Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
EP39: Ankit Todi - The Business Case for Climate Action in Manufacturing, Energy, and Agriculture
36 Plays3 days ago
“Changes can’t happen standalone by one company, it will require participation from peers, from supply chain partners, from government policy.”
The world is beginning the conversation of moving towards a greener future. What part do major businesses play in these next steps? A renewable future cannot be created by one person; change takes place with the participation of many, whether that be lawyers and finance companies funding future projects, or the electrification of transportation vehicles becoming more widespread, it takes major conversations over the course of months or years to see these plans come into action.
Ankit Todi of the Mahindra Group, shares his passions and exciting plans; this conversation walks through the major strides toward the future of green and renewable energy. Where action has already been taken and change already made, and what eliminating existing and future major emissions could mean not only for the Mahindra Group and other large scale businesses, but for the environment and our planet.
Born in Dibrugarh, India- a city known for its tea gardens and rich green space, Ankit grew to love the nature surrounding him. With his background in engineering, leading him into management consulting, Ankit eventually ended up with the opportunity to implement his passion with professionalism, carrying through into his position as Chief Sustainability Officer, offering him the opportunity to create a major impact in the sustainability movement within the Mahindra Group and eventually implementing the Planet Positive strategy.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankit-todi-bb891a25/
Explore these valuable resources to further your journey in regenerative design:
Discover more about Regenerative design at Paulownia Landscape Architects. https://www.paulownia-la.com/.
Dive into the Twelve Laws of Nature and unlock the secrets of harmonizing with our planet at https://www.12lawsofnature.com/.
Fulfill your garden aspirations with expert guidance from the Garden of Your Dreams masterclass at https://www.gardenofyourdreams.com/.
Ready to take actionable steps towards your dream garden? Book a complimentary 30-minute training session with Matthieu for immediate results: https://calendly.com/garden-of-your-dreams.
Recommended
Transcript
Long-term Perspective in Climate Action
00:00:03
Speaker
All of climate and sustain sustainability is effectively thinking about the planet as an owner and taking a long-term view on the planet's health and the economics just start making sense. I think more important to drive action today and rather than talk about idealistic ideas in the long term.
Podcast Introduction by Mathieu Mehuys
00:00:18
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Regenerative Design podcast. I'm your host, Mathieu Mehuys. And in this show, I interview the leading authorities in the world of regenerative practices.
Aligning Planet Care with Business Success
00:00:29
Speaker
People who do good and do well.
00:00:31
Speaker
Are you a person that cares about your environment and our planet, that wants to leave the planet to our children to be something that we can be truly proud of, to enjoy for many generations to come? But are you also a person that believes we can do all of this and do good in business? I have really good news for you.
00:00:49
Speaker
You're here listening to the podcast that is all about making our planet a better place and making your business more successful. Enjoy the show.
Introducing Ankit Todi
00:00:58
Speaker
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Regenerative Design Podcast with your host Mathieu. And today, yet, we have another amazing special guest. And this is really a powerhouse from India.
00:01:10
Speaker
His name is Ankit Todi. And Ankit is the Chief Sustainability Officer of the Mahindra Group, which is based in India, doing a lot of projects, mostly in India, but also a little bit worldwide. And Ankit is instrumental for the sustainability development of this company and he has created a planet positive strategy that has a huge impact on the group.
00:01:33
Speaker
And Ankit is really important for the future of this global group and how it will change these industries that I already talked about. So Ankit, welcome to the show. Tell me how how are you doing
Ankit's Environmental Journey
00:01:49
Speaker
today?
00:01:49
Speaker
Thank you, thank you Matthew for having me and for those very kind words. My pleasure. So Ankit, I always like to start my interviews with asking you, like, how what's your backstory? How did you end up in in such a big global company with such a big and important position?
00:02:07
Speaker
Like, even in your childhood, was there any signs that you would become ah so important for for this company and even for India? Like, I'd love to hear that. oh Absolutely, Matthew, again, you know thank you for that question. ah there are it's It's hard to sort of predict the future. So I wouldn't see that I i knew where I would be ah in my early days. But ah the reason I did get into the climate and sustainability space has got to do with my childhood, ah to some extent, at least. as So I was born and brought up in this part of India called Dibrugarh. which is generally known as the tea city of India. And even to today, it's a very clean, green a place surrounded by tea gardens and tea gardens often have a lot of trees ah for shipping purposes. I also had this neighbor
00:02:55
Speaker
ah who used to used to use ah use a little bit of space in my in my house to sort of prepare a lot of saplings that would eventually be planted across the road. And as a child, I remember sort of being involved or at least generally standing and watching and asking and talking to him.
