Roadmap to Sustainable Development : Climate Miles at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) 2015

Addressing Climate Change through Passion Fashion Action and Transformation at the DSDS

The Delhi Sustainable Development Summit – DSDS at its 15^th edition took place between the 4^th - 7^th of February , 2015 at the Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi India, hosted under the broad theme ‘Sustainable Development Goals and Dealing with Climate Change’.        

                      

The summit was organized by The Energy Resource Institute (TERI), New Delhi – an independent research institute which promotes knowledge on environment, energy, forestry, biotechnology and conservation of natural resources. Among numerous issues discussed, Global leaders brainstormed on keeping emissions below two degrees, forest contribution in sustainability, addressing skills development and entrepreneurship to address the challenges of climate change on the Road map to 2015 sustainable development.

The summit provided the opportunity for global youth leaders to show their commitment to sustainability by documenting, brainstorming their views on sustainable development goals and addressing the challenges of climate change.

Ann Grace 

DSDS Youth Leader/IDEX Global Fellow

Climate Miles Team Representative

          

Global DSDS 2015 Youth Leaders gather at New Delhi

Lessons learned from DSDS - As Uganda’s Youth Leader and an IDEX Global Fellow working with Climate Miles, the lesson that echoed deeply for me during the summit is coined in the words of Wangari Maathai ‘We need to promote development that does not destroy our environment", a statement which is a reminder to all developing nations to balance the needs of the environment and development since developing nations suffer adversely from climatic impacts.

The African Union Commissioner Ms. Tumusiime RhodaPeace emphasized stronger efforts for disaster risk reduction initiatives as the path for international development especially for countries whose economies are driven by agriculture/natural resources sensitive to climatic conditions.

Although all countries are at different levels of development, mitigating climate change will require a global collaborative partnership approach because the impacts cut across social, economy and environment; degradation of ecosystems, global challenges in energy, health, economy, education and capacity building, governance, gender, youth (not exhausted) will necessitate SMART policies (Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time frame) that work effectively within an individual government while contributing toward the achievement of sustainable development goals. Through inter – governmental collaboration, a framework is important for all governments to prepare their companies, businesses, civil society organizations, key institutions to report on their sustainability practices for an effective approach to be realized.

The increasing population will substantially impact on water, food, forests and other key resources damaging the environment by 2050, therefore comprehensive focus on education – skills development and entrepreneurship to address the challenges of climate change for the present and future generation must be considered as an innovative approach.

Lord John Prescott, the Former UK Deputy Prime Minister/Rapporteur on Climate Change at Copenhagen/Durban was my farvourite speaker at this summit for his critical analysis of how the developed and developing nations are driving the climate to the edge. He highlighted the need for transformative partnerships for creative solutions.

The four words; (Passion Fashion Action and Transformation) was the message that cut across the summit to finalize the sustainable development goals, endorse a global binding agreement that addresses climate change challenges effectively through collaborative partnerships on the road map to Paris and BEYOND.

DSDS High Level Corporate Dialogue (HLCD):

The Delhi Sustainable Development Summit commenced on the 4 February 2015 with the corporate vision on mitigating climate themed under ‘Delhi to Paris’ change The High Level Corporate Dialogue attracted 1500 International and Indian Chief Executive Officers, industry captains and government officials to brainstorm ideas and measures of implementing sustainable businesses that equally protects the environment.

The thematic areas of the discussion during the High Level Corporate Dialogue revolved around the following themes; adapting to the impacts of climate change, expanding access to energy, increasing the use of renewable energy, improving energy efficiency use, financing energy transition and sustainable development, low carbon technologies in small medium enterprises, sustainable buildings, availability of water in a changing environment, efficient waste management and the path toward sustainable mobility.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the 38^th Californian Governor graced the 15^th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, where he called upon government leaders and the entire global community to collaborate in terminating climate change. He thanked Dr. R. K Pachauri for promoting sustainability practices globally. The DSDS Youth leaders were inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger to think differently and focus on combating climate change. tThe Energy Resource Institute considers that the key driver to development is rooted deeply in the sustainable use of natural resources and efficient utilization of energy. Doctor Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change who is also the Director/General of TERI gave the welcome address for this summit on 5 February 2015.

