Prime Minister, Narendra Modi addressing the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York on September 27, 2014. / PIB

In the words of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, “we must be taking urgent action: To slash emissions; to protect people and nature from climate extremes; to boost climate finance, and to clamp down on the fossil fuel industry." This vision encapsulates the theme of the UN Summit of the Future 2024: a milestone event in global governance to adopt a ‘Pact for the Future’.

The UN Summit of the Future is a rare moment to remake global governance on critical issues of environmental sustainability, intergenerational justice, and the global ecological crisis. This summit is organized to lay strategies for addressing some of the unprecedented challenges facing the planet, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion, to create ways to ensure sustainable development. 

Decisions made today will have ramifications not just for the next century but well into millennia to come, as noted in the document ‘Future: What Future?’ It is a summit that thinks in the long term, so future generations can inherit a planet that is ecologically viable and socially just.

The Summit will also have the UN Special Envoy for Future Generations, who is expected to give voice on behalf of the rights of future generations, not yet born. These discussions lead to intergenerational equity in discussions to ensure that the economic growth of today does not take place at the cost of the environment and welfare of the future generation. 

No country is better positioned than India to lead the sustainability agenda of the UN Summit, given its large population, fast-growing large economy, and democratic credentials. India will define the course of global sustainability. In addition, regarding climate change, India has been serious about its commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.

Following Mission LiFE or Lifestyle for Environment, promoted by Indian Prime Minister Modi, India has shown its intent, inclination, and willingness to assume major world leadership on environmental protection. The International Solar Alliance launched with France is a testament to its proactiveness in promoting sustainable energy solutions. India could lead at the summit by calling for global partnerships on renewable energy, climate resilience, and sustainable agriculture.

The role of business or corporate communities especially in developing countries like India, has been seen as highly instrumental in the future of sustainability. Companies like ITC Limited have undertaken realistic steps in incorporating the concept of sustainability into their core business strategies. The ITC Sustainability 2.0 vision is focused on reimagining sustainability under the pressing challenges of climate change and social inequity. 

It is aimed at further strengthening ITC’s large-scale efforts to combat climate change, enable the transition to a net zero economy, work towards ensuring water security for all, restore biodiversity through adoption of nature-based solutions, create an effective circular economy for post-consumer packaging waste and scale up programmes that support large-scale sustainable livelihoods. (ITC Sustainability Integrated Report, 2024). 

It is commendable as to how ITC's approach can help businesses function profitably and at the same time contribute toward creating ecological balance and building climate resilience. ITC has initiated a Climate Smart Agriculture Programme that today covers 2.8 million acres. This kind of corporate responsibility involving Responsible Competitiveness by including social and environmental considerations in core business decisions needs to be emulated more widely. 

Notably, ITC has also been at the forefront of embracing sustainable luxury with a view to minimising carbon emissions in the high emitting luxury market, especially the hospitality sector. 12 of ITC’s luxury properties have received LEED Zero Carbon certification and 5 of its hotels are LEED Zero Water certified, indeed a notable feat in environmental stewardship.

Companies can play to their full potential in promoting global efforts toward mitigating climate change by championing renewable energy, waste management, and water conservation initiatives. With leading roles in digital governance, agriculture, and renewable energy, India has very strong potential to be at the forefront of global efforts on climate-smart agriculture, green building movement, circular economy and technology-driven environmental protection involving water stewardship.

With companies like ITC, ReNew Power, Tata Group to name a few, India can lead the charge in demonstrating how the corporate and public sectors might work in tandem to hasten sustainable objectives. This can influence other nations to adopt similar models, hence setting the trend for a sustainable future, whereby, more aptly, India can surely create synergies between public policy and corporate action.

It will be important that countries and companies place sustainability at the heart of their governance and business strategies at the UN Summit of the Future 2024. Led by influential leadership, with ambitious ecological objectives and strong corporate players India is set to perform a pivotal role in bringing about the realization of the summit's goals. 

What is being done today will be echoing for centuries to come. As Sanjiv Puri, Chairman & MD of ITC, mentioned, "At ITC, we have walked a path to demonstrate that what is good for the planet and people is also good for business." This should be the vision to lead global corporates in a sustainable and just direction.
 

 

The author is an International Affairs expert working on areas like Market Entry, Innovation & Public Policy.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of  New India Abroad.