Climate change materially affects nearly all sectors – agriculture, forestry & land use, water and energy – and what they are able to achieve. While India’s response to climate change has been positive thus far, there is an opportunity to act now and boost efforts.
To do this, the India Climate Collaborative will: Connect and strengthen the Indian climate community, drive climate solutions that help people and nature thrive And simultaneously build a compelling, India-focused climate narrative.
Thus, In a bold effort to solve India’s climate challenge, over ten of the country’s foremost philanthropies have come together to found the India Climate Collaborative (ICC). The ICC marks the first-ever collective response by industry leaders such as Ratan N. Tata, Anand Mahindra, Rohini Nilekani, Nadir Godrej, Aditi and Rishad Premji, Vidya Shah, and Hemendra Kothari, among others, for effective action towards a shared climate goal.
Commenting on the launch, Mr. Ratan N. Tata, Chairman, Tata Trusts, said, “Our collective leadership through the ICC will indicate to the world that Indian philanthropy is ready to be a leader in climate action.
Mr. Nadir B. Godrej, Managing Director of Godrej Industries said, “There is a lot that businesses can do, and are doing, to tackle the climate emergency at a cost that is not significantly high. Government can play a role in providing incentives and disincentives to ensure lower carbon emissions. We have to look at localised solutions that can solve global problems, and this will need businesses, governments, academia, and individuals to work together to identify and scale up solutions. The role of philanthropy will be to augment these efforts. The ICC can provide a platform for India to lead the way in bringing all these elements together to create a sustainable and successful model for climate work.”
The ICC is currently a 40 + member organisation and growing. They consist of:
Leading government agencies, businesses, scientific institutions and universities: The Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the Ashoka Trust for Research on Ecology & Environment (ATREE), the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), The Council on Environment, Energy & Water (CEEW), Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), The Nature Conservancy – India (TNC India), World Resources Institute (WRI), Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), IIT-Delhi, Indian School of Business (ISB), IDH Sustainable Trade Initiative, Shakti Foundation, Dalberg Advisors, Intellecap, Mahindra Group, Wipro, Godrej Industries and HUL Foundation, to name a few.
The ICC will roll out initiatives on the themes of air, water, and land, to cover issues relevant to the Indian climate crisis and to the ICC’s members. In the coming months, the ICC will host a convening of actors to battle air pollution across India, conduct a technical training on climate change for officials from the Government of Rajasthan, and launch research on how philanthropy can help build climate resilient communities.
In 2019, the ICC had hosted a Sustainable Land Use Forum. It showcased the ICC’s strength and approach by bringing together more than 100 partners across sectors to discuss land use strategies to recognize their interlinked impacts on multiple co-benefit areas. It provided a foundation of ideas and pathways for the ICC and its partners to address climate change.
Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI said, “Climate change is happening. We need to both manage the unavoidable impacts of the already-committed climate change, as well as avoid future climate change which can turn us into an unmanageable world. India is at the forefront of innovative approaches to address both climate mitigation and adaptation – especially since we will need to reach out to large parts of the population with enough energy, enough water, and ensure that they have enough resilience. This needs new approaches, and Indian philanthropy is crucial to helping us find these approaches”