In the photos below, Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri on the right (Director of TERI) and the VVS Laxman (left) – veteran cricketer

The Veteran Cricketer, VVS Laxman was appointed the Brand Ambassador for the initiative of ‘Lighting a Billion Lives – LaBL’. The initiative is an energy access project that provides access to light using solar lamps to billions of lives. – refer to Lighting aBillion Lives (LaBL).

Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General United Nations, addressed the participants (via video:) about the need to use a collective approach to mitigate climate change and the value of promoting global sustainability which DSDS implements annually. Proclaiming 2015 as the year of global action, HE Ban Ki-Moon notified government leaders, businesses and civil society sectors to intensify efforts to reduce the Green House Gases – GHG and increase investments in low carbon.

HE Ban Ki-Moon addressing participants at the summit

The 15^th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit attracted world leaders and engaged stakeholders from diverse sectors;36 Heads of State, policy makers, ministers from 50 countries, government heads, civil society, academicians, media, business leaders, religious leaders and youth leaders.

It is important to mention that two major developments will be realized in the year 2015, one of which is ensuring that the sustainable development goals are globally agreed upon and endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly. The other initiative is to ensure that the Conference of Parties – COP 2015, which will be held in Paris France later this year, yields a strong global agreement on how to deal with the impacts of climate change.

Therefore 2015 DSDS focused on spreading the message to global leaders and diverse stakeholders; businesses, industries, civil society, research and academic institutions to build momentum and create radical transitions through which paths of actions can easily be defined to achieve sustainable development.

The presence and participation of religious leaders in the summit was highly appreciated by other global leaders and participants. Religious leaders shared their thoughts on climate change and how man’s activities are greatly degrading the environment. Therefore finding lasting solutions to the cries of the environment will demand a collective sustainable approach and the global community must think of the road to sustainability beyond Paris.

Religious leaders share their thoughts on climate change, the relationship between man and the environment at the 2015 Delhi Sustainable Development Summit held at Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi India

Written by Ann Grace -  Idex Fellow 2015 - Working at Climate Miles Jan - June 2015                                                                                                                                     

Connecting the dots – The Internet of Things, and making sense of your ‘Things’: the Relevance of automating Asset Efficiency analysis

If you have been following the story of the Internet of Things (IoT), you might have heard this little anecdote where the chair in your home will soon be embedded with a chip that will tell you, remotely, when that chair is occupied, and also, by who.  The possibilities are endless.  But if you are a company with hundreds of such chairs, you might have wondered how this information will be of value to you.

The Deloitte TMT 2015 predictions is a list 11-items long. 

They include:

· Despite media focus on consumers, in 2015, over 60 percent of the one billion global wireless IoT devices will be bought, paid for and used by enterprises.

· In 2015, the pendulum of technology adoption will begin to swing back to the enterprise market, reversing a decade long trend that went the other way – when mass adoption of technologies like large screen smartphones and tablets started with consumer adoption first.

If you are an enterprise, your ‘Things’ are your equipment’s, machineries, furniture’s – your Assets.  The IoT is going to unleash an avalanche of information related to these Assets.  To make sense of this information, you will need a framework that is able to collate, analyse, and produce output that is useful for managerial decision-making.

At Climate Miles, we have been investigating the efficiencies of a variety of assets from all possible perspectives – our concerns are not only technical specifications, but also the human issues around the adoption of new technologies, processes and equipment’s.

Evaluating the efficiency of enterprise assets is complicated because they are such an eclectic lot:

-       While some assets use significant amounts of energy over their lifetime (e.g. all electrical appliances), others are associated with resource utilization primarily at their manufacturing and end-of-life stages (e.g. all furniture, building material).
-       They differ by what they consume as INPUT resources – electricity, coal, oil, gas etc.­­­
-       Not only do the different inputs have different costs, they are also costed differently – e.g. electricity tariffs are based on geography-specific slabs, whereas solar power costs derive for the high capital expenses.
-       They differ by what their useful WORK/ OUTPUT is – lighting, cooling, rotating, producing electricity.
-       In addition to their useful work/ output, assets might also produce by-products – which can either be useful – requiring further processing, or waste – requiring appropriate disposal.
-       Within each asset category, they differ by specifications, makes, brands and models.

 Despite all these differences, Assets have some basic similarities, which form the basis of developing a meaningful framework for analyzing them (we will limit the following discussion to those assets that use significant amounts of energy over their lifetime (e.g. all electrical appliances) 

-  Assets consume resources (INPUTS) and produce useful work (OUTPUT).  Both input and output can ultimately be converted into units of energy (Joules or calories)

-       As long as input costs are correctly accounted for, similar outputs from different kinds of assets can be compared in terms of input cost/ unit of output.

