Indian companies leading global fight against climate change: Mahindra Group MD & CEO

New Delhi: India can take the lead in the global fight against climate change as a number of homegrown companies are already leading the march, Mahindra Group MD & CEO, Anish Shah said on Tuesday.

Global warming has resulted in a number of natural disasters and if it continues unabated it would lead to catastrophic consequences, he said while speaking at the FICCI LEADS 2022 event here.

"We've seen our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) make some very bold statements, including getting to 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030, and that is really an acknowledgement of the fact that India can lead the world on this," Shah said.

He further said, "a number of Indian companies have been leading at the world stage in this, as well by looking at new technologies, by looking at green materials coming in by decarbonising industries." Therefore, Shah said, "It's something that we cannot ignore and say we are a developed country or a developing country and it's for others to solve. We have to be able to take the lead and help solve this." Concerned over the current global warming, he said, "We are on a path today, which is not sustainable. We are seeing a number of natural disasters around us when we have 1.1 degrees more than what we expect, or what is normal, and the path will take us to two and a half degrees, which will be catastrophic in many ways." He called for collective efforts to fight climate change.

Hindustan Unilever CEO and MD Sanjiv Mehta also expressed confidence that India can lead from the front by pursuing growth but at the same time reducing environmental footprints.

"We have to grow, there is no option. Today, I believe the situation is as fertile as it could get for India to accelerate the growth journey. It's not an accident that this year, India is being looked upon, as perhaps the fastest growing large economy in the world. We have to keep at that pace and beyond," he said.

The country has to aim to consistently grow at 8 per cent to 9 per cent, more than the 6 per cent "historical growth rate that we have delivered in the last three decades'', he said adding, "but we have to do it in a manner that we decouple and reduce our environmental footprints. There is no option about that".

"I think India can do it, that we can look back and say that India has led from the front and made a difference not only to itself, but to the world at large," Mehta said.

He also pointed out that the planet cannot afford to have India, which has 2.5 per cent of the landmass and 70 per cent of the global population, a per capita greenhouse gas emission of the industrialised world.