• Down To Earth

Weekend Reading: The U.S. Dropped from 48th to 67th in Women’s Representation. How?

The incredible team at the Inter-Parliamentary Union released their 2021 map and report on international women’s representation this week in advance of the 65th session of the Commision on the Status of Women. According to the press release from the IPU, the map “shows the latest data on women’s participation in political decision-making, including the number of countries with women Heads of State and/or Heads of Government, the global share of women Ministers, Speakers of parliament and parliamentarians.” The data that the IPU collects is invaluable and helps to fuel our understanding of the rules and systems that are accelerating the increase in women’s representation around the globe. Note the use of proportional voting systems and gender quotas in most of the top ranked countries. As a reminder, the United States has dropped from 48th to 67th over the last two decades. The full list of countries is below. Kiran Pandey offers a terrific analysis of women’s representation in countries in sub-Saharan Africa on DownToEarth: Every fourth parliamentarian in sub-Saharan Africa last year was a woman, according to a recent report The region ranked at third position after the Americas and Europe with an increase by 0.6 points since 2019, according to the report released ahead of International Women’s Day. Burundi (bicameral), Tanzania (unicameral) and Cameroon (lower chamber) topped the list in the region yet again, with 30 per cent or more women parliamentarians, Burundi has 38.2 per cent of women parliamentarians in the lower house (the National Assembly) and 41 per cent in the upper house (The Senate). This has been due to the implementation of gender quotas in the country in 2005. Burundi was among the few countries in the world that adopted a gender quota for its legislature for promoting the inclusion and participation of women in the political process. The country’s new constitution in 2018 provides for maintaining a minimum 30 per cent gender quota for women’s representation in the legislature and the executive branch and extends it to the judiciary. In Liberia, Madagascar and Ghana, less than 15 per cent of parliamentarians were women. Burkina Faso also slipped in ensuring women representation in its parliament, according to the report. The Comoros, Niger and Mali performed exceptionally well. With less than 15 per cent of women parliamentarians, these countries recorded double-digit increases in women’s representation in their parliaments. Women’s representation in Mali had been slowly decreasing since the late 1990s. It had remained less than 10 per cent for over a decade. But Mali saw the largest progress in terms of the number of seats held by women among all countries holding parliamentary elections in 2020. The percentage of women MPs tripled to nearly 29 per cent from 9.5 per cent previously, thanks to the quota law adopted in 2015. Mali’s parliament was replaced by a Transitional National Council later in 2020, where women hold 26 per cent of the seats. At least 30 per cent of elected and appointed officials were required to be women according to the “quota law”.

• Industrial Pollution

One in two coal-based power plants still flouts fly ash disposal norms

CSE study found that Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha have accumulated the most ash in the last decade due to high generation and poor utilisation rates Mumbai: Over half of all coal-fired power plants in India still fall short of the government-set target to fully utilise fly ash, a harmful by-product of the power generation process, according to a report by environment group Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). The government had set December 2017 as the target for power plants to meet fly ash utilisation norms. CSE’s report has found that one in every two power plants still fails to meet the legal requirements. Annual fly ash generation from power plants has risen by almost 76% to 226 million tonnes (mt) in 2019-20 from 123 (mt) in 2009-10. On an average, 35% of fly ash remained unutilised in this decade, leading to its piling up in ash ponds. As per the report, between 2010 and 2020, several major ash dyke breach incidents and cases of unsafe disposal of ash have been reported from many regions. Legacy ash is also a massive challenge for the sector. The study found that Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha have accumulated the most ash in the last decade due to high generation and poor utilisation rates. CSE has found that these states together account for over 76% of the total residual ash stocks generated over the last decade. Due to ash overburden, these states also top the list of coal ash accidents and require immediate attention due to the prevailing serious pollution issues near coal power plants. “Coal being the mainstay of power generation in India, we need to ensure that coal-based thermal power plants are as clean as possible. Only then can we meet the twin challenges of air pollution and climate change. To achieve the 100% utilisation target, power plants need to consistently utilise the new ash they generate annually while clearing the backlog of previous years," said Nivit Kumar Yadav, Programme Director, Industrial Pollution Unit of CSE. Fly ash can be safely used in the cement sector but its use has hovered around the 25% mark over the past many years. Enhancing fly ash use in cement making will not only solve the issue of waste but will also lead to considerable reduction of greenhouse gas emissions reduction from the sector. Over the years, the use of fly ash in the construction of highways and roads has witnessed a positive growth. However, fly ash uptake is still marginal when compared to the tremendous development in this sector. Average fly ash use in roads and flyovers has been a meagre 4%and can definitely be enhanced, CSE said. Besides, there are several logistic, storage, handling and transportation issues that lead to poor utilisation of fly ash in some states. Fly ash needs to be transported to cement plants through rail or road networks. This creates limitations on the immediate utilisation of the ash. Therefore, its effective storage, handling and transportation is a critical aspect towards enhancing fly ash utilisation.

