Low carbon economy key to sustain competitiveness: Dr Pachauri

Dr R K PachauriChennai, Feb. 18: “Indian industry should shift its focus towards low carbon economy to sustain its competitiveness” said Dr R K Pachauri, Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Director General, The Energy and Resources Institute, in his inaugural address (Via Video Link) at the 4th Young Indians National Summit organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here on Saturday.

“The Government would soon come out with a new Climate Change Policy to address issues on global warming”, he added.

Dr Pachauri urged the need for industry to conform to green house emission norms and to invent products that are low in carbon density by using innovating technologies. He said that India is losing 10 percent of its GDP on account of air pollution and degradation of natural resource, and the agricultural output is also likely to reduce due to solid degradation.

He said that the industry and Government need to look at proactive methods in mitigating global warming and climate change issues. “We need to be a part of the solution and not the problem” asserted Dr Pachauri. He felt that the impact of global warming could lead to an increase of earth temperature ranging from 1.8 degree Celsius to 4 degree Celsius in this century.

Dr Pachauri said that around over 2.5 million people in India are losing their lives due to air pollution. He urged industry to promote water conservation, energy management and heathcare awareness for the masses through their CSR initiatives.

K V Kamath, Vice President, CII and Managing Director and CEO, ICICI Bank Ltd in his keynote address said that India is poised for a consistent growth rate of 10 percent over the next 10 – 15 years, however the key challenge is ‘Right Skilling’ of youth of this country, to sustain the growth.

Kamath observed that in view of the growth and economic advancement, there are still a few challenges India faces, which is not allowing it to accelerate its growth as fast as it could have been capable to. The foremost of the challenge is the right skilling of students. It is estimated that around 10-12 million jobs would be created in India in the next 10 years and most of the jobs would come in the sectors such as telecom, financial services and retail. He urged for a collaborative partnership among industry, institute and Government in revising the existing academic curriculum to suit industry requirements. He also said that pre-employment training in different fields are very essential for students to meet the job requirement of industry.

Jay Galla, Chair, Yi National Summit ’08 and Managing Director, AmaraRaja Batteries Ltd in his welcome address said that ‘Wake Up India”, the theme of the Summit is literally the wake up call to all stakeholders in India’s growth story. He said that the deliberations of the Summit would develop a sustainable plan of action in evolving a roadmap for constructive Plan of Action.

Galla said that inclusive growth is necessary for sustainable development and equitable distribution of wealth and prosperity. The role of youth in creating this equitable and inclusive growth is inevitable, he added.

Rajan Navani, National Chairman, Young Indians and Managing Director, Jetline Group of Companies in his address mentioned that the CII Yi initiative started in the year
2002, is a platform for Young Indian across the country to integrate, network and share insights on various developmental issues.

He urged the Young Indians to wake-up to the realities and channelise the youth power for development of the country.

Deepak Subramanian, Co-Chair, Yi National Summit ’08 and Vice President, Multivista Global Ltd delivered the concluding remarks.

The Yi National Summit was participated by over 400 delegates from across the country . (ANI)