-       Similarly, similar outputs from different kinds of assets can be compared in terms of sustainability parameter/ unit of output (e.g. CO2 emissions/ unit of output or energy used/ unit of output)

To be truthful, this apparent simplicity hides many complexities.  That is why we have automated the Assets Efficiency Module as part of our Sustainability Software Usustain.   However, for a small enterprise starting the process of Asset/ Resource efficiency analysis, the above framework provides a starting point from where to begin the efficiency of their Assets.

Accounting for and analysing the efficiencies of the Assets in your enterprise will lead to rational and objective decision making and target setting in sustainability projects  - with or without the Internet of Things.

by Jaya Chakravarty, Co-Founder & Director of Operations at Climate Miles

What we learnt from 2014, What we will do in 2015 - Our CEO's message

For me, the year ends on the 6th of January of every year and so my 2015 begins today. Over the years I have inculcated a habit where I melt into a contemplative state from the 25th or so of December to my end of year. The 6th of January is also the day I was born, 43 years ago, so it all neatly stacks up. 

All that matters to me is to be able to build a sustainable future and so my reflections will remain in the corridor of Climate change and Sustainability. 

Some highlights from the year 2014:

2014 was the hottest year recorded in the past 150 years and the world is convinced that there is a steady increase in global temperatures.

Water crises was recorded in many countries and underlying social tensions were revealed the need for us to view water as a finite resource.

Food security is tightly linked to climate justice whose lever is climate change. If we have to produce food in ever increasing rate we need to view climate change in a different light.

A decisive report concludes that business need not be fearful of environmental regulations and that it works in their favor.

A climate accord was signed by 364 investor groups in a high profile event in New York hosted by Ban ki Moon who said ‘The more we delay, the more we will pay,’ (You can view our short study on the signatories here)

In the background of the various events that marked 2014, we here at ClimateMiles chipped into the discourse and moved a snail step forward. 

The year 2015 will witness:

Formulation of an approach to tackle the challenge of calculating Scope 3. We believe there, lies an opportunity in calculating vendor emissions. We will work closely with WRI/India and further develop our product “FutureProof”.

An Emission factor database will be built and released where scientists and other GHG experts will participate.

In order to build human capacity in India we will launch a tool called “Project Saraswati” to be used by professors and students that are looking to educate themselves with Sustainability.

Calculation of Climate Risk is a complex challenge that needs to be met immediately and we will be doing just the same. We will transform the BSE-GREENEX to embrace Climate Risk.

India is transforming itself under the leadership of Mr. Modi and the time to build a world class Sustainability research institute is NOW. We will assist ORF in the formulation, launch and operation of this institute. 

The world is stuck in the mud called climate change for a long time now. We as humans have taken our own time to establish wisdom in action. We will see an acceleration of human resolve in the coming years which might not avert the disasters to come but surely we will be ready to respond. Finally, I dismiss the idea of Climate change as a human-made event as it separates human from nature. Nature and human is one and thanks to climate change we will understand that concept intuitively.

by Mohan Polamar, CEO of Climate Miles

Climate Miles Survey: Do we need a new sub-category of restaurants titled “Sustainable/Green Eateries” ?

If given a choice, we would rather go to a restaurant that conducts itself in a sustainable manner - whether it is with respect to food sourcing, handling its energy and waste, or trying to eliminate pesticides from its ingredients. From anecdotal discussions it seemed that we are not alone. It was interesting to realise that there are many food lovers who would like to be informed about these parameters and there are many restaurant owners as well who would like to reach out to such customers by highlighting their own green/ organic/ sustainable  operations.  At Climate Miles, instead of relying on anecdotal observation, we decided to do a quick survey - for both customers and restaurant owners to share the results of this survey with all of you.  In this digital age, an important link between the customer and the service provider is the online directory service. These services have replaced ‘yellow pages’ both in terms of volume and quality of content. They provide not only the names and contact details of th service providers, but also prices, special services and even customer reviews.

Our larger aim in doing this survey was to underscore the role of online food directories like zomato, burrp, timesfood guide in how they 'tag' eateries.

