Jamshedpur, June 1: Tata Steel in partnership with India Today Television (Erstwhile Headlines Today), today, organized the Preserve & Conserve conclave at the Taj Palace, New Delhi.
The session was inaugurated by Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment & Forest along with Arun Misra, VP Gopalpur & Tata Steel SEZ, in presence of Ashish Bagga, Group CEO, India Today Television and Kartikeya V. Sarabhai, Director Centre for Environment Education (CEE), which was also the Knowledge Partner for the event. The India Today Conclave is an initiative to bring together industry stalwarts to address the various critical issues of urbanization, to promote the use of a wide range of market mechanisms, corporate responsibility and regulatory schemes to conserve biodiversity.
As part of the Group’s celebration of June as the Tata Sustainability Month, Tata Steel got into this partnership to drive home the theme for upcoming World Environment Day 2015,focussed on sustainable consumption and production. The slogan for this year’s theme is ‘Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care’.
On the occasion Arun Mishra, VP Gopalpur & Tata Steel SEZ, said“We at Tata Steel are glad to be associated with the India Today Television Conclave. Over the years, company has initiated numerous programmes to preserve the environment like reduction of carbon dioxide, usage of water and solid waste management.
Our focus is to achieve overall operational efficiency leading to sustainable development for us as a company and the community around us. I am privileged to be part of this event and talk about our company, which has been involved in nation-building for over hundred years.
Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change graced upon the occasion and gave insights on the way Indians need to adopt sustainable practices in both production and consumption. Minister Javadekar appreciated Tata Steel on being a company conducting business in a sustainable manner and taking up this initiative of sharing best practices with respect to environment conservation.
The conclave was divided into three sessions. Session 1 was titled ‘Towards resilient, inclusive and creative cities” and focused on the critical issues of urbanization including spaces, waste management, and sustainable use of resources in Cities. Session 2 ‘Sustainable production and consumption’ looked at modifying and replacing current paradigms and lifestyles with those that support transitions to sustainable and equitable societies and the last session was the deliberation on ‘Biodiversity as an ecosystem resource for business and its efficient conservation’.
Ashish Mathur, MD, Jamshedpur Utilities and Services Company (JUSCO) gave a presentation on the sustainable initiatives that were adopted in the city like waste management, power supply, enhancing green cover, water management.
The panelists and audience lauded the efforts by JUSCO, which has made Jamshedpur a model city in the country, and sought ideas for replication in other cities like Delhi. Pankaj Satija, General Manager, Operations for the Ferro Alloys and Minerals Division of Tata Steel gave a presentation at the session on biodiversity in business.
This conclave was designed as a meeting point for the best minds from India and around the world to map the future of our country.
Some other prominent personalities present at The Conclave included Siddharth Balasubramanian, Country Head, Global Green Growth Institute, Shyamala Mani, Professor, National Institute of Urban Affairs, Joe Phelam, Director, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, India and R. Gopichandran,Director, VigyanPrasar, Department of Science and Technology.