00:03:12
Speaker
ah So I think a lot of that ah love for nature ah comes from childhood experiences for sure. I often also refer to this cartoon network show and ah you know people around the world in there that it born in the 80s and 90s perhaps could relate to it. There used to be a cartoon network show called Captain Planet, ah which again, ah way ahead of its time, i would imagine, which talked about environment.
00:03:40
Speaker
and ecological consequences, etc. And again, as a childhood, I remember watching that show. So definitely childhood experiences shape you. ah But in terms of, you know, how did I end up in
Path to Mahindra and Sustainability
00:03:52
Speaker
my current role? I think a lot of other factors played ah played a role. do have an engineering background, ended up in management consulting for a while, I was doing business strategy. And then when I had this opportunity where I figured that it was possible to really rethink ah ah sustainability from a more strategic lens and also sort of combine personal areas of interest with professionalism. I think that's where these things came together and over the last four years that's what I've been doing at Mahundra. So so it's's it's been quite ah quite a journey so far.
00:04:24
Speaker
Wow, that's amazing. Yeah, it's very cool to hear that ah some seeds were planted when you were a child. And I'm just curious because I didn't fully understand where you were ah grown up. Is that the state that actually has, I know in India there's one state that ah organic farming is is completely obligated or they don't allow chemicals. Is that correct or is that correct? So you are correct about the fact that there is such a state in India, but I am not not from that state. It's it's in the vicinity.
00:04:55
Speaker
So i was um I was born in the state of Assam and within didn't the state of Assam, a specific place called Debrugar, which is known known as one of the major places where tea is grown.
00:05:08
Speaker
Lots of free gardens in and around the place. So ah that exposure definitely was there From there, there's also river on the city is on the banks of a river. So that also plays a role in in the local environment.
00:05:23
Speaker
Nice. Well, nice. Very cool. So I would love to understand more from from your experience, like when you started to join the Mahindra group, what was the current state of like the sustainability approach, the goals?
00:05:38
Speaker
Because I feel like a lot of companies started maybe in the 90s, in the 2000s, like, oh, we have to do something around sustainability. And for many companies, it was like, oh, it's kind of like a cost position or something.
00:05:51
Speaker
um So I'd love to hear from from your experience experience, what was the the state of of the Mahindra group when you joined and and how did you then start to to reshape
Mahindra's Sustainability Evolution
00:06:01
Speaker
it? Absolutely. So the Mahindra group is roughly speaking about an 80 year old organization and is present in multiple different industries, largely in India, but also around the world.
00:06:11
Speaker
And I think the group's sustainability journey generally started ah in the 2000s era, specifically around 2007, 2008. ah when with the team had put together the first sustainability report.
00:06:25
Speaker
ah This was now roughly speaking more than almost 20 years back. ah So that's where a lot of the thinking started coming into how do you really think about the subject or rather, how do you think about businesses, not just from a purely profit view, but what is called a triple bottom line, you know, the purpose, profit and planet view of things. And that's where the ethos of what we now call sustainability ESG, and there's a lot of momentary to use, but at the general, you know, purpose driven organization that is going to look at how can businesses also create a positive impact ah be it on the planet or on the people that are engaged engaged with it. So that's where this thing started. But yeah, over the last many years, I think the journey has evolved quite a bit.
00:07:14
Speaker
ah so So I think we we definitely had a few commitments, which became more tangible over a period of time. And then I think over the last four or five years, particularly, we also started to see how do we really think about integrating a lot more of the ah sustainability and climate action as a core part of business strategy itself and not really looking at it ah in silos. So there has been a lot of evaluation evo over the years, but yes, the journey has probably been with now for two decades.
00:07:47
Speaker
Yeah, that's great. So and then what what were some of the the or What have been some of the most important strategies, things, systems that you have integrated in the Mahindra group that that that you think have has have and will have the biggest impact on creating a future for the planet where we can live more in harmony with nature rather than distracting? yeah Absolutely. So I think to my mind, the biggest thing that we have been able to do is, as I said, really make the business case for why this is important and good for business instead of trying look at it from a standalone moral argument or a compliance argument.