• Down To Earth

India drags its feet in the face of climate catastrophe

Environment ministry unable to use nearly half the money allocated for controlling air pollution even as the scale of the problem continues to grow In this pandemic year, when climate change and the devastating effects of rising pollution are in more focus than ever, India’s environment ministry has said it has been unable to use nearly half the money allocated for controlling air pollution. To which a parliamentary panel has responded by suggesting that the ministry could show some innovation and use idle funds to boost the infrastructure needed for electric vehicles and set up bio-degraders so that the annual problem of stubble burning – which causes significant pollution in Delhi-NCR and other north Indian cities – can be mitigated. It is no secret that India is waging an increasingly difficult war on pollution. A recent report by the Centre for Science and Environment quotes an earlier study to show that air pollution increased in 33 of the 88 industrial clusters in India between 2009 and 2018; water pollution was up in 45 of these clusters, and so on. Given the scale of the problem, the inability of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate change to spend allotted amounts in countering pollution is baffling. Nearly half the budgetary allocations for various schemes and programmes this fiscal year have remained unutilised. In the budget estimates for 2020-21, the ministry was allocated ₹460 crore under the head ‘Control of Pollution’. This scheme largely funds the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), the most prominent central initiative to tackle air pollution. The targets under NCAP were stiff: to achieve 20 per cent to 30 per cent reduction in particulate matter concentrations by 2024, keeping 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration. Of the ₹460 crore allocated, the ministry had utilised only about ₹190 crore, or 58 per cent, till January end. Overall, the BE for the ministry was ₹3,100 crore but only Rs 1,673.71 crore was used till January 31 this year. This is why the parliamentary standing committee has asked the ministry to innovate and invest the unused funds in, among other things, setting up charging stations for electric vehicles. This would take care of the infrastructure bottleneck being faced by the government in promoting EVs and simultaneously help the fight against air pollution. Investments needed in setting up country-wide charging infrastructure for EVs are scarce. In fact, another parliamentary panel examining the demands of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has suggested that vehicle makers should be asked to invest in developing charging infrastructure. According to a study by the CEEW-Centre for Energy Finance, the government has allotted ₹1,000 crore for charging infrastructure under the FAME II policy for electric vehicles, but the scheme does not provide specifics and no targets have been set. Given this background, it is sensible for the environment ministry to use idle funds in creating the much-needed EV infrastructure. The panel’s other suggestion – about bio-digesters – is also a pertinent one since establishing effective microorganism bio-digester units will not only help increase the efficiency of waste treatment and biogas production in urban areas, but also reduce the problem of stubble burning in north India. Seeking a central mechanism for coordination of various central and state agencies and ensuring accountability through monitoring of the progress of the works undertaken, the parliamentary panel has also asked for audits to be freely accessible to the public and civil society on information relating to expenditure of ‘Control of Pollution’ scheme. And what is the status of research on ecological and environmental topics? Here, too, the ministry doesn’t seem to have exerted itself. In the three years between 2018-19 and 2020-21, just a fourth of the budget for research has been utilised. India has, on the whole, been walking back on its climate goals since the start of the pandemic. The CSE report quoted earlier has pointed out that of the various fiscal stimuli – estimated to be equal to 10 per cent of the GDP – announced by the Centre so far to boost the sagging economy, we seem to be pursuing high-carbon economic production instead of walking the path of sustainability. Then, due to the adverse impact of the pandemic on the economy, the automobile industry is seeking to delay the implementation of Corporate Fuel Consumption Standards for passenger cars; a vehicle scrappage policy for promoting the sale of new vehicles does not provide for safe dismantling of ageing vehicles; power plants have already pleaded for a delayed deadline to meet the new standards beyond 2022; and private investments in the coal sector are being sought for accelerated commercial coal mining while removing end-use restrictions. In this scenario, where growth is expected on the back of lax norms, and the ministry tasked with upholding norms to counter pollution, protect forests and address climate change is unable to spend even budgeted amounts, perhaps a complete overhaul of climate initiatives is the need of the hour.

• Industrial Pollution

One in every two Indian power plants does not meet the 100% fly ash utilisation target: CSE

• Industrial Pollution

50% thermal plants do not meet fly ash use norms, says environment group

Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh lead in fly ash generation; most plants blamed for flouting norms are owned by governments Half the coal-fired power plants in India flout norms asking them to use polluting fly ash they generate, said the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in a report. Some plants don’t even utilise 30-40 per cent of the fly ash. A notification by the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) in 1999 laid down the targets for utilisation of fly ash. "In the last decade, coal consumption and fly ash generation from coal power plants has jumped up by almost 80 per cent. On an average, 35 per cent of fly ash remain unutilised in this decade, leading to its piling up in ash ponds. As per the report, between 2010 and 2020, several major ash dyke breach incidents and cases of unsafe disposal of ash have been reported from many regions," said the report by the independent environment group. Annual fly ash generation from Indian coal power plants rose to 217 million tonnes in 2018–19 from 123 million tonnes in 2009–10. The legacy fly ash in India stood at 1.6 billion tonne as on March 2019, said CSE. From 2012–13 to 2016–17, the quantity of fly ash utilized has remained stagnant at around 100 million tonnes; however, during the same period, annual generation has been above the 150 million tonne mark, which indicates a huge pile up. Only in the last two years (i.e., 2017–18 and 2018-19) has there been an additional 30 million tonnes increase in utilization each year, said the study. Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh lead in fly ash generation, followed by West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. Most plants with poor ash utilisation rates were run by the central or state governments. A majority belonged to NTPC Limited, Chhattisgarh State Power Generation Company Limited (CSPGCL), Madhya Pradesh Power Generation Company Limited (MPPGCL) and MahaGENCO (in Maharashtra). NTPC units blamed for poor ash utilisation are Barauni, Barh, Kahalgaon, Muzaffarpur, Bongaigaon among others. Reliance Power's Sasan ultra mega power plant in Madhya Pradesh also rates low in ash utilisation.

