EU India Business Collaborative Initiative on Sustainable Development, Climate Action and Inclusivity
Overview
- Alarm raised by UN in July 2023 report on SDGs imploring the international community to push for bold actions
- The report underscored the need for ‘business as usual’ approaches toward sustainability to stop
- Mandatory interventions would be required to salvage the future of millions living in poverty and hunger; women and girls fighting for equal opportunities; communities facing climate disaster or fleeing conflicts
- The ‘G20 Leaders Delhi Declaration’ highlighted these concerns as well by emphasising on solutions, synchronised by national and international policies
- Enhanced collaborative efforts emerged as a cohesive solution to drive innovations in finance, technology and community needs
- Cohesive collaboration between CRB and the EU Delegation to India has been initiated through their joint initiative – the ‘EU India Business Collaborative Initiative on Sustainable Development, Climate Action and Inclusivity’
- This will enable effective collaborations on sustainability/SDGs involving EU businesses and supply/value chain stakeholders
- It will see collaborative initiatives of EU and Indian stakeholders on specific sustainability targets of Climate, Biodiversity, Gender & Water
- Contribute to self-sustaining, industry-led EU-India collaborative initiatives on sustainable business in India, applying digitalisation, circular economy and innovation
- Contribute to policy dialogue to put sustainable trade and investment at the heart of inclusive growth and development between EU and India
- The collaborative initiative will include academia, the scientific community and CSOs to deliberate on specific sustainability challenges
Objectives
- The intent of this collaborative initiative is to reinforce EU-India cooperation on:
- sustainable modernisation
- clean energy
- climate action
- trade and investment in line with mutually agreed priorities
- embracing digitalisation
- circular economy and innovation
- Forge bolder and ambitious initiatives toward specific sustainability SDGs by taking forward already existing good practices on collaboration between businesses, Government and other actors on SDGs in India
- The EU and India’s recent discussions on bi-lateral trade initiatives, underscore a commitment to enhancing trade and sustainable development
- India is an important trading partner of the EU, necessitating a strategic approach to aligning EU businesses with emerging Indian policies & regulations on CSR and sustainable business
- This joint initiative will address a notable skew observed from previous studies by CRB & the EU on the locations of CSR investments by EU businesses which do not include the Eastern and North Eastern regions
- The estimated annual CSR investment of EURO 250-300 million will afford an opportunity to
- perceptibly improve the skew observed
- channel these funds effectively to address India’s climate goals & specific SDGs
Knowledge
Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) in partnership with the European Union (EU) Delegation to India commenced a pilot study on the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure patterns of EU Companies operating in India and their contributions toward Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country. Read more here.
Centre for Responsible Businesses (CRB) along with EU Delegation in India are working together to explore deepening collaboration between CSOs, businesses and other key stakeholders in India on sustainability and SDGs, by conducting conversations across four cities of India. By bringing together these groups, the partners hope to pave the way for increased collaboration and cooperation towards sustainable development in India. Read more here.
Dialogues
Centre for Responsible Business in partnership with Delegation of the European Union to India and Eske Bo Rosenberg, Consulate General Denmark in Bangalore, held a discussion with a group of EU Member State representatives in Bangalore, about a project to explore possible ways to strengthen collaboration between EU businesses and Indian stakeholders for achieving sustainability outcomes related to: Climate, Water, Biodiversity and Gender.
Upcoming Events
Two regional consultations scheduled for end of June 2024 in Bangalore and Pune.
Stay tuned for further details