Planet Positive Strategy at Mahindra
00:08:31
Speaker
How can we have a business first argument that aligns better with ah with this? So, ah yeah you know, a large group generally has many stakeholders, many different companies with their respective CEOs, etc. So a piece of exercise was to really bring together some of the senior stakeholders under the guidance of our group MD.
00:08:51
Speaker
And then over a period of about six odd months, we discussed different things that we should really look at. And that's where this concept of what we call the planet positive a strategy came into being.
00:09:04
Speaker
ah We said that as a business, there are broadly three types of actions or three areas of action. The first set of actions are things where you have direct control over your operations. So ah very specifically, all the energy that you use, scope one and scope two emissions, what we call. So all the direct energy consumption within the factories, within the plants, offices, etc. How do we look at ah that being more energy efficient, being powered through green green electricity?
00:09:32
Speaker
and so on. So that became one area of action. The other area is that we cannot just have a carbon view to the climate space, but we also have to look at a holistic impact from water and how we use that, ah what kind of waste do we generate, how do we ensure that we don't contribute to landfills. And then finally, also looking looking at material consumption in particular. So as as a company that is big in manufacturing and construction, we consume a lot of material, be it steel, concrete and a wide variety of other materials. So being mindful of how to be ensure that we consume ah less material, try and be more efficient in our material use, use material which has a lower emission footprint, ah use material which is recyclable, easy to recycle, at the same time also these content of recycled material. So a mix of these things under the ambit of material circularity. So those became a big part of what we call you know trying and ensuring that our operations itself become greener. And that's where we have the relatively speaking the highest level of control.
00:10:35
Speaker
ah The second part became that all of this for it to really scale and become become mainstream.
Industry-Wide Sustainability Approach
00:10:41
Speaker
It's important to take an industry wide view. So a lot of changes can't happen standalone by one company. It will require ah participation from peers, from supply chain partners, from government policy, etc. So the idea was that how do we take an industry view and look at decarbonizing the industries we operate in. and Now this could mean very different things for different sectors, but broadly speaking, it's the green transition. So the auto sector moving to ah electric vehicles, the real estate sector talking about low emission or net zero construction, green buildings, etc. the holidays business or resorts businesses doing similarly green holidays and green infrastructure and so on. Even financing as a role in terms of playing a role in green financing, etc. So the idea was that really, how can we you know think and emphasize on on this transition, you know be present in businesses where ah which are more, more let's say, in resonance with with environmental action. So renewable energy in particular or recycling in particular. And then subsequently also i take a view on how do we bring our supply chains along in this journey because a lot of this cannot happen without policy and supply chain. So that became the broader second pillar of action, let's say.
Ecosystem Roles and Social Equity
00:11:58
Speaker
The third pillar of action is what I call areas where
00:12:01
Speaker
ah you play a role in the larger ecosystem, sometimes maybe core to business, sometimes may not be core to business, but at the intersection of social social equity and also ah ensuring nature conservation. so ah From a Mahindra group perspective, farmers are an important stakeholder. We sell a lot of tractors and other ah things in the farm sector. So how we help the farmers build climate resilience.
00:12:29
Speaker
That's one area where there are a few both businesses as well as our philanthropic work happens in that segment. There's also work that we do generally. to ensure that we don't do you know net ah net harm to nature. So wherever possible, ah invest in preserve biodiversity, especially we own large land areas in businesses like resorts, real estate, etc.
00:12:53
Speaker
So how do we contribute to protecting natural ecosystems and further augmenting these ecosystems? And a lot of this will happen through what I call enablers.
00:13:04
Speaker
ah you know being transparent and in reporting and disclosure in a large group, ah sort of being willing to participate with new innovative players, especially startups, etc. in this segment. There's a lot of work that has to be done on the policy side, working closely with industry associations and governments. And then finally, also capability building, ah because this segment or rather the entire area of climate and sustainability is one where there's a lot of evolution which is happening with each passing year.
00:13:35
Speaker
So how do we really participate and you know make sure that ah everyone is part of this this journey because it really can't be done in silos. All all parts of an organization generally will have to come together, think about this and implement implement this.
00:13:53
Speaker
This podcast is brought to you by the Garden of Your Dreams Masterclass. Are you struggling with finding the right tools and tricks for your garden? Are you lacking the confidence to be a self-sufficient gardener? Do you sometimes get overwhelmed by the lack of knowledge and time you have to actually do gardening? Then the Garden of Your Dreams Masterclass is for you.