• Sustainable Food Systems

Serious gaps in ratio of food testing labs to FBOs in the country: Experts

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has in the last few years put up serious efforts in terms of food testing labs availability. However, experts feel that despite its rigorous efforts, the Covid-19 pandemic has shown that food testing laboratories in India have faced major challenges in the domains of manpower availability, equipment and machinery, skill development, R&D (research and development), customer awareness as well as capacity utilisation. It has also come to light that there have been serious gaps in the ratio of labs to the FBOs in the country. Moreover, due to chemical testing being less capital-intensive than pesticide residue and microbiological testing, many labs possessed only the former infrastructure. Industry insiders feel that they must work towards increasing the abilities of these labs and fill the gaps. Recently the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health had also made several recommendations with respect to the FSSAI. On the Committee’s recommendations for a fully Centrally Sponsored Scheme for upgrading manpower, strengthening infrastructure and robust surveillance systems at the state level, FSSAI in its response has stated that it is implementing a Central Sector Scheme for strengthening of food testing laboratories and upgrading manpower. FSSAI is incorporating a Central Sector Scheme for Strengthening of Food Testing Ecosystem with a total expense of Rs 481.95 crore. This includes Rs 300 crore for building up a network of laboratories across the nation as well as provision of mobile food testing labs and other related equipment. Under this scheme, 39 state food testing labs of 29 states/UTs & 10 referral labs have been bolstered with high-end equipment in order to enable efficient testing of safety parameters (pesticides, heavy metals and antibiotics). Till now, 60 mobile food labs have been provided to 32 states/UTs for training, testing and awareness generation even in remote areas. Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, a total of 179 online training programmes with 37,000 participants have been conducted. Ashwin Bhadri, CEO, Equinox Lab, stated that a core area of enhancing the food safety infrastructure involves strengthening food testing laboratories for better functioning across stages. FSSAI has worked towards the development of new National Food Laboratories (NFLs) at Chennai/Mumbai, investment in training and capacity building efforts for field staff, FSOs as well as food businesses for self-compliance along with INFoLNET, which is a web-based online system created by FSSAI to form a network of food labs across the country. Bhadri added that since the year 2019, FSSAI has made rapid progress towards the use of advanced technologies for food testing. Several new rapid food testing kits/devices for detection of food-borne contaminants and toxins have been introduced that will ensure “faster, better, cheaper” real-time testing of food. So far, FSSAI has approved 30 rapid food testing devices/kits under these norms. These Rapid Tool kits must be popularised to ensure they are widely used. Moreover, FSSAI has made sure that National Food Laboratories at Kolkata and NCR remain functional for uninterrupted import of food. e-Inspections for ensuring food security and extensive use of digital technology have made sure that FSSAI delivers services even in the lockdown. Meanwhile, recently, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) conducted an investigation into the quality of honey being produced in India. The results stated that honey sold by many popular brands was adulterated, and, in fact, had been spiked with added sugar. Therefore, they should not be branded/sold as honey. The report stated that adulteration has become so sophisticated in India that it is totally possible to cheat the tests that Indian food testing labs conduct to assess the purity of honey. Bhadri stated that FSSAI has therefore worked on new testing methods for detecting honey adulteration and has recently introduced them as part of its standards. The parameters added in the honey standards help detect the adulteration of honey with sugar syrups, especially rice syrups. “With this, ensuring the quality of honey has been made more robust” he said. Also, the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic has forced every nation to buckle up and augment their food safety and security procedures. Food safety in India experienced the same. Going forward, the adoption of food safety and quality assurance mechanisms such as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), Total Quality Management (TQM) including ISO 9000, ISO 22000, Good Hygienic Practices (GHP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) by the food processing industry offer several benefits. “It would enable compliance to stringent hygiene and quality norms and in turn, will protect consumer health, enhance product acceptance by overseas buyers, prepare the industry to face global competition and keep the industry technologically in conjunction with the best international practices,” concluded Bhadri.

• Down To Earth

Crimes increasing, cases piling up: State of India’s environment

33 years to clear judicial backlog, says report Over 50,000 environment-related cases are awaiting trial in India, according to the latest State of Environment report. Environmentalists and advocates worry that if the cases are not given priority and solved at the earliest, it could mean disaster for the environment. Soon after the release of State of Indian Environment, 2021, a report about the current state of the environment in India, public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court asking the top court to issue directions for urgently filling up of large-scale vacancies that have been plaguing Indian courts, notably the National Green Tribunal. The plea, filed by Shrikant Prasad, a law student, highlights the long pendency of cases in subordinates courts in India and seeks formal guidelines and rule of procedures for the appointment of judges within the time-bound duration. The absence of judges and other officers of the court is one of the biggest reasons behind the slow pace at which cases, especially environment-related cases are taken up by the courts. The seriousness of understaffing becomes evident from a look at the National Green Tribunal, a special court dedicated to environmental issues. The NGT Act sanctions 10 benches in five zones — northern, southern, central, eastern and western — with two courts in each zone. The NGT should have a chairman and 20 members — 10 judicial and 10 expert — who constitute the benches. However, currently, the NGT has only 6 members, three judicial and three experts, besides chairman, former Supreme Court judge, Justice A.K. Goel. Since its inception, the NGT has never had full strength, leading to a huge pile-up of environmental cases, often very urgent, The annual State of India’s Environment (SoE) report, released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) late in February, says over 50,000 environment-related cases were pending trial in various courts in 2019. “At the current rate, courts will take about 33 years to clear the backlog of cases for violations under forest, wildlife, environment protection and air pollution laws. Courts would have to dispose of 137 cases a day,” the report read. It further said that in 2019, there were 86 cases on average (under all environment and pollution-related laws) that were disposed of by the courts every day but last year, the pace slowed down due to the pandemic. “We do not consider the environment important enough. Unless it is a huge natural disaster or forced displacement of people from a place, we do not think of the environment impacting humans directly. But looking at the current state of crimes against the environment, if we don’t act swiftly, it will only lead to a higher rate of crimes as consequences are too delayed,” Amrish Mishra, an environmentalist who works with Fridays For Future Delhi (DelhiFFF), part of Fridays For Future India NGO, tells Media India Group. According to the latest available data, 34,671 environment-related crimes were registered in 2019. Over 7,000 cases were pending police investigation. A similar number of cases (34,503) was reported in 2018 according to the previous edition of the SoE. Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra accounted for 77 pc of India’s wildlife crimes in 2019. Water, pollution, wildlife & forests cases face delays The SoE report goes on to say that of the total number of pending cases, some categories are impacted more than the others. It says that the worst showing is for the Environmental (Protection) Act and the Air & Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, where it will take over 32 and 33 years, respectively, to clear the huge backlog of pending cases. Over 90 pc court cases remain unresolved under five of the seven Acts related to forests, wildlife, environmental protection and pollution. For instance, under the Forest Act and the Forest Conservation Act, the average number of cases courts disposed of every day in 2018 was 5.56. At that rate, courts will take 9.2 years to complete the backlog. States with the most numbers of offences were Uttar Pradesh (1,436), Rajasthan (471) and Himachal Pradesh (240). Similarly, under Wildlife Protection Act, the average number of cases courts disposed of every day in 2018 was less than one. At the current rate, it will take more than 13 years to clear the backlog of cases. Urgency to resolve environment-related cases Bansagar dam led to the flooding of almost 300 villages in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol district To address a large number of pending cases, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) was set up in 2011 to expedite the resolution of environment-related conflicts, preferably within six months. But within a few years, there were 3573 environment-related cases pending in the National Green Tribunal by 2018, according to Press Information Bureau in India. NGT claims that it has disposed of around 28,000 of the 31,000 cases, almost 90 pc, it received between 2011 and 2019, but lawyers dispute it saying cases often do not even come up for hearing. Mukti Gautam is a lawyer and environmental activist practising in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. In 2006, she took up a case of persons impacted by the construction of the Bansagar dam on the Sone river. The 347 m high dam led to the flooding of almost 300 villages and habitations, home to over 125,000 persons. Over 15 years later, the oustees of the project are yet to receive compensation – house, alternative land and monetary payment that was part of the initial agreement reached with the residents of the area. Gautam says that as the victims of most environmental crimes or violations are poor, the governments tend to ignore them. “The only reason that governments in our country and even the common people do not take these cases seriously and let it pile is that does not have a catastrophic effect immediately,” she explains. She goes on to say that even the United Nations has pointed out that environmental crimes have the potential to threaten the security and sustainable development of nations and must be dealt with a heavy hand and urgently. The pending issues reported in SoE range from cases challenging environmental approvals granted to power projects and those questioning governmental permission to use forest land to issues of air and noise pollution. While NGT, environmentalist Mishra says, has started to work in a better way than before, its orders have often taken a cautious approach. For instance, the NGT has refused to stop work at project sites during the pendency of cases, maintaining that companies cannot claim equity at a later stage, or in other words, take the defence of fait accompli. “This is of little comfort for the affected communities, as the environment once destroyed is hard to restore. While it is perhaps too soon to evaluate the NGT, its very existence brings a much-required degree of prominence to environmental legal issues in India,” he adds. There is little one can do except asking questions from the government, he says. “What we as activists and common people can do is to question the NGT and the government, and make sure that voices reach the Centre as well as the courts, both of who have done little to help the environment in our country,” he adds.

