Transformation of Businesses is a Complex Balancing Act – Mr Rijit Sengupta, CEO, CRB

Social, economic and environmental sustainability have to be integrated into the mainstream business

INDIA AND SUSTAINABILITY STANDARDS CONFERENCE  by CENTRE FOR RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS

27th- 29th  October 2021

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Smart Sustain, as a media partner of  CRB’s flagship event 2021 with the theme: Accelerating and Reinforcing Transformative Change for Societal Resilience, had a fruitful conversation with Mr Rijit Sengupta, the CEO of CRB on the eve of the event.

Implementing the Paris Agreement requires economic and social transformation. The Agreement is based on a 5-year cycle in which countries take extensive climate action plans, known as nationally determined contributions which help monitor their progress as we strive towards 2030.

Each of the 193 countries is responsible for their efforts between now and 2030 and the efforts solely depend upon how institutions and businesses perform. Organisations like the CRB can do a lot by monitoring, motivating and evaluating institutions and businesses and by creating extensive and meaningful dialogues between policymakers and stakeholders in and out of India.

As the Chief Executive Officer of the CRB, Mr Rijit Sengupta is keen on exploring opportunities for applying national and international optimal practices on responsible business for achieving Sustainable Development Goals especially in the context of a  developing country like India.
He has experience of over nineteen years in various areas of sustainable development policies and practices.

He reiterated that a lot of business leaders in India are not realising that sustainable practices are part of mainstream business, though many leading businesses have made commendable advancements in the last decade. That is one of the elements of focus for CRB as the way forward is to be realised equally by large companies and SMEs.

As companies undergo that realisation, motivating them to pursue the vision of sustainable practices is the role of CRB and Mr Rijit is hopeful and confident about the initiatives of CRB on the eve of their 8th annual flagship conference – India and  Sustainability Standards Conference.

The transformation of businesses is a complex balancing act but a needed one. All three aspects of sustainability have to be negotiated. Social, economic and environmental sustainability needs to be integrated into mainstream business. We cannot proceed further otherwise, especially in India where more than 70% of industries are SMEs. The connection between these three has to be strategically understood by companies of all kinds.