Mahindra Group challenges businesses to commit to Paris Agreement
Chairman of the Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra, has endorsed the findings of climate change science by declaring that Mahindra’s most emission-prone segments have committed to science-based targets in line with the Paris Agreement. Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Mahindra challenged businesses across the world to do the same.
Founded in India in 1945, the Mahindra Group has grown into a conglomerate on an international scale, operating in 100 countries and employing more than 240,000 people. The group, which is currently valued at $19 billion, began as a utility vehicle manufacturer, and has since expanded into a broad range of industries, including agribusiness, aerospace, information technology, logistics, real estate,and steel, as well as financial services and consulting.
Mahindra Rise, which is the group’s consulting firm, offers services in the domains of information security and risk management, engineering consulting, and business process management. In order to deliver these service lines, the firm is broken down into verticals such as Mahindra Consulting Engineers, Mahindra Special Services Group, and Mahindra Integrated Business Solutions.
In recent years, the Mahindra Group has been increasingly active in efforts to combat climate change in India, in line with the general sentiment across the country. The group has committed to doubling energy productivity, implemented carbon pricing in its firms, and, most significantly, adopted science-based targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Practices have included the establishment of solar mini grids, the making of electric cars, assisting farmers with micro-irrigation, recycling automobiles, and building green buildings, among a number of other initiatives.
Chairman of the Group, Anand Mahindra, has been particularly vocal in his advocacy of green initiatives, ensuring that the group maintains its sustainability reporting. Speaking at the WEF, Mahindra said, “I commit that the Mahindra Group will implement the Paris Agreement in its entirety. A powerful way of ensuring corporate climate action, aligned with the ambition of the Paris Agreement, is by setting science-based targets.”
The appeal is an attempt to prepare the business community for the upcoming Global Climate Action Summit in September, in order to ensure that concrete commitments are secured. The summit comes at a crucial time to assess the progress towards the 2 degree Celsius upper limit set for the warming of the climate by the Paris accord. Two years before the 2020 deadline for the accord targets, the summit will not only allow for a realistic evaluation, but will also allow for targets to be set in the longer term as well.
Mahindra was determined in his efforts to rally the business community, stating, “I applaud all 330+ companies that have already committed to set science-based targets through the Science Based Targets initiative. Two of the three Mahindra companies with the highest emissions in the Group, Tech Mahindra and Mahindra Sanyo Special Steel, have already done so.”
He added; “Today, I am inviting all companies, particularly those that emit the most, to commit to set science-based targets. Over the course of 2018, I will be working to expand the adoption of science-based targets not only across the Mahindra Group, but amongst my business colleagues so that by the Global Climate Action Summit in September, 500 companies step up and commit to set science-based targets.”