We conducted our customer survey over 2 weeks, (primarily among restaurants in India, customers between the age of 15 to 50 ) in order to highlight the need and relevance of such a sub-category in the hospitality sector by understanding customer choices. Then we contacted restaurant/eatery owners to understand their level of interest in sustainability. Many of whom were already on the path.

Objective of the survey:

To gauge the following:

For customers,

·         Apart from taste, presentation and ambiance, what else is important to a customer when they walk into their favourite restaurant?

·         Whether customers would like the option of a “green eatery” among other categories on popular food apps like #zomato #burrp #timesfoodguide #justeatin #foodpanda

·         Whether such an option is important to customers and could be one of the criteria that helps them decide between restaurants.

For restaurants,

·         Whether restaurants would like to be a part of the emerging trend. For those who already are, whether they would like to be recognised and highlighted for it on food directories like zomato, burrp, timesfoodguide justeatin  and foodpanda.

  

Let use see what the survey reveals!

Questionnaire for CUSTOMERS (Date: 2^nd October 2014)

Apart from taste, presentation and ambiance, which of the below characteristics are important to you when choosing an eatery/restaurant to dine-in.

a.     Where the food comes from (locally sourced)

b.    Whether the food is organic

c.     The initiatives put in place by the restaurant to minimise energy/water use and yet keep the guest comfortable.

d.    The cutlery used at the restaurant or during take-away (packaging using recycled/recyclable plastic, cloth, paper etc).

e.     What happens to the left-over food once you have eaten (homeless, fed to stray dogs or composted)

Among the above choices, which would you say means the MOST important to you?

Observation:

As seen from the above, what happens to left-overs (70%) food at restaurants is the biggest concern for customers. A Close second is if the food served at the restaurants is organic (69%) and finally third if the food is locally sourced (65%). Goes to show that customers do inherently care about their own health and the waste they generate. Packaging& Cutlery(50%) and Energy/Water Usage(53%) at the restaurant is also relevant to them.When asked what was MOST important to them, 38% felt that it was where the food came from.

When you lookup restaurants /eateries on food apps (like zomato, timesfoodguide, tripadvisor, justeatin & burrp), would you like the added option of also knowing the ‘green eatery(s) inyour neghborhood along with the preferences like vegan, organic etc?

a.    Yes

b.    No

c.     Don’t care either way

Observation:

Highly encouraging to know that 56% felt it is important to add a new category on food apps to highlight “green” or “sustainable” restaurants in the area. While 42% felt it would be great to have such a category but it is not critical.

  

Would a sustainable rating be a deciding factor for your selection between two or more restaurants with similar attributes?

a.     Yes

b.    No

Observation:

The above shows that if customers are given an option, they would ideally like choose a more environmentally responsible restaurant. This shows the need for such a category to inform the customers of the initiatives taken by their favorite restaurants and eateries to become sustainable.

Questionnaire for RESTAURANT OWNERS (Date: 2^nd October 2014)

Do you want your restaurant to be highlighted as a green/organic/ promoting local produce / energy efficient /sustainable restaurant in food directories like zomato, timesfoodguide, tripadvisor, justeatin & burrp etc.

100% of all the restaurants we approached said YES!

Among the few of restaurants who participated in the survey - popular Organic / Vegan Restaurants in Bangalore, India such as Carrots, greentheory paradigm shift participated in order to spread the word about their approach and efforts.

Others who participated in the survey

kaidikitchen

thechocolate haven

Itiffin.in

A Climate Miles Study : 2014 Global Investor Statement on Climate Change Signatories

 Introduction

At the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Change Summit, on the 23^rd of September 2014, the 2014 Global Investor Statement on Climate Change was presented.

Who contributed? This Statement was drafted through a collaboration of six organizations: the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC), the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC),Ceres' InvestorNetwork on Climate Risk (INCR), the Investor Group on Climate Change Australia/New Zealand (IGCC), the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).

The 2014 Global Investor Statement on Climate Change states the contribution that investors can make to increasing low carbon and climate resilient investments. It offers practical proposals on how contribution may be accelerated and increased through appropriate government action. Highly ambitious climate policies are called for in the Statement which would and can help grow such pockets of leadership. The 2014 Statement was accompanied by another report which shared current investor and finance sector leadership actions on climate change. This report complements the Statement and highlights that finance sector leadership on climate change is not only possible but already happening today.

