In 2021, like in the earlier years, climate change has been creating havoc. Flash floods in various parts of India and the world submerging towns and cities, torrential rains, severe thunderstorms, massive landslides, unprecedented cold waves leading to many deaths and extreme heat conditions triggering wildfires that destroy lives, livestock and livelihoods have all been occurring at regular intervals. Against the backdrop of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2021 being held currently, the impact of unseasonal weather patterns across the Earth due to global warming has set alarm bells ringing. Scientists warn that our window for implementing credible measures to roll back the climate change clock may be closing more rapidly than anticipated. Supporting the common cause Dire warnings abound that the dangerous threshold of 2.0 Celsius may be breached if relevant steps aren’t undertaken on a war footing. Undoubtedly, this is the world’s last chance to commit to global decarbonisation. In this context, the role of fossil fuels in exacerbating climate change has been cited. Unfortunately, for still-developing nations such as India seeking to promote inclusive development while eliminating hidden hunger and other societal problems, reliable sources of energy are crucial for all-round development and progress. Dependable energy supplies are also vital for meeting the Centre’s $5 trillion economy vision. Accordingly, a practical solution balancing both societal and sustainability concerns will vest on having sustainable development that uses legacy as well as clean energy sources even as the transition to clean power is underway. By adopting smart and innovative industrial practices and manufacturing processes, the country can continue with its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while accelerating the transition towards a clean energy future. Controlling climate change, however, cannot be the sole responsibility of governments worldwide. All stakeholders – individuals, institutions, public and private entities – must work towards the common cause if we are to succeed. While walking the talk, as envisioned in its ESG roadmap, the Vedanta Group has initiated a series of initiatives to meet climate change and good corporate governance objectives. To elaborate, its responsible business decisions are based on community welfare, which also covers environmental concerns. All transformation efforts are based on the larger ESG imperative. In essence, the group believes in embedding an ESG purpose in everything it does. Even as business goes on, the group is aware of concerns regarding its aluminium operations based on the use of fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Therefore, the group is driving innovations in moving towards a greener business model. This includes reducing its absolute carbon emissions by 25 per cent from a 2021 baseline along with achieving net water positivity by 2030 and eventual net carbon neutrality by 2050. We are betting big on this and have pledged $5 billion over the next 10 years to accelerate our transition to net zero carbon. We are also committed to ensuring that 100 per cent of our light-motor-vehicle fleet is decarbonized by 2030 and 75 per cent of our mining fleet runs without fossil fuels by 2035. Significantly, aluminium is considered a relatively green metal compared to others and we are implanting programmes to ensure its production in decarbonized by 2050. Group entity Hindustan Zinc has also set stiff targets to limit the impact of climate change. Its 2035 SDGs include about 500,000 tonnes of carbon emission reduction. Besides, in the next five years, it plans to embrace renewable energy by closing down its thermal power plants.