00:14:13
Speaker
No, that's amazing. Yeah. Well, What an amazing wide variety and I love that you're going not just looking in the group but also all the let's say the whole supply chain and then it's so clear. So I would love to go a little bit deeper in in the farming aspect in India and position obviously that Mahindra produces a lot of tractors. Like do you see a potential or an evolution in creating new machines and Even new tractors or even helping farmers to make a transition to be more regenerative and helping them to to be more ah ecological in farming. Is that something you're working on actively or is that more? Yeah, i I'm curious to know more about that. No, absolutely. There are, you know, anything that will help farmers become more climate resilient or be more adapt adaptive to climate change is is good for ah good for the country, but also, you know, very selfishly good for the company.
00:15:10
Speaker
ah the The more money farmers make and the more stability that they have, the more likelihood of them purchasing and spending more on equipment. So there's a very strong business case there. And as a result, we do you know do undertake a few activities.
Supporting Sustainable Farming Initiatives
00:15:24
Speaker
Now, generally speaking, there are more specific examples that I could share with you. So we have a business for drip irrigation.
00:15:32
Speaker
Now, it's a relatively small business, but drip irrigation is known to be one of the most effective solutions to ah combat or rather build climate resilience, especially for areas where rainfa rainfall patterns are erratic and also has indirect benefits in terms of let's say saving water but improving crop yield. So that's something that we provide as a service in generally at very, very competitive or rather you know subsidized the rates, again supported by the government in some ways. There is a part of Mahindra group where we sell different kinds of seeds, especially rice seeds and potato bulbs and a few other seeds. And there we are trying to see how do we bring in varieties of seeds which are more climate resilient, use less resources, especially water so that they they are more drought resistant, for instance. So that's another business that is there. ah We have a third third action where we ah you know help but or rather are creating a awareness around ah ways of planting rice and selling machinery, which help with a direct seeding of rice, which again is environmentally more conscious in a favorable practice of rice cultivation.
00:16:39
Speaker
and There are other indirect ways also in which we are supporting the ecosystem, as I said, from our philanthropic work. where where there's a program where we look at helping women farmers in particular with learning more about regenerative agriculture and other other similar practices which help help with let's say farm sustenance. So there's there's a whole host of things. Again, this is not core business for us. Not all of it is core business for us. At the end of the day, our farm sector is more of an equipment company. but there are definitely indirect ways and some direct ways in which we are uh which we are in which we are helping nice that's amazing that's very interesting that you're also supporting the farmers where you can and and particularly women um it's actually i think i don't know if you've heard of this uh listed which is called project drawdown it's like a list of i think 50 to 100 ways that can
00:17:33
Speaker
um ways that we can regenerate the planet and and i think uh in the top three or at least top five there's like we have to empower um specifically girls or like give educations to girls because in many countries the women have a lot of decision power um and so when you educate girls then they will make better decisions so i find that interesting that you're also focusing on on that um so yeah and then i was just a because i feel like the biggest
00:18:06
Speaker
One of the bigger innovations or or an industry that's growing rapidly now is the the biotech industry, but more specifically the microorganism industry. like do you Are you aware of that? Are you working in that field too?
00:18:21
Speaker
Because I feel there's a lot of potential in that realm too.
Potential of Biotech Sector in India
00:18:25
Speaker
No, absolutely. I do have some you know very basic understanding on the subject. But to be very honest, it's not in India that we are working as a group. There are a number of Indian companies, though, which are generally the what I call the agri input companies. So they provide the provide all kinds of you know pesticides, herbicides and biological products to the farmers for different types of crops. So that segment in India is definitely maturing.
00:18:54
Speaker
And we do engage with a few of them from time to time, but not not really a core part of our business per se. No, no, I understand. So I'm also curious to understand deeper, like you already mentioned that before that for you sustainability, it's not just like, oh, this is something we have to do because of a goodwill or because of, ah yeah, just like kind of like a charity, and maybe plant a few trees left and right. And then you call yourself a green company. like ah You already go way deeper into like, okay, there's an actual business case in ah investing in in green technologies, sustainability, regeneration. So I'd love to know from you, like what project are you most excited about for the next five years ah in terms of having a big impact on the environment, but also obviously to grow a business? Because...
00:19:45
Speaker
let's be honest, true sustainability, it has to be financially sound because if there's a minor crisis or something, if it doesn't fit the business profile, they will just neglect it very fast.
