Environment Day - Are the Efforts of IT Businesses Enough?

Today is Environment Day. On this occasion we must all pledge to make this planet a better place to live in. Every day should be the Environment Day. We should not just publish quotes today and forget about it for the rest of the year. Indian IT sector is particularly lagging behind in its commitment to environment. There are a few exceptions, who make environment an integral part of their business strategy. The remaining section of the IT fraternity either issues quotes on the Environment Day, or just ignores this day. Talking to them personally, one gets the impression that many of them don't even understand the meaning of sustainability. This is in sharp contrast to the businesses in developed countries, where they make a commitment to environment an integral part of their policies. In India, most businesses only care about making more and more profit, even if it is at the cost of environment.

Travelling by fuel emitting cars is a matter of prestige for our IT business fraternity. Almost none of them makes an effort to travel by an eco-friendly vehicle. Wastage of resources by following a highly consumeristic lifestyle is also another mark of prestige for them. This is in sharp contrast to businesses abroad, which are making conscious efforts of reduce their resources usage.

We have received some quotes from the IT fraternity which show that at least some of them are beginning to wake up to the needs of the environment.

Jeremy Deutsch, President, Equinix Asia-Pacific said, "We achieved over 90% renewable energy in 2020 for the third year in a row, and we are scaling this globally to reach 100%. In 2020 alone, we leveraged the purchase of renewables to avoid 1.95 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents, which is as much as 400,000 cars’ worth of carbon emissions. Our renewables purchasing strategy has also helped us in reducing carbon emissions by 50% from 2015 to 2020. We are boosting investments in green data centers and offices. We are also deploying the best-in-class technologies and strategies to reduce the use of all resources."

The question is, whether his organisation has gone for this policy of sustainable energy usage in the developed countries of Asia-Pacific, or whether they are also using it in India. 

Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri India, said, "GIS (Geographic Information System) has been the core technology behind many programs focused on river rejuvenation, forest management, ocean conservation and more. GIS knowledge and geospatial infrastructure provide valuable insights for better understanding, collaboration and timely decisions for restoration of our ecosystem and sustainable future.”

Again, the question is how many bio-diversity and sustainable projects his organisation has supported in recent years in India. Simply saying that they provide GIS solutions, which can be used for sustainable projects is not enough.

Puneet Singhal, IT Ambassador to CAIT & President, CMDA, New Delhi has said, "For Delhi/NCR, CMDA-Delhi supports the CAIT initiative of OXINDIA to plant over 2 crore plants/trees for increasing natural oxygen across the country with all its might and requests our members to come forward as also suggest the way forward. The campaign is to continue for a  year and is to commence tomorrow the 5th June 2021 which happens to be World Environment Day. We could start with potted roof gardening or plant a tree but all should participate CMDA New Delhi."

Although CAIT's and CMDA's commitment to plant 2 Crore trees all over India is commendable, more needs to be done by the traders in their business practices. Following are some suggestions -

• Plant trees in the deforested areas
• Sell hardware like printers, computers etc which use biodegradable materials
• Use and sell printers which use resin ink and not the ink made from destroyed trees
• Travel in E-vehicles, if possible in E-rickshaws, not in petrol and diesel vehicles
• Use solar power systems at home and offices
• Invest in housing that use solar energy
• Transfer your businesses online as much as possible and cut the usage of physical space
• Wear natural fabrics such as cotton, wool, jute, silk etc, not synthetic fabrics
• Don't use polythene
• Cut the use of plastic

Environment Day should be an occasion to make a strong commitment and to follow these commitments in one's life to make a better planet. It should not be just an occasion for image building.

Read more from Dr Archana Verma here.

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