Who were the signatories? Signatories to the global statement are Institutional Asset Owners and Asset Managers from around the world. Initial Signatories were listed (348 global institutional investors representing over $24trillion in assets) on the Statement presented at the UN Secretary General’s Climate Change Summit on 23 September. Investors will be able to sign the statement after its launch, up until 15 November 2015, prior to the COP 20 meeting in Lima.

The 2014 Global Investor Statement on Climate Change has called on government leaders to provide stable, reliable and economically meaningful carbon pricing that helps redirect investment commensurate with the scale of the climate change challenge, as well as develop plans to phase out fossil fuel subsidies.

Study of the Signatories

This study was conducted to better understand  the signatories listed on the above statement. For more information on the study, get in touch with the ClimateMiles team or email us at climatemiles@gmail.com

Focus points:

§  Whether they are funds or fund managers

§  Countries they operate in

§  Whether they have been exploring responsible investment opportunities in the past (& the kind of projects they invest in)

§ Whether they have their own indices/parameters/approach for choosing investments

§  Any other interesting information that could be highlighted

 Funds or Fund Managers

The list primarily consisted of fund managers – some of whom explore responsible investment options and have been doing so for a while. Almost all have very loose social/environmental impact missions stated on their websites. There were also many church organisations that have set-up funds to explore social-related investments such as better housing, health, community, food, sanitation and clean water. None so far have mentioned being part of the 2014 Global Investor Statement on Climate Change on their websites.

Countries of operation

A majority of the funds were based in USA, the rest in Canada or Europe. Fund managers were also mainly North American, but had offices in Europe, Australia including South and Southeast Asia. A few operated in India. Even fewer in Africa.

ESG & Responsible Investments: Projects invested in

Many of the signatories take into account environmental, social and governance (ESG) impacts when conducting their investment analysis and dring decision-making processes. ESG issues often affect companies and sectors over time, they may also affect investment performance and therefore some have stated that they have started exploring ESG issues that could have a material impact on their investment performance. Most of the common ESG/Sustainable projects invested in are:

§  Clean technology - including Renewable Energy

§  Climate Risk

§  Sustainable building & construction (Green real estate)

§  Healthcare, Food and Clean water

§  Sustainable products and services

§  Other Low-carbon projects

§  Social change – social & economic justice

§  Environment protection and conservation

However, there were also many general multi-asset financial products.

Approach to choosing investments

Most of the fund managers explore long-term investment opportunities for their clients. Those who explored responsible investment had their own internal policy and process for choosing the sectors/ projects to invest in. Often dedicated ESG teams were created to conduct focused studies to identify risks and opportunities. Some asset-managers had even signed on to the Principles of Responsible Investment as early as 2007.

A majority made generic statements about making socially beneficial investments, and mentioned some sectors of interest, but did not provide specific parameters for their investment strategy. Some had CDP partnership, or collaborations with other voluntary regulatory bodies.

Detailed descriptions on the previous investments and the impact of the same were not shared.

Highlight(s)

§  There was a mention of the FTSE Group which launched the FTSE Environmental Markets Index Series in collaboration with the environmental technology specialist, Impax Asset Management (a signatory of the 2014 Global Investor Statement on Climate Change), to provide two new environmental index solutions: the FTSE Environmental Technology Index Series and the FTSE Environmental Opportunities Index Series.

§  Another signatory is BNP Paribas. In the ‘small customer’ category – BNP Paribas is among the least expensive banks. BNP Paribas bank charges are below average. A range of alternative payment methods at no extra cost for the most vulnerable. It is also the only financial institution which offers this service entirely free of charge. Today the group has no establishment in any country designated as a tax haven under the OECD definition.

§  Boardwalk Capital Management is a certified B-Corp has signed the 2014 Global Investor Statement on Climate Change. Environment stewardship and social impact are embedded into its identity. 20% of the future profits will be directed to social impact and charitable enterprises.

§  IL&FS Investment Managers Limited, established in 1989, is India s oldest and largest private equity fund manager. They too are among the signatories for the 2014 Global Investor Statement on Climate Change. IIML is now also expanding to new geographies. It now advises on investments across the Asian region (1^st for India). Investors to IIML managed funds include all major banks and institutions in India. IIML invests in various sectors such as telecom, infrastructure, city-gas distribution, shipyards, retail, media and even real estate.

Written by Ambika Balraj 
Other Contributors : Priyanka Gupta, Pramod S, Joe Kent