00:19:57
Speaker
Even if they say that they have all these goals and and everything. So, um yeah, I'm curious to know what what is the that what is it that you're most excited about for the next five years?
Climate Action Focus Areas: Energy and Electrification
00:20:08
Speaker
No, absolutely, Matthew, you're quite right that you know things will scale only if there is a strong business for case for it. So either from a revenue augmentation perspective or from a what I would call cost saving perspective. So generally speaking to me, ah the energy transition is the part of climate action that has the highest impact.
00:20:27
Speaker
Now, there are three sub components of it. The first component is let's say energy efficiency. The second component is renewable energy. And the third component is electrification.
00:20:39
Speaker
So these together are basically the areas where I see you know a lot happening ah in a manner that is economically and environmentally win and also you know will create the highest amount of impact. So specifically when I talk about energy efficiency, for instance, from a Mahindra standpoint, we have been able to increase our energy efficiency, especially for our manufacturing businesses by more than 100% over the last decade or so, which basically means that you are able to make the same car at half the amount of energy, which is can be a big, big win. There's a strong cost saving angle to it. Most of the projects here also offer a very good payback period. And at the moment you
00:21:24
Speaker
expand this across at a country level, you realize that the impact can be very significant across manufacturing industries, but also in other areas such as let's say cooling, for instance, so you know if we take a slightly midterm view, cooling requirement of energy because of cooling both ah both for residential, commercial applications, data centers, etc. is going to be a big thing. So focusing on initiatives, innovation, etc. around ah cooling energy efficiency can play a big role.
00:21:56
Speaker
So that's one example. the Second part, which is, as I said, the renewable energy part of it. So renewable energy, again, in India, at least a lot of different kinds of renewable energy sources today are relatively cheaper, ah can be as cheap as 30 40% for the first you know,
00:22:14
Speaker
50% or so of energy use. And then subsequently, you do need to add at ah you know beyond solar and wind storage and other solutions, which are which are still i price parity or may come at a bit of a premium, but it's a matter of time that day everything will be cost competitive in that journey.
00:22:30
Speaker
So I think focusing on that again from a Mahindra group perspective, we we are trying to increase our renewable energy share across businesses. We will we are currently at under 30%, but have a number of projects which will get us to 60-65% next year or so. and then so Just to interrupt, already the Mahindra group is using 30%
Increasing Renewable Energy at Mahindra
00:22:51
Speaker
renewable?
00:22:51
Speaker
Yeah, roughly speaking, we are close to 30% renewable energy. and ah We currently have a number of projects that will ah take us to about 60 to 65% by next year itself. So once these get commissioned at scale, and then we are not stopping there. I think a large part of my focus continues to be on how do we further accelerate our journey to get as close to 100% as possible, which requires both policy level interventions as ah at the country level. ah you know ah solutions especially around storage becoming more competitive and then subsequently a lot of lot of other other decisions. But that's one of the most meaningful and impactful actions that's happening.
00:23:33
Speaker
And then if I jump to the third area is the electrification. Now, electrification again is important in the transport sector in particular, but also in industrial electrification to some extent.
00:23:43
Speaker
ah In the transport sector is where one of Mahindra's biggest businesses are. So we sell sell cars and three wheelers and four wheelers and so on. And there ah we are also investing in a very big way in the electrification journey.
00:23:56
Speaker
So both for three wheelers and four wheelers, there are a number of products ah we have which are best in class products, very price competitive as well. So that's the third area where I see the electrification of transport ah accelerating in a big way over the over the next five years.
Investment in Transport Electrification
00:24:13
Speaker
So all three things put together will will start having very significant impact ah both on the company's footprint, but also generally speaking on the country's environmental footprint.
00:24:25
Speaker
Wow, that's amazing. Yeah, I'm very, very astonished. And congrats on already that achievement and 30% and already going to 60% very soon, sounds like.
00:24:36
Speaker
That's that's ah very impressive. And then there's so much things that I could go in detail more, but we have limited time. So let's let's jump to, um well, I'll ask you this question, then we can go deeper in this.
00:24:48
Speaker
But I'm curious to know from you, like you have a vast majority like you have a lot of experience in this field. If you could be consulting some of the biggest firms in the world, what would you tell them what they should be focusing on to be a business that that can last for the future and obviously um has and has a green impact on on the world? no Absolutely, Matthew. I think the answer honestly depends a lot on what sector and you are in. think It's a very broad question. The sector really determines. So if you're a manufacturing company, it's very much about your own operations. How do you ensure you know what energy consumption you have and what material consumption do you have?
