, ILO, UNCTAD, UNIDO, UNDP, UNESCAP, ITC & UNCTAD (Geneva), UNDP, ADB, Asian Productivity Council (Tokyo), EU, DFID, GTZ, Commonwealth (London) among others.
Rajni Kant Sharma
Rajni Kant Sharma carries immensely active consulting and teaching experience in context sustainable business development from developing countries’ perspective. He is Adjunct Faculty with Maastricht School of Management, Netherlands for their outreach MBA programs in 22 developing countries, in fields of Entrepreneurship, Sustainability, Global Marketing and Strategic Alliances. He is also Consultant for Fair Trade Original, Netherlands and Growdiesel Consortium, India and is actively engaged in consultancy for Sustainable Development, Fair Trade, Ethical Supply Chains, CSR and Renewable Energy. Besides his Lecturing and Consultancy stint from year 2000, he carries a 14 years of prior work experience in food and consumer products’ industries in the fields of operations, marketing and international trade. Developing management strategies for growth is his forte and mentoring ethical and sustainable businesses is his passion.
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 17th November 2017 | 1400 – 1530 | Silver Oak 2, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host:
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 17th November 2017 | 1400 – 1530 | Jacaranda 1, IHC, New Delhi |
Co-host: United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
The UNIDO Regional Office in New Delhi covers seven countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and acts as a focal point to promote UNIDO’s mandate of inclusive and sustainable industrial development. The core elements of UNIDO’s technical cooperation services in India are to implement its activities in harmony with national policy priorities and development strategies; to build strong and long-term partnerships with donors; to increase UNIDO’s visibility; and to focus its assistance in a manner that addresses international development goals, especially the Sustainable Development Goals.
Session Brief:
Increasing integration of even MSMEs in national but also global supply chains requires a significant change in enterprises’ behavior. Tackling direct environmental and social impacts as well as increasing demand for responsible business conduct call for a multi-dimensional approach from all players in manufacturing, trade, but also from governmental administrations and lawmakers. These often challenging tasks however should not be seen as a burden to businesses; on the contrary, it is a great opportunity to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth of all sectors. Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (ISID) today is UNIDO’s main objective and goal of operation, while the Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) provides the comprehensive framework to trigger, support and ensure that “nobody is left behind”. In achieving the ambitious SDGs the spirit, willingness, experience, and wisdom of MSMEs is badly needed. Technical support is likely not enough, crosscutting and innovative programs from inside the company but also from supporting entities and partnerships are the tools of choice.
Speaker:
Florian Beranek
Mr. Florian Beranek, Austrian, is the UNIDO Lead Expert on Societal Responsibility (SR) and responsible business conduct (RBC). Based in Vietnam since 2009 he is specialized in ISO26000 and experienced in the linkages to other related/derivate standards such as ISO14001, OHSAS18001, ISO37001, ISO20121 and the upcoming ISO20400, stakeholder management, SR communication and reporting, supply chain compliance and integrated SR strategy development as well as increasingly in transparency/integrity programs and value cultivation systems.
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 17th November 2017 | 1600 – 1730 | Theatre, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host:
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 17th November 2017 | 1600 – 1730 | Silver Oak 2, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host:
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 17th November 2017 | 1600 – 1730 | Jacaranda 1, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host:
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 17th November 2017 | 1600 – 1730 | Silver Oak 1, IHC, New Delhi |
Host / Co-host: Rainforest Alliance
Session Brief:
The growth of sustainability over the last several years has created a strong market for voluntary standards. The leading ISEAL members across the agricultural field- Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and UTZ- have all recorded growing numbers year on year of certified farms and smallholder groups. Other voluntary standards have also grown; in India, Trustea is an example, with now the largest volume of certified tea.
These certification systems compete with one another for market share. Usually it is the brand companies that drive demand for a certification scheme, selecting the one that most closely matches their brand positioning and-or is strong in their important markets. Retail companies are increasingly using certification schemes for their own brands. Some brand companies do work with more than one certification. For example, Unilever and Tata Global Beverages buy Rainforest Alliance certified tea for export markets and also certify with Trustea for sale in India. Mars Incorporated, one of the largest chocolate companies, has different products in European markets with Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and UTZ certification seals. More often, a company selects one scheme and hence the competition to secure that preference is very strong.
This competitive situation though has drawbacks. For producers, it can imply cost and complication. They may need to meet more than one certification standard to fulfill requirements of different customers; and those markets are not always sustained. This can imply investments that are not supported by a long-term return. Traders and processors need to train technicians in different systems and manage different operations- for example, rules on segregation of different materials are not always the same among schemes. Brands are concerned that customers are confused by different seals and as a result give less value to them.