• Industrial Pollution

One in two coal-based power plants still flouts fly ash disposal norms

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

No road map for govt.’s lofty green goals

We aim to convert Delhi’s transport system to electric in 25 years, says Sisodia Delhi Finance Minister Manish Sisodia during the presentation of the budget said that in the next 25 years, the city has to be made free of “environment pollution” and the government plans to convert the entire transport system into an electric vehicle system. But there were no detailed road maps in the budget speech about how to achieve the targets. No new scheme was announced separately. “Environment section has set the ambition for pollution-free Delhi and a target for a fleet of electric vehicles but without stating the scope, targets and specific budgetary support for full range of action,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a research and advocacy organisation in Delhi. “However, we appreciate the focus on electrification of fleet and target for buses and overall public transport,” she added. Also, there were no major new major projects or schemes related to the environment announced in the budget apart from progress and completion of multiple ongoing projects. Cleaning the Yamuna The Minister said that the Yamuna can be cleaned in the next three years. “Interceptor sewer project work is also nearly 99% completed. With the help of STP and Interceptor, the Yamuna can now be cleaned completely within the next three years,” he said. In last year’s budget, Mr. Sisodia announced as the first point in the environment section that the government’s aim was to reduce air pollution in the city to one-third of the 2020 level, in five years. The reduction in air pollution to one-third was promised by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the run-up to the Delhi Assembly election in 2020, as part of the AAP’s 10-point guarantee card too. But this aim or its status did not find any mention in the present budget or the Outcome budget of last year, which was tabled in the Delhi Assembly on Monday. “As we are approaching a century of our Independence, we would all like to put an end to the environmental pollution,” Mr. Sisodia said. Mr. Sisodia said that the installation of two smog towers is in its “final stage”. One of the towers will take at least three more months to be completed, according to several officials. Meanwhile, the second smog tower is not being installed by the Delhi government, but by the Central government. Smog tower is a 20-metre-high structure fitted with several air purifiers to clean the air. “The funds for the smog tower are being released in four instalments. The government is about to release the second instalment. The work is about 50-60% complete and it is expected to be completed in June,” a Delhi government official said. Both towers are being constructed following Supreme Court orders. On January 13, 2020, to control air pollution, the SC ordered the Delhi government to build a smog tower at Connaught Place by April 13. But after missing that deadline, the government was given 10 months’ time in July. The need to establish a smog tower was mentioned in last year’s budget also.

• Water Programme

8 Bollywood Eco Warriors Who Are An Inspiration To Those Who Want To Save The World

The environment has been a big concern in recent years. With air pollution increasing and natural disasters occurring all over the globe, it is time for us to ask ourselves, what we have done to the planet! While a lot of world leaders are not taking the threat of climate change and global warming as seriously as they should, there are many celebs who are trying to raise awareness and save the natural world. From green screens to green fields, many Bollywood celebs are on the front lines, fighting as eco warriors in the war for the planet’s survival! Here are some of Bollywood's most vehement eco warriors you should take inspiration from. A huge supporter of conscious environmentalism, Dia Mirza is the UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador for India. She actively participates in drives to make the world a better place, from cleaning up the environment to advocating wildlife preservation. 2. Rahul Bose A protestor for the Narmada Bachao Andolan, Rahul Bose has been championing the environment for a very long time. He was even appointed the Oxfam Global Ambassador in 2007! He works closely with a lot of other environmental NGOs as well. 3. Nandita Das A big advocate for rainwater harvesting and saving water, Nandita Das had been fighting to raise awareness about water pollution, dropping water levels, and more. She has also collaborated with the Centre for Science and Environment to spread awareness about the conservation of water. 4. Alia Bhatt A huge advocate for banning plastic pollution, Aliaa Bhatt changed her own life to inspire many others. She took on the challenge of reducing plastic waste from her life to zero by switching to glass bottles instead. She also urged her followers to beat plastic pollution. 5. Raveena Tandon With a lot of activism under her belt, Raveena Tandon also champions sustainable living and coexisting with the environment. She is part of the Earth Brigade Foundation’s effort to save the wildlife sanctuaries going through a water crisis. She urges people to recycle and preserve the earth! 6. Gul Panag Bringing environmental activism to her home, Gul Panag is one of the celebs who walks the talk. She has switched to an electric car to help lower the air pollution levels, and also uses sustainable solar energy at her home. She is an advocate for sanitation and water disposal as well. 7. John Abraham John Abraham has been a staunch advocate for animal rights for a very long time. He has sworn off meat, and has been very vocal about his support for animals. He is also part of the PowerLight A Village initiative which provides solar power to remote locations. 8. Priyanka Chopra The global actor has made a name for herself by being an active campaigner for clean and green initiatives. She is one of the campaign ambassadors for Greenathon, and she also funded and supported a drive to clean up the plastic waste on the banks of the Yamuna in Agra. The environment is not something we can afford to lose. All of humanity depends upon it. You might think of the green and beautiful as vacation destinations, but the world and the foliage it holds is more than that. It is sustenance and life itself. There are many individuals who are working hard to alert us about the deteriorating environmental standards. We applaud the eco-warriors of Bollywood who are determined to raise awareness about the dismal condition of the earth.

