The School of Business Environment of the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) hosted the ‘National Conference on Responsible Business Conduct’ and Exhibition on ‘Embracing ESG in India’ on December 14th, 2023 at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
The conference was inaugurated by Shri Rao Inderjit Singh, Union Minister of State (IC), Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, Ministry of Planning, and MoS, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt. of India. The inaugural session was graced by eminent guests such as Dr. Manoj Govil, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt. of India, Mr. Shombi Sharp, United Nation Resident Coordinator to India, Mr. Praveen Kumar, DG & CEO , IICA, Dr Garima Dadhich, Associate Professor and Head of School of Business Enironment, IICA, Ms. Cynthia McCaffery, UNICEF Country Representative India, Dr. Tina Kuriakose, Director, International Justice Mission, Mr. Pradeep Narayan, Director, Partners in Change, Dr. Nidhi Pundhir, Vice President, Global CSR, HCLTech& Director, HCLFoundation, and Mr. Ram Chauhan, Director, bvokal Technologies Pvt Ltd.
He highlighted the role of the corporates and issues related to the ease of doing business with the sense of social responsibility. Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, DG & CEO, IICA & other dignitaries were present on the occasion
Shri Rao underlined the importance of responsible business conduct in India and urged the corporate to increase the focus on environmental protection related strategic CSR projects within the purview of the Schedule VII of the Companies Act 2013 as pressing issues of climate change, rise in temperature, eco-degradation, water scarcity, decreasing water levels etc. are important to address to survive on planet earth and to secure a sustainable life to our future generations.
Minister also released the Book “Demystifying ESG” authored by Prof. Garima Dadhich and Dr. Ravi Raj Atrey. Representing the United Nations, Mr. Shombi Sharp, highlighted that realising SDGs are important both for the Corporates and Society. He emphasised that India is playing a key role in making SDGs Agenda 2030 a Global Reality. Mr. Manoj Govil, recognised that while there is need to increase the ‘economic-pie’, equally crucial is responsible business conduct. Mr. Praveen Kumar emphasised the need for immediate action on ESG by businesses and role of IICA in catering those needs. He formally welcomed all the dignitaries and participants to the conference
Mr. Praveen Kumar, DG & CEO , IICA, welcomed the guests to the conference.
The pivotal modern-age areas of the sustainability were addressed under the three High-Level Panels during the first day. First high-level panel was ‘Responsible Governance from Rights to Duties: Dialogues with Impact Leaders’ eminent speakers like Mr. Praveen Kumar, Me. Saurabh Garg, Ms Anita Shah Akella, Ms Naina Lal Kidwai, Ms Vaishali Nigam Sinha, Mr. Bharat Wakhlu, and Mr. Parvatheesam Kanchinadham deliberated in this session.
Panel on ‘Measuring the Environmental Footprints of Business under Indian Regulatory Mechanism’ was comprised of speakers like Prof. Tata Raghu, Dr. Rajat Kumar, Mr. Arupendra Nath Mullick, Dr. Hari Prasad, Dr. Divya Datt.
Another panel on ‘Responsible Procurement: Supply Chain Challenges’ witnessed the deliberations from the Ms Prajkta L. Verma, Dr. Radha Mohan Gupta, Prof. Vasanthi Srinivasan, Ms Shubha Sekhar, Ms Nusrat Khan, and Mr, Bhaskar Venugopal.
Sessions were overwhelmed with the Participants interaction with the panellist through Q&A. Five more such High-Level Panels based on CSR, SDGs, Sustainable Finance, ESG, Biodiversity and Business and Human Rights will take place on day-2 of the conference on 15 December 2023 at the Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
