Sustainability Among Indian Businesses

What is Sustainability?

When a person hears the word ‘sustainability’, the first thing that comes to mind is the maintenance of normalcy of the subject being referred to at its present or optimum level. But what does sustainability mean when it’s being referred to with respect to business? Sustainability in industry and enterprise refers to conducting business without negatively affecting the environment, community, or society as a whole.

Sustainable businesses take into account a wide variety of environmental, economic, and social factors, before and while making business-related decisions. They keep track of the influence of their operations to certify that their short-term profits don’t turn into long-term liabilities.

Here are a few examples of Sustainability in Business:

• Using sustainable raw materials in the manufacturing process

• Optimizing supply chain to minimize greenhouse gas emissions

• Relying on renewable energy sources to power facilities

• Sponsoring education funds for youth in the community

Why Sustainability matters:

Apart from helping curb global challenges, sustainability can become a key component for business success. It has helped improve environmental quality, growth of efficiency, and healthcare, which contributes to the success of businesses while keeping in mind the environment.

Businesses today use environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics to analyze an organization’s ethical impact and sustainability practices. Investment decisions take into consideration factors such as a company’s carbon footprint, water usage, community development efforts, and board diversity.

Recent research shows that companies with high ESG ratings have a lower cost of debt and equity, and that sustainability initiatives can help improve financial performance and at the same time look good in the public eye.

One example was when nearly three thousand employees of a multinational said the strongest motivating factors to adopting a sustainable mindset were to be in alignment with a company’s goals, missions, or values, build, and improve reputation, meet customer’s expectations, and hence develop new growth opportunities.

Sustainable development in India:

India is the home to over 1.4 billion people, and also holds the success of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. The country has made a paradigm shift to a ‘whole-of-society’ with the government engaging transnational governments, people in insecure situations, civil organizations, local groups, and the private sector.

India’s commitment to sustainable development goals is proven in its merging with the national development agenda as shown in the motto of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas(Collective Efforts for Inclusive Growth). Based on the evidence from the sustainable development goals India Index, which measures progress at the transnational level, the country has developed a robust sustainable development goals localization model centralized on adoption, implementation, and monitoring at the State and district levels.

The following are initiatives that encapsulate the nation's progress across sustainable development goals:

-Sashakt Bharat - Empowered and Resilient India

-Swachh Bharat - Clean and healthy India

-Samagra Bharat - Inclusive and Entrepreneurial India

-Satat Bharat – Sustainable India

-Sampanna Bharat - Prosperous and Vibrant India

How Indian Businesses can become Sustainable:

Corporate sustainability is not yet a fully perceived and widespread idea in India. Several leading companies consider social and environmental issues to be as important to their business as financial growth, but many do not, and most aren’t thinking of sustainability as a core strategic priority. In the seven decades since Indian independence, the country’s large public-sector enterprises, nationalized banks, and state-owned insurance companies have consistently implemented initiatives directed toward economic growth and distributive justice.

The country has also signed on to most major international conservation treaties related to habitat, species, and environment. Liberalization kickstarted a timeline of swift growth of GDP, and helped India cut multidimensional poverty in half. However, this came at the cost of many environmental features. The majority of the most polluted cities are in India, such as Ghaziabad, Delhi, Lucknow, Muzaffarnagar, Hapur, Patna, and Chandigarh.

Forested area has been opened up to construction, mining, and oil drilling, as a result, 14,000 square kilometers of forested land has been lost, and despite situational progress on curbing poverty, it yet remains a paramount challenge. Without incorporating sustainability as an essential part of its agenda, India cannot take strides in further business growth.

The following list of measures should be taken:

• Government must continue to be the biggest driver - continue upholding initiatives like Beti Bacho Beti Padhao, Pradhan Mantri AwasYojana, Smart Cities, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana, and Pradhan Mantri UjjwalaYojana, among others.

• Financial markets must make bigger strides - investing in factors by which production and consumption are sustainable.

• More corporations must embrace holistic sustainability - invest in Sustainable technology

• Civil society and the media must wield their influence - the further the benefits of sustainable development are spread, the more enforced it will become.

• India needs an entire ecosystem of sustainability

“If the Indian consumer demands sustainability, business leaders will prioritize it and investors will be more likely to support it.”

What India can teach the world about sustainability:

Historically, India has always been one of the least wasteful economies worldwide. It is well noted and appreciated by other countries for its efforts to market global climate change mitigation and environmental sustainability.

India has been able to do this through inter-country cooperation, policy measures, and being decisive, taking actions based on those decisions, especially after India emerged as a key player in shaping the Paris Agreement, alongside adopting energy-efficiency measures.

Sustainability and Indian culture have always gone hand in hand, with India's philosophy and values always underscoring a sustainable and efficient way of life.

For example, the yogic principle of Aparigraha, a virtue of being non-attached to materialistic possessions, keeping only what is necessary at a certain stage of life.

Humans and nature share a harmonious relationship, which goes as far as a reverence for various flora and fauna. This has aided biodiversity conservation efforts. An example of this principle is of the Bishnoi community in the Jodhpur district in Rajasthan, for whom the protection of wildlife is part of their faith.

Yoga and Ayurveda are among the foremost well-known ways of comprehensive Indian living.

Sustainable and similar environmentally friendly practices still continue to be part of their lifestyle and culture. The culture of hoarding and thriftiness is imbibed deep within Indian households for centuries. Today, It is not a rare sight in an Indian household to witness an old cloth getting used as a duster.