• Industrial Pollution

50% thermal plants do not meet fly ash use norms, says environment group

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Lockdown improved city’s air, experts say time to think local

Lockdown improved city’s air, experts say time to think local Experts, however, attributed the reduction to the “unprecedented conditions” brought about by the Covid-19 lockdown and called for reforms to curb pollution by local and regional factors. The pollution levels in Delhi last year were the lowest since 2014, according to the economic survey report released on Monday. The outcome budget, also presented on Monday, showed that 79% of government projects, to tackle pollution levels in the national capital and improve the environment, are on track. Experts, however, attributed the reduction to the “unprecedented conditions” brought about by the Covid-19 lockdown and called for reforms to curb pollution by local and regional factors. The government data also showed that the average levels of major pollutants, including that of PM10 (particulate matter with diameter less than 10 micrometres), PM2.5 (ultra-fine particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 micrometres) and nitrogen dioxide, have been decreasing steadily over the years. The annual average concentrations of PM2.5 decreased from 149 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3) in 2014 to 101 ug/m3 in 2020, the survey report tabled by finance minister Manish Sisodia on Monday showed. The economic survey also said the annual average PM10 level also dropped from 324ug/m3 in 2014, to 187ug/m3 in 2020. In India, the acceptable standard for PM 2.5 is 60ug/m3 and for PM10 it is 100ug/m3. The annual average for PM2.5 and PM10, at all monitoring locations in Delhi, exceeded the prescribed standards, the report said. In the outcome budget, only around 15% of the projects to tackle pollution were behind schedule, a finding that bodes well for a city that has been plagued by rising pollution for long, especially during winter months. “All 26 ambient air quality monitoring stations are functional. Around 621 stack samples regarding the emission of industries, power plants, hotels etc., were tested up to December 2020, against the target of 700 samples during 2020-21,” the outcome budget report said. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy), Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said, “Despite the declining trend (year-on-year basis) due to action taken over the past few years — shift to clean fuels for industry and transport, power plants, trucks, old vehicles — the winter PM2.5 concentration has bounced back, unmasking the impact of local and regional pollution. This demands quicker and more ambitious regional reforms to curb pollution.”

• Water Programme

Need to expand, remodel drainage system: study

A study commissioned by the NITI Ayog has underlined the urgent need for expanding and remodeling the drainage system in the State Capital. Nalas, drains, water courses and flood plains should be clearly delineated and boundaries fixed in new developments. There should be strict enforcement of relevant byelaws/regulations in the new layouts, the NITI Ayog said. An underground drainage system should be constructed to flush water from any place, whether it is at high or low elevation till the final place of discharge like the Musi river in Hyderabad’s case. The problems in the twin cities including the October last year floods found mention in the report filed by the committee constituted by the NITI Ayog for formulation of strategy for flood management works in the entire country and river management activities and works related to border areas 2021-26. The report said Hyderabad urgently needs to expand and remodel its drainage system. Besides lakes and canals, wetlands and watersheds would play a crucial role in absorbing excess rainfall. “But regrettably, rapid urbanisation in the twin cities has resulted in loss of a large portion of the wetlands,” the report said. Quoting an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment in 2016, it said 3,245 hectares of water bodies were lost in Hyderabad between 1989 and 2001. In the long term, the effect of flooding due to deluges could only be mitigated if urban planners take into account the hydro-geology and ensure that construction, development and land occupation do not take place in a way that would reduce the area of wetlands. Engineering solutions like linking all the 185 tanks in and around Hyderabad with modern technology to divert the flow of water during the deluge coupled with measures to control floor (rainwater) flow by restoring nalas and removing encroachments would help prevent flooding and inundation. The report lamented that Hyderabad and even Telangana State did not have disaster management plans. They are not fully utilising the Doppler radar which could give advance and precise warnings. “The focus is on disaster response, even while allowing unplanned growth,” the report said.

• Down To Earth

Are We Talking Enough About The Plight Of Minors And Children Due To The Pandemic?

The serious consequences that challenge us far beyond the current pandemic have yet to cross our mind COVID-19 has not only claimed more than 2.5 million lives around the world, with more than 0.15 million deaths in India, but also future prospects of our children. According to a study by the Centre for Science and Environment on the ‘pandemic generation’: 375 million children, from newborns up to the age of 14, are likely to suffer the long-term effects of malnutrition, stunting, mental health issues, increased child mortality rate and losses in education. The Invisibles According to UNICEF report, 99% of children under 18 worldwide (2.34 billion) live in one of the 186 countries with some form of movement restrictions in place due to COVID-19. Sixty per cent of all children (1.4 billion), worldwide, live in one of the 82 countries with a full (7%) or partial (53%) lockdown. More than 500 million children were forced out of school all over the world, with India accounting for over half the number. The government’s helpline for children (1098) received more than 4.6 lakh calls during the first phase of the nationwide lockdown. 30 per cent of calls were simply pleas for food and about 9,385 of these calls were cries for help from children who were being subjected to physical, emotional or sexual abuse, or being trafficked, or abandoned. Children from the marginalized and invisible sections of the society, who live in child care institutions (CCIs), observation homes, street children and child labourers, have been the silent collateral victims of the lockdown to date. Children are generally the most vulnerable in any crisis because they do not have any representation in the polity. The picture becomes even bleaker for children who were born or growing up during the pandemic especially from the marginalized and invisible sections of the society. They are at a greater risk of disease, poverty, malnutrition, sexual violence and poorer access to basic rights such as education and healthcare. Street children have always been exploited in normal times, but now the worry is that these children are also probably being sexually exploited and facing abuse because they are not visible anymore. According to a United Nations survey of high-income economies, a third of the countries worldwide did not implement any policies designed to support children during the first wave of the pandemic. Singapore, for one, requested the pre-school programmes and student care centres to cut their fees by 50 per cent for a short time. However, India chose to look the other way. The governmental expenditure on children has been cut down by almost Rs 16,000 crore in the Union Budget 21-22, while the NEP made lofty claims about online education and increasing the student enrolment ratio by 50 per cent with little clarity on how the policy will be implemented. Children may not have been the face of the pandemic, but they are one of the worst affected, especially those who are already vulnerable. The pandemic could very well become yet another mutation called the child rights crisis with its impact on their health, learning, and mental well being. Only a holistic approach by the whole society can prevent it so that children do not become its worst victims.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Air equality of city and its fringes continues to be 'unhealthy'