In this context, certification schemes and ISEAL Alliance have made efforts over the years to find efficiencies in their operations. Just as competitive companies often work together to reduce barriers to sustainability which affect them all, so certification schemes also undertake such pre-competitive collaboration to undertake joint research and follow-up discussion on issues, for example pesticides. Schemes sometimes actually support other schemes. For example, Rainforest Alliance is an associate member of the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil and sits on two of its working groups. It is likewise a member of the Technical Committee of Trustea. In September 2017, UTZ and Rainforest Alliance announced their intention to merge and form a single sustainable certification scheme.
This session will consider the upsides and downsides of competition and collaboration in voluntary certification and the challenges that arise when schemes attempt to collaborate.
Panel members: Tata Global Beverages, McLeod Russel, ISEAL Alliance (to be confirmed)
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 17th November 2017 | 1800 – 1930 | Jacaranda, IHC, New Delhi |
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 16th November 2017 | 14:00-15:30 | Jacaranda, IHC, New Delhi |
Co-Host: Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices
Speakers
Dr Amita Joseph:
Dr. Amita V. Joseph has a PhD from Deakin University (Australia), a law Degree from Delhi University, post graduation in Human Rights Law from the Law Institute Delhi and a PGDM in management from Anna Institute of Management. She has worked in the Corporate, legal and development sectors as a adviser for three decades & has been a trainer and teacher. As a lawyer she has worked on a number of public interest causes. Amita serves on the board of a number of non profits including BCF & CRB and is on a number of committees of Companies and the ethics committee Lady Irwin College ( Delhi University).
Rajib Kumar Debnath
Rajib Kumar Debnath, with a professional background in Civil Engineering and a Post Graduate Management qualification, is an independent management expert, with over 20 years of consulting/audit experience, primarily in the areas of Sustainability, CSR, ESG, Supply Chain andEnergy. He hadserved in leadership roles for over 15 years, in leading and growing the “Sustainability and CSR” service streams of the Indian/Regional chapters of consulting majors Deloitte, EY and Grant Thornton. He is currently a member/convener of various committees set up by Bureau of Indian Standards for development of National and International Policies, with a special mention to development of Indian Standard on Corporate Social Responsibility and an Extra Financial based Indian Assurance Standard, for which he is the technical lead for drafting the standards.
Viraf Mehta
Viraf is a social anthropologist by training and has been at the forefront of the corporate responsibility scene in India for over 25 years. His professional career has included working with both leadership companies (Tata Steel) and pioneering NGOs (Partners in Change), during which period he has served on several National and International committees focused on corporate responsibility issues. More recently he served as a member of the Drafting Committee of the National Voluntary Guidelines promoted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. For the past decade, he has been actively involved, both nationally and internationally, with the human rights and business interface. Viraf currently works as an independent consultant on corporate responsibility and is based out of Delhi and Gurgaon.
Khurram Naayab
KhurramNaayabis a Corporate Responsibility Strategist whose academic background includes Post Graduation in Social Work and Post Graduate Diploma in Management. As a CSR professional at Cairn India, Khurram has been instrumental in leading the company’s CSR portfolio with key programs under Health, Education, Sanitation and Agri. He was also instrumental in rolling key government initiatives like “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”, “Digital India”, BetiBachaoBetiPadhao”, and “Skill India”.
Khurram is a certified trainer of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Guidelines and also a SA8000 certified auditor. Apart from this Khurram is also working towards integrating Corporate Responsibility education (research and teaching) in the core curricula of Business Schools.Prior to joining Cairn India, he has worked for Partners in Change, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Association for Stimulating Know How (ASK) and UN High Commissioner for Refugees. He has also contributed variuous CSR and Sustainability articles related Corporate Responsibility.
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 16th November 2017 | 14:00-15:30 | Jacaranda, IHC, New Delhi |
Co-Host: 10YFP Consumer Information Programme
Co-host brief:
The Consumer Information Programme of the 10 Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP) is a global platform supporting the provision of quality information on goods and services, to engage and assist consumers in sustainable consumption. It implements and supports projects; undertakes research; shares good practice and policies; and provides collaboration opportunities. The Programme is led by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), Germany; the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Indonesia, and Consumers International; and brings together a network of public, private and third sector actors.
Speakers
VikasGoswami
Head of Sustainability, Good and Green, Godrej Industries
Tony Henshaw
Chief Sustainability Officer, Aditya Birla Group
Norma Tregurtha,
Director of Policy and Outreach, ISEAL Alliance
Joseph Wozniak,
Head, Trade for Sustainable Development Programme (T4SD), International Trade Centre
S Karthikeyan,
Confederation of Indian Industries