Top Indian cos' CSR arms join forces to combat climate change

Philanthropy arms of top corporates, including the Tatas, Mahindras, Godrejs and Premjis, on Wednesday announced a partnership to minimise the climate change impact.

The India Climate Collaborative (ICC) will be working to strengthen the climate community locally, build a climate narrative and drive solutions that will ensure both the natural world and people thrive.

The announcement comes amid an increased conversation on climate change, with the 50th session of the World Economic Forum in Davos generating the maximum flutter, which has also seen US President Donald Trump calling the greens "prophets of doom".

"Our collective leadership through the ICC will indicate to the world that Indian philanthropy is ready to be a leader in climate action," Tata Trusts Chairman Ratan Tata said in a statement.

The ICC seeks to build a collaborative platform for diverse voices, innovative solutions, and collective investments, the statement said, without quantifying the money which the corporates are pooling together for the platform.

Vidya Shah of financial services firm Edelweiss' corporate social arm, Rohini Nilekani of Infosys' CSR arm and banker Harmendra Kothari are among the other names in the 40-member collective.

"It is clear that the world cannot continue to pursue a business-as-usual approach and nobody can solve the problem on their own. Business, government, and philanthropy must collaborate within and among themselves to drive results quickly and at scale," Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra was quoted as saying.

"Together we will find solutions that will make climate action effective and impactful," he added.

Nadir Godrej, the managing director of Godrej Indistries, said businesses can do a lot for the planet in a cost effective way.

"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," he said.

Others who have joined the initiative include Swades Foundation, Sanctuary Asia Foundation, Mongabay-India, Indian Development Review (IDR), People's Archive for Rural India (PARI), Climate Collective Foundation, SELCO, and the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES).

Shloka Nath, who leads the sustainability portfolio at Tata Trusts, has been appointed the Executive Director of the India Climate Collaborative, the statement added.