Overall Calcutta’s average PM 2.5 value in the 2020-21 winter, 94 microgram per cubic meter of air, stood second among metro cities Winter is gone but the air quality of the city and its fringes continues to be “unhealthy”, according to data generated by West Bengal Pollution Control Board as well as by a consortium led by IIT Delhi. Data from nine automatic measuring stations run by state Pollution Control Board (PCB) and from 7 air pollution sensors set up by IIT Delhi and The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) under NASA programme, being accessed by Metro, show that at 7.30pm on Monday, barring Rabindra Sarobar and Jadavpur, the air quality index value at all other places were hovering between 150 and 200, which is considered “unhealthy”. Barasat leads the pack with 188, followed by Rabindra Bharati with 177, rest of the places remain close by. PM 2.5, the most toxic air pollutant that can travel deep into lungs and trigger a range of diseases including cancer, is the prime factor behind the poor air quality in all these places. ADVERTISING “The data shows that the pollution is not confined to the heart of the city but is actually spread across greater Calcutta. The air quality values reflect the impact of the locally generated pollution along with the pollutants that has travelled from other places,” Sagnik De, a scientist from IIT Delhi told Metro. “The pollution results now point out the impact of sources like vehicles and construction,” said a scientist from the environment department of Calcutta University. Earlier a study carried out by Delhi-based environmental think-tank Center for Science and Environment (CSE) had also pointed out that the sources of highly toxic PM 2.5 pollutants in Calcutta, whose rise in Calcutta was the highest among all other Indian cities during last winter, have been mostly local unlike Delhi. Overall Calcutta’s average PM 2.5 value in the 2020-21 winter, 94 microgram per cubic meter of air, stood second among metro cities. Delhi topped the chart with an average PM 2.5 value of 186 micrograms. The period from October 1 to January 31 (2020-21) has been considered as winter. The maximum PM 2.5 value recorded in Calcutta during this winter was 199 micrograms, which was more than thrice the national limit of 60 micrograms. CSE report also points out that while Calcutta’s average PM 2.5 level and peak PM 2.5 value during 2020-21 winter showed a significant spike over the winter before, both parameters showed decline in overall eastern India. “The fact, Calcutta showing a trend reversal within eastern India, means significant number of local factors is involved in pushing up city’s PM 2.5 pollution values. This is unlike Delhi where external factors are significantly responsible,” said Anumita Roy Choudhury, air pollution head, CSE. “While surrounding regions contribute to Delhi’s air pollution, Calcutta’s air pollution sources are mostly local” said environment activist Subhas Datta. Unless there is administrative action and rise in awareness; lungs will continue to be choked with toxic pollutants in Calcutta, he said.

