Aspire Impact, a leading ESG, Sustainability and Impact Assessment initiative in India, took a significant stride in tackling environmental challenges during a recent Global Consultation today, alongside Aspire Circle and TERI, its co-hosts. Held on July 27, 2023, the global consultation titled “Catalysing inclusive Climate Innovations for the Global Impact Economy”, witnessed massive participation from experts representing corporates, SMEs, banks, investors, policy makers, politics, think tanks, and climate organizations. The focus of the event was to seek feedback on two ground-breaking research publications from two Working Groups set up ahead of the meeting on “Unlocking Climate Technologies for Global South” and “Catalyzing Climate and ESG-led Finance for SMEs and Supply Chains”.
The two working groups, each with 25-strong group of experts, including Chief Sustainability Officers, ESG & Impact Leaders, and SME Platforms, collaborated for two months to jointly publish these research publications. Aspire Impact and Aspire Circle partnered with TERI, Mahindra University, m1Xchange, Desai & Associates, Capgemini, Protean e-gov, and The Rockefeller Foundation to present these publications.
The first Working Group, “Catalysing Climate and ESG-led Finance for SMEs and Supply Chains” outlines a visionary idea to establish a correlation between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors, sustainability practices, and their impact on cost-efficient climate finance for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Supply chains. This can be achieved by leveraging Open Digital Eco-Systems (ODEs) to facilitate the discovery of climate finance opportunities and enhance the capacity of SMEs and supply chains, ultimately leading to their integration into an impactful movement and accelerating the transition towards achieving Net Zero emissions. An ODE with a clear purpose has the potential to catalyse the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and make SMEs future-ready.
The second Working Group, “Unlocking Climate Technologies for Global South” envisions the establishment of a Climate Technologies’ Clearing House (CTCH). This innovative hub will serve as a Trade Hub, facilitating the transfer of climate technologies to governments and corporations in Global South nations. It addresses their need for financial assistance, smooth and transparent buyer-supplier discovery, and capacity-building to meet their commitments under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement.
Speaking about the impact of the event, Amit Bhatia, Founder & CEO of Aspire Impact and Aspire Circle, said, “The Global Consultation with over 200 practitioners for our two research publications, co-authored by 50 experts, has been a remarkable T20 achievement. The recommendations of (i) a dedicated private initiative to build a facility for climate technology transfer from Global North to Global South, and (ii) Linking supply-chain financing to Climate action and ESG ratings are both a first for G20, as is the participation from Chief Sustainability Officers, ESG & Impact Leaders, and SME Platforms. These two recommendations help global SMEs and Big Business alike, while accelerating our planet’s transition to Net Zero.”
Vibha Dhawan, Director General at TERI, the co-hosts of the event, said, “Balancing climate and sustainability goals requires significant investments in clean and sustainable technologies and practices. We urgently need to create innovative institutional mechanisms ensuring adequate low-cost financial flows for enabling rapid development and adoption of appropriate technologies. This is specifically a concern for small-scaled businesses in developing countries, which are the backbone of these economies.”
The Global Consultation Event also witnessed remarkable keynote and special addresses by Amandeep Gill, Under Secretary General, United Nations; Anjali Kaur, Deputy Assistant Administrator, USAID; Ateesh Kumar Singh, Jt. Secretary, MMSME, GoI; Deepali Khanna, VP, The Rockefeller Foundation; and Sir Nicolas Sterns, Member of the House of Lords, UK.
The two working groups included CXOs and leaders from around the world.
