Green Times

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Tata Steel are among the companies that have recently joined a UN climate change initiative for business leaders, according to the UN Global Compact, which partners industry.Some 230 companies from around the world have signed up for this “Caring for the Climate” initiative since it was launched in 2007.

These companies will voluntarily disclose carbon emissions and report annually on the progress they have made in curbing greenhouse gas emissions, Georg Kell, executive director of Global Compact, said on the concluding day of the Business for Environment summit here.

Asked about the contradiction of an oil company taking part in a campaign to reduce the carbon footprint, Kell said these companies could launch measures to reduce flaring of gases and other emissions.

Global Compact could not verify the disclosures by companies but by public exposure the companies would have to put their houses in order. “We hope that they will turn into business-statesmen on climate, and that their voices will be heard proactively.”

Global Compact, which has organised the Singapore summit with the UN Environment Programme, itself began with just 50 companies in 2000, but now has 5,000 participants from 120 countries.

The CEOs of these companies have to pledge their commitment to caring for the environment. Their employees do as well. Among the issues that Global Impact has been engaged in are business and conflict, anti-corruption and human rights in the supply chain of companies.

As many as 150 of the world’s top 500 corporations are its members. There are also 74 country networks and India is “very strong”, according to Kell. It was formed in Mumbai in 2000.

In 2003, the Global Compact Society was formed in Delhi. Last September, the society signed an MoU to work with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Suzlon Energy is one of the sponsors of the summit. Chintan Shah, vice-president and head of Strategic Business Development, told participants that there was a high degree of risk borne by buyers of wind energy converters due to the inadequate policy framework in countries. There were “excessive regulations” and the sector was not “investment-friendly”.

He stressed the need for greater awareness of the potential of these forms of energy, which is why Suzlon has sponsored an eco-solutions programme on CNN.

A problem which wind energy faced in India was access to the electricity grid due to poor infrastructure since these devices were mostly in remote hilly and coastal areas, Vivek Kher, who works out of Suzlon’s Amsterdam office, told Business Standard. Typical areas were the Tamil Nadu coast and Jaisalmer, while Kutch provided an excellent location.

The other obstacle was the red tape in getting land. To be viable, a 1,000-Mw capacity wind farm required 2a few thousand sq km” of land. Dhule was one of the biggest, covering nearly 5,000 sq km. “It will eventually have a capacity of 1,200 Mw, the world’s biggest wind farm,” he said.
Source: Business Standard, India