• Director General Office

25 badass women shaping climate action in 2021

Given the devastating economic toll the COVID-19 pandemic has had on women and girls, the imperative to mark International Women’s Day carries more weight than usual this year. The idea of a day celebrating the accomplishments of the female gender in the U.S. reaches back to 1909. Throughout the subsequent decade, the concept was embraced by countries including Austria, Denmark, Germany, Russia and Switzerland, but it wasn’t until 1975 that the first International Women’s Day was celebrated and adopted by the United Nations. As I began identifying leaders to include on this third annual list, I was inspired by the introduction to "All We Can Save," an essay and poem collection co-edited by marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (who you can find on this year’s list) and Katharine Wilkinson (who we recognized on the first Badass Women list in 2019). They celebrate a rise in climate leadership distinguished by four important characteristics: it is focused on "making change rather than being in charge"; it is committed to responding in ways "that heal systemic injustices rather than deepening them"; there is "an appreciation for heart-centered, not just head-centered, leadership"; and there is "a recognition that building community is a requisite foundation for building a better world." By not including women at equal levels — in companies, in government, in NGOs and elsewhere — the climate movement is itself experiencing a crisis, they argue. "As the saying goes, to change everything, we need everyone … We need feminine and feminist climate leadership, which is wide open to people of any gender." When it comes to those shaping the corporate climate movement — either from within companies or as part of NGOs and policy organizations that recognize the critical role businesses must play in addressing the climate emergency — I’m grateful to say it’s becoming easier to find women with a seat at the decision-making table. This list, selected subjectively, celebrates a diverse, intergenerational set of leaders. Speaking of giving credit where credit is due, nominations are open for the seventh annual Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards, to be conferred by the Women in Sustainability Alumnae Group at a virtual ceremony May 19. Nominees must have at least seven years management and leadership experience, and have made a noteworthy contribution to the cause of corporate climate action. I can think of plenty of worthy candidates, how about you? You’ve got until March 24 to suggest them. And now, I invite you to meet the 2021 class of Badass Women. Jacinda Ardern Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister, New Zealand LinkedIn | Twitter New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wasted little time raising the stakes in her nation’s fight against climate change after handily winning re-election in October. Drawing on that mandate, Ardern declared a "climate emergency" and set the wheels in motion for New Zealand’s public sector to become carbon neutral by 2025. "This declaration is an acknowledgment of the next generation," she told parliament early in December. "An acknowledgment of the burden they will carry if we do not get this right and do not take action now." New Zealand, a nation of about 5 million people, in late January reported progress toward its goal to cut emissions by 30 percent over the next decade compared with 2005 levels — but recognized current measures won’t be enough to meet the Paris Agreement goals. Ardern was praised for her government’s aggressive containment of the COVID-19 pandemic last year — her country reported just 25 deaths. She passed a Zero Carbon Bill during her first term that mandates net-zero emissions by 2050 and campaigned on tougher action this term. Ardern is being watched closely: Her administration has been criticized for being lenient on reducing biogenic methane from agricultural production — notably dairy cattle and sheep — which accounts for almost half of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions and roughly 6.6 percent of its GDP. Her idea is to phase in reductions. Farmers could face higher taxes or the elimination of irrigation subsidies as early as 2022 if they don’t act to reduce their impact. Alyssa Auberger, Baker McKenzie Alyssa Auberger, CSO, Baker McKenzie LinkedIn | Twitter Over the past year, many professional services organizations that previously had little to say publicly about their climate change strategy — from law firms to management consultants to ad agencies — found themselves under closer scrutiny not just for their own footprint but for supporting some of the biggest climate deniers around. Amid that soul searching, one of the largest law partnerships in the world, Baker McKenzie, named its first chief sustainability officer, Alyssa Auberger. A partner in the firm’s Paris office, with more than 20 years’ tenure, Auberger previously led Baker McKenzie’s consumer goods and retail practice. In that role, she was engaged in helping clients develop strategies for supply chain transparency disclosures and claim, emissions reporting and human rights. "In terms of our partnership with our clients, this means being able to understand what sustainability means to their businesses across all industries and identifying how we can help them with their environment, social and governance needs," she said. "For our own people, it means a focus on nurturing a business that aligns with and respects our own unique values, cares about communities and gives us all a sense of purpose that goes beyond the billable hour." Baker McKenzie established its climate change practice two decades ago, one of the first firms to do so, and it is one of the largest law organizations to belong to the United Nations Global Compact, which it joined in 2015. It uses the Sustainable Development Goals as a guidepost for many of its policies and has aligned its business with eight of them. Boma Brown-West, EDF+Business Boma Brown-West, Director of Consumer Health, EDF+Business LinkedIn | Twitter A mechanical engineer by training who spent the early part of her career in the private sector at Whirlpool, Boma Brown-West leads the Environmental Defense Fund’s work to eliminate toxic chemicals and other substances with questionable consequences for human health from consumer products and retailer store shelves — everything from paints to makeup to baby food. As part of her role, Brown-West manages the NGO’s Five Pillars for Safer Chemicals Leadership program. She is at the center of the NGO’s working relationship with Walmart, among other retailers and consumer brands, helping it launch in 2017 an expansive strategy to reduce its chemical footprint for consumables by 10 percent by 2022. Promoted to her current position in October, Brown-West — a prolific EDF author based in Washington, D.C. — last year drew attention to the disproportionate impact that cosmetics and beauty products have on women of color. Her team in August expanded its relationship with beauty retailer Sephora, which has committed to reducing certain high-priority chemicals in the products it sells by 50 percent in the next three years. One other recent crusade is pushing e-commerce retailers such as Amazon, eBay and Walmart to disclose more about the climate effects and chemical compositions of the millions of products they sell, which EDF supported with a roadmap of suggestions in summer 2020. "We want to call attention to how the biggest environmental impacts and the biggest health impact of products is really due to the products themselves and the creation and the use of a product," Brown-West noted at the time. Martina Cheung, S&P Global Martina Cheung, President, S&P Global Market Intelligence; Head of ESG, S&P Global LinkedIn | Twitter When it comes to market intelligence, S&P Global — the New York-based parent company to Dow Jones, Trucost and soon-to-be IHS Markit — is a familiar, respected name in boardrooms. Martina Cheung is the executive driving the growth strategy across S&P's portfolio of ESG ratings, benchmarks and data products. After a career as a consultant, Cheung joined S&P in 2010 and has led diverse strategic initiatives and titles including vice president of operations, chief strategy officer and head of risk services. Drawing on that perspective, she encourages sustainability leaders to spend more time with their counterparts in finance. As she observed during GreenBiz 21 in February: "I think the partnership with the CFO is incredibly important, the partnership with investor relations because sustainability goes to the heart of performance." A new parent, Cheung has been outspoken about the need for more flexibility and support for women who choose to juggle careers and family responsibilities, a message she has amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic. In other words, one of the "S" factors in ESG. "As employees work from home, children and family members have become regular fixtures in the background of online meetings," she wrote in an editorial for NBC. "Their increased visibility can lead to better communication about the burden of family care, more expansive family-leave policies and reduced stigma around taking such leave." Deb Haaland Debra Haaland, Congresswoman; Secretary Nominee, Department of the Interior Twitter As of this writing, New Mexico Congresswoman Debra Haaland has yet to be formally confirmed as Secretary for the U.S. Department of the Interior, but she already has a long history of championing climate-related causes. Raised in a military family, Haaland identifies as a 35th generation New Mexican and an enrolled member of the Pueblo of Laguna. Before entering public service, she oversaw the second largest tribal gaming enterprise in the state, where she focused on the creation of earth-friendly business practices. There are many "firsts" on her resume: the first Native woman to lead a state party, the first to serve in Congress and, if successfully confirmed, the first Native person to hold a U.S. Cabinet position. Those critical of her appointment point to Haaland’s support of the Standing Rock pipeline protests as extreme — she brought food to the tribes camped out to protect their territories’ natural resources and heritage. "When we’re thinking