The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Kolkata on March 11 to set up a ‘Centre of Excellence’ on CSR and Sustainability which will devise solutions in the domain to achieve national and global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The SDGs Affordable and Clean Energy(7), Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure(9), Responsible Consumption and Production(12), Life on Land(15) and 13 more national SDGs along with the global goals are going to be worked on by the two institutions. The Centre of Excellence (CoE) envisions to create a knowledge platform as well as engage with corporates, the government, non-governmental sector and other stakeholders in the CSR domain to arrive at solutions in an inclusive and holistic manner for all stakeholders and work towards SDGs.
Speaking about the collaboration between TERI and ICC, Dr Vibha Dhawan, Director General, TERI observed, “I strongly believe this partnership with the ICC will help culminate in bringing about a change in the social fabric of India taking CSR and Sustainability to unprecedented heights.” Dr Rajeev Singh, Director General, ICC, said, “The ICC is partnering with TERI to align CSR with the country’s Sustainable Development Goals.”
The aims
The CoE, which will be at TERI as well as the ICC, will focus on generating and providing a global knowledge platform to become a prominent voice amongst corporates, NGOs, academia and the government on CSR, sustainability and sustainable development. It will create an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) framework for corporates and other stakeholders and will work towards India’s COP-26 commitment of net zero emission by 2070 through knowledge papers and reports, round tables, and sensitisation programmes.
The CoE will be engaged in research, development, demonstration and execution of innovative technologies and solutions on different thematic areas in the CSR domain. It will also popularise rating amongst the social sector in order to create a credible database of NGOs and implementing agencies in the country.
The coming together of the multi-dimensional research organisation and a pro-active and forward-looking Chamber is expected to tremendously benefit the country, especially with the increasing number of companies in India: at an average of 2-3 tech start-ups per day. With the multidisciplinary team of scientists, sociologists, economists, engineers, administrative professional and state-of-the-art infrastructure of TERI, actively working towards strong CSRs and sustainable social development would definitely be feasible and benefit the national and global environment. Moreover, ICC’s forte is its ability to anticipate the needs of the future, respond to challenges, and prepare the stakeholders in the economy to benefit from these changes and opportunities, which makes the achievement of this agreement’s aims very likely.
