Unleashing Indian innovation to deliver affordable sustainability

By Tom Kerr*

Report from Sustainable Growth Summit, Mumbai 12 November 2011

On Saturday, the World Economic Forum convened a diverse group of public and private stakeholders from the agriculture, water, energy and consumer industries in Mumbai to kick off the Sustainable Growth Summit at the annual India Economic Summit.

This event, a first for the Forum, captured the innovation that leaders of India’s fast-growing sustainability movement is harnessing to deliver low-cost solutions for clean water, renewable energy and sustainable products to the country’s 1.2 billion citizens.

A few key highlights from each of the sessions include:

• In the agricultural space, a new set of players—including farmers, IT, fertilizer producers, telecom, and banks—together created a shared vision to empower India’s hundreds of thousands of small farmers to reduce crop waste and improve their productivity.
• Leaders from India’s rapidly growing solar energy industry were bullish on the sector’s ability to reduce the country’s coal imports and address local and global pollution.  Bankers and solar developers are using low-cost finance to develop solar parks that directly compete with coal-fired power and expanding new models for low-cost, clean village power.
• Consumer industry actors identified sustainable consumption pathways for key resources like cotton, electronic equipment and palm oil by raising consumer awareness and changing pricing mechanisms.
• State governments and industry leaders mapped out ways to address the country’s water availability crisis by reducing water wastage in agriculture, industry and household use.  The government of Karnataka inspired the Maharashtra State government to adopt a vision for sustainable water resource management.

Across all of the sessions, there was tremendous enthusiasm and energy.  A clear theme was that it is time to move from study to action:  India needs to empower these social entrepreneurs to scale up successful examples to address India’s environmental challenges.  The challenges of addressing India’s water scarcity, agricultural productivity, growing consumption and rising demand for energy are urgent.

With 70% of India’s population under 40, can the country develop an “Indian Spring” of young social entrepreneurs delivering affordable sustainability to all, whether it is drip irrigation for farmers or new ways to deliver village power that is critical to empower India’s rural poor?  The Summit ended on a high note, with the government of Maharashtra State claiming that its doors are open for business:  it is ready to expand green growth opportunities through partnerships with the private sector.

Tom Kerr*  is Director Climate Change and Green Growth Initiatives, World Economic Forum