00:25:33
Speaker
How do you solve for it? But also at the same time, really looking at what kind of products you're building. and what is their impact including let's say end of life ah recycling etc for those products. So that's a view that you take for a manufacturing first company. But ah if you had a service first company, then then it's it's a bit different.
00:25:52
Speaker
ah So for a finance company, it's a lot about how and why they can play a role in in in you know funding the green transition and also sort of encouraging better behavior as ah as a major investor, financial investor typically.
00:26:07
Speaker
ah Similarly, if you go to go to other sectors, which are more what what is, let's say transportation, for instance, then again, the role becomes very different on what areas to focus on. So I think the answer honestly varies quite a bit. but From a strategy perspective, I think what I spoke about, you know there are always these areas, you know in your own operations, everything from wastewater energy material is one thing that you optimize from the industry itself. How do you become either a green product seller, a green service seller, or or can even be an enabler to to transition from software to financing and a few other areas could be policy well for the law firm, for instance, and so on.
00:26:48
Speaker
And then the other part that I would really stress on is that for a lot of companies, anyone especially again, less for like less applicable to service sector, but more applicable to, to let's say anyone who's sort of involved in production of anything, especially if you're involved with agri based products, then I think engagement deeper with your supply chains.
00:27:09
Speaker
And really helping them be part of this journey will be critical. So like that's the broad top three things that i can I can talk about. But yeah, the specifics matter. Honestly, I think we we are at a stage where we need to really move away from high level conversations to more specific deeper conversations in context of the country and the company.
00:27:30
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's an excellent answer. I love it. And what I particularly like is that you're also broadening it up to like other related services and service industries and that even like lawyers and other people can get involved because I was just talking the other day with someone who's in financing and that can help our projects to actually um set up a leasing system so that if we need to make changes and and get paid for that, actually the the bank can already supply that. so So then the incentives become much better to start acting today because the cash flow is just way better.
00:28:05
Speaker
So i think that's very important to to absolutely Absolutely. I think the finance sector and the legal sector have a very important role to play. In fact, I think the frequency of my conversations with people from the legal fraternity has been increasing over the last few years. right Both driven by regulation, I guess, in a lot of places, new regulations are coming, especially in India, I think, which are more environmental.
00:28:28
Speaker
ah But at the same time, I think the more positive role as well, ah legal firms can can play in terms of structuring deals, etc. So an example that you gave and I'll add on to it is when it comes to, let's say, building development, often the additional investments required at the beginning ah can lead to very substantial energy and water savings. but the benefits occur to the owner or the people who stay there. So how do you ensure the right framework, legal framework where benefits can be co-shared and so on. So there's a lot of areas of policy as well where ah where there's a role role to be played.
00:29:08
Speaker
Yeah, no, that's important exactly. And then um you just returned from the COP from the United Nations Climate Conference ah in Brazil. I'd love to hear like shortly like what what was your feeling? Do you feel that there's something different from other conferences? What is the spirit today? Is it people are ready to do or is there a little bit of hesitation due to some financial crises around the world and other crises?
00:29:34
Speaker
and Yeah, what's the general spirit? Absolutely.
Insights from the COP Conference
00:29:37
Speaker
So I i ended up spending almost two weeks in Brazil, sort of split between Paulo, where a lot of the private sector conversations were happening just in the week preceding COP and then subsequently a week in Belém where the actual COP took place.
00:29:53
Speaker
ah So while while there's a lot of commentary around COP and the effectiveness of it, my general take continues to be that, you know, COPs continue to be very effective. And the one thing that you see, and this was the third time that I was attending ending COPs. So I can say that ah both the presence of the of the corporate ecosystem or that the private sector as a whole, right, from corporates to ah investors, especially sovereign funds, etc., or impact funds. and then subsequently also bankers has been growing with each passing year and the conversations are moving away from idealism to pragmatism.
00:30:29
Speaker
So while you know a lot of people come with good intent, but at the same time, the idea is that how do you be how do you ah how are you doing more pragmatic conversations to really scale scale solutions and thankfully more than half of the climate friendly solutions today, there's a strong business case for it. ah green market the So you could really see that change happening year on year where conversations are now more about pragmatic action.
00:30:56
Speaker
and The second thing that I would really add is that when it comes to financing, while there is a lot of narrative that there is not sufficient financing, and I sort of slightly disagree with that in the sense that for areas where there is a strong business case, there's more than ample funding available. It's often the areas is where the business case still needs to be established or policy reforms need to take place or for areas like adaptation and climate risk, those areas will require public support, will require more broader financing. But for a lot of areas such as, let's say, the ah energy transition in particular, especially if establishing more ah renewable energy assets, etc. There is more than sufficient funding available. It's more about how do we really address the bottlenecks right now in terms of implementation, ah both policy as well as operational challenges, etc.
00:31:45
Speaker
And really accelerate the journey. There are other segments, you know especially within the adaptation bucket, where I think a lot more financing is required. So ah the third point, in fact, I would add is also adaptation sort of gaining significance and importance. I think ah within climate conferences, people are realizing that we can't just have a mitigation in a carbon only view. We really will have to have a broader view on the subject, including water, soil and a few other areas. Adaptation being especially critical for any industry or any set of stakeholders who depend on the food value chain. Also critical for ah infrastructure, especially as we are building new infrastructure, different kinds of infrastructure in different parts of the world. Biodiversity was obviously a very important part of COP, especially as you were in Brazil. The city of Belém itself was a great example of how biodiverse the world is. You had the Atlantic sea on one end, you had a river on the other end, and then you had the majestic Amazon forest.
00:32:48
Speaker
So it was pretty much at the intersection of these three things that you had the city. So there was a lot lot to do on the biodiversity front. But all in all, I would say that I definitely am more optimistic that ah you know but pragmatism and implementation is is the theme.
00:33:05
Speaker
And there's a lot happening also led a lot by the private sector. Yeah, that's crucial. And it's very good to hear that there is that that shift happening. not It's a paradigm shift because I feel up until, let's say, 2020 or even today, it's like, oh, sustainability is something that we have to do.
From Harm Reduction to Planet Regeneration
00:33:24
Speaker
And it's all about like how to reduce our our bad impact. And that was the paradigm. OK, we're going to reduce emissions by 30 percent till 2050. It's all about doing less harm. And that's important, but that's not enough.
00:33:38
Speaker
and so And some people may be like, yeah, but this is already really tough. And then how should we do even more? Well, the good news is if you if you do like regenerative and that paradigm shift is happening because what you're talking about to me is is regeneration where the business cases become really strong.
00:33:54
Speaker
So it almost becomes like a no brainer to get into sustainability or regeneration because it's just more profitable. Even if you have to work with with stronger financing. So very cool to hear that that that that shift is happening as we talk.
00:34:08
Speaker
And so, um yeah, I want to be respectful of your time. So we're going to start wrapping wrapping it up. But I have my final question for you. Since you're such an example to the world, many people look up to you, what you've already accomplished.
00:34:20
Speaker
What is your single best piece of advice for for young people, but even maybe older people that say like, hey, I really want to be part of this change and I really want to
Advice on Adopting a Promoter Mindset
00:34:31
Speaker
contribute. Like, what is your best piece of advice to what people should actually be focusing on on the individual level?
00:34:37
Speaker
oh Absolutely. I think i'll I'll actually refer back to my consulting days to make that point. There was this concept of a promoter mindset when you're working in anything. So how do you really take full ownership and have a long term view to things? I think very often in our life and work, we are often you know focused on the here and now or generally have a very short term view to things. The moment you start taking a more ownership view,
00:35:04
Speaker
and a long term view, I think things can really change and all of climate and sustainability is effectively ah thinking about the planet as an owner and taking a long term view on the planet's health and the economics just start making sense. So that's the one thing that I would add in a related point would be also to really think from a win win and ometic argument perspective and not be idealistic about things. I think it's more important to drive action ah today rather than talk about idealistic ideas in the long term.
00:35:35
Speaker
So so that's the that's the second part that moving forward is more important than talking about moving forward in the future. i love that. That's the two things that I would really emphasize on for the individuals in whatever capacity and wherever they are can can work on this.
00:35:51
Speaker
Yeah, I love that that answer because it's like I could ask you the question, like what do you think is important for the future of sustainability? But it's like, no, it's the wrong question. like What can we do today?
00:36:02
Speaker
So thank you for for pointing that out. And Ankit, I have to say, I'm very excited that you came on my show. I'm more than honored. And yeah, thank you very much for sharing all your knowledge and hope to see you again some other time.
00:36:15
Speaker
Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you so much, Matthew, for having me.