about our environment, you can destroy faster than you can rebuild," she said at the time. "You can cut down a 500-year-old tree. That tree is never going to grow back like that again. Climate change is real, and I’m going to fight to the bitter end to protect our environment because it’s the only one we have and our environment gives us everything." Last year, Haaland led a coalition that proposed the 30 By 30 Resolution to Save Nature, aimed at creating a strategy for the U.S. to preserve at least 30 percent of the ocean and land by 2030. President Joe Biden announced his support for that philosophy just one week after taking office in January. Celine Herweijer Celine Herweijer, Partner, Global Innovation and Sustainability Leader, PwC LinkedIn | Twitter The newly anointed group sustainability chief for one of Europe’s largest banks, HSBC — a role she will assume in July — London-based Celine Herweijer is a familiar feature in the continent’s corporate climate movement. In her current position as innovation and sustainability leader for consulting firm PwC, Herweijer has advised some of the world’s largest financial services organizations and asset management companies on climate risk strategy and sustainable finance initiatives. She has served on numerous committees for the World Economic Forum and the United Nations, among other groups, and is co-chair of the We Mean Business Coalition. Like many other banks, HSBC has pledged to step away from its funding of fossil-fuels interests and other high-carbon industrial activities with a pledge to achieving net-zero financed emissions across its customer portfolio by 2050. (It aims to reach net-zero for its own operations and supply chain by 2030.) Skeptics have criticized its commitment for not going far enough. Still, the company is stepping out as an innovator in sustainable finance — it was the first buyer into a new reef credits system in Australia, and Herweijer’s innovation lens and ongoing research into risks associated with nature and biodiversity loss no doubt helped land her new job. "The cascading physical, regulatory and legal, market and reputation risks we see mean nature risk now needs to be a mainstream issue for corporate enterprise risk management," Weijer said last year. "We have an opportunity to extend the recent response of regulators, businesses and investors on climate change to nature; both are interrelated and both pose a systemic risk to the global economy." Mellody Hobson, Ariel Investments Mellody Hobson, Co-CEO and President, Ariel Investments LinkedIn | Twitter Mellody Hobson joined Chicago-based Ariel Investments, one of the largest African American-owned mutual funds in the United States with more than $15 billion in assets under management, as an intern. Today, she is co-CEO, responsible for strategy and planning. Ariel’s focus is on nurturing small and midsize capitalization stocks, and in mid-February, the firm announced a bold new initiative — Ariel Alternatives, aka "Project Black." The goal is to invest in businesses owned by Black or Latinx entrepreneurs, as well as middle-market companies that are not minority-owned, with the goal of helping them change their ownership model. Its partner is JPMorgan Chase, which has committed to co-investing $200 million. One of Hobson’s convictions is that American’s must be "color brave," a phrase she coined in her 2014 TED Talk. She commented in a February interview: "I'm going to always take the hopeful route here and say we have become more brave, but we have to be much braver than we are." In "Civil Rights 3.0" corporations need to step up much more proactively, Hobson observed. We’ve had plenty of talk, and now we need elbow grease and accountability, she said. An active outside director, Hobson chaired DreamWorks Animation up until its sale to NBCUniversal, and in March became chairperson of Starbucks. In October, her alma mater announced plans for a new residential college. The new facility, Hobson, the first to be named for a Black woman at Princeton, will appropriately be built on the former site of a building previously named for Woodrow Wilson, whose name was removed in June because of his racist views and policies. Kara Hurst, Amazon Kara Hurst, Vice President, Head of Worldwide Sustainability, Amazon LinkedIn | Twitter Now in her seventh year with Amazon, Kara Hurst — the company’s first sustainability executive via previous gigs with The Sustainability Consortium and BSR — leads the team that helped orchestrate many ambitious commitments that the giant company has made in the past two years. She was instrumental in designing Amazon’s signature program, The Climate Pledge, launched with Global Optimism in September 2019, which includes a commitment to earn net-zero carbon status by 2040 — 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement timeline. As of Feb. 17, there were 53 signatories representing 18 industries. "The Climate Pledge is a call to urgent action," Hurst said in a February interview. "I think one of the things that also distinguishes the pledge is a commitment to sending these market signals, the demand for the products and services that companies need to help us decarbonize." For Seattle-based Amazon, that includes a plan to invest $2 billion in climate tech and decarbonization services; a $100 million fund to support reforestation and urban greening projects; the purchase of 100,000 electric vehicles for the company’s delivery fleet; and the creation of the Climate Pledge Friendly labeling program, which makes is easier to research the sustainability attributes of products. Hurst’s causes outside Amazon include board positions with Stolen Youth, an organization dedicated to eradicating sex trafficking; as well as with the roundtable for sustainability that’s part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Ellen Jackowski, HP Inc. Ellen Jackowski, Chief Sustainability and Social Impact Officer, HP Inc. LinkedIn | Twitter For HP Inc., sustainability strategy isn’t just a source of operational or ESG differentiation, it’s a revenue driver — $1 billion in customer contracts for the past two fiscal years. Ellen Jackowski is the Palo Alto, California, company’s long-time sustainability innovation champion, who ascended to her current position in June. Jackowski was at the center of HP’s ongoing project in Haiti to collect ocean-bound plastic waste and incorporate the material into the company’s printer cartridges and, as of May, into some of its personal computers. So far, that effort has diverted 1.7 million pounds of plastic, or 60 million bottles. Like many consumer products companies, the HP sustainability team is also focused on reducing the impact of its packaging — its goal is to eliminate 75 percent of single-use plastics by 2025. She also leads the company’s work on fighting deforestation, through efforts such as a partnership with the World Wildlife Fund to restore and manage up to 20,000 acres in Brazil’s endangered Atlantic Forest, or through the HP Sustainable Forests Collaborative, which includes Chenming Paper, Domtar Paper and New Leap Paper. One of Jackowski’s latest initiatives is a program, HP Amplify Impact, that calls upon HP’s expansive partner network — including the companies that resell its computers — to set sustainability goals. "Our team is not just tracking how partners select their suppliers — we’re measuring the carbon reductions across the value chain," she wrote in February. "We’re also tracking the overall impact on people and on communities, collectively with our partners. That’s where we will find real inspiration and momentum." Ayana Elizabeth Johnson Image by Landon Speers Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Co-founder, Urban Ocean Lab and Ocean Collectiv, All We Can Save LinkedIn | Twitter Marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson has lived at the intersection of practical environmental conservation strategy and social justice for years, through her consulting work with Ocean Collectiv, dedicated to addressing issues such as overfishing and habitat destruction. Her research on the role coastal communities can play in climate solutions — including policy work on offshore wind development and the Blue New Deal — is supported by her second venture, Urban Ocean Lab. Last year, the New York-based scientist tapped into her experience and her friendship with climate solutions expert and author Katharine Wilkinson of Project Drawdown to co-launch a project dedicated to amplifying the work of women in the climate movement — scientists, policymakers, activists and, notably, BIPOC. All We Can Save, the book they birthed in September, features 41 powerful voices. Johnson and Wilkinson have spun the dialogue into a nonprofit focused on supporting — financially, intellectually and otherwise — female climate leaders. Johnson’s own voice has become far more familiar. In November, she began co-hosting a Gimlet Media podcast, "How to Save a Planet." Her passionate call for the climate movement to confront racism was prominently published in the Washington Post in June. "To the white people who care about maintaining a habitable planet, I need you to become actively anti-racist," she wrote. "I need you to understand that our racial inequality crisis is intertwined with our climate crisis. If we don’t work on both, we will succeed at neither." Rose Stuckey Kirk, Verizon Rose Stuckey Kirk, Senior Vice President, Chief Corporate Social Responsibility Officer, Verizon LinkedIn | Twitter Rose Stuckey Kirk, who spent much of her career as a journalist, has been more visible than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of her attention over the past year has been surfacing ways for Verizon to help support struggling small businesses. Two notable efforts include a $1 million grant for the We Mean Business coalition, aimed at helping up to 1 million small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) with carbon footprinting tools; and its $10 million commitment in February aimed at supporting SMEs in historically underserved communities. Both fall under Citizen Verizon, the Basking Ridge, New Jersey, teleco’s initiative for economic, environmental and social advancement. The pandemic didn’t stop Verizon from advancing its sustainability strategy significantly over the past 12 months, with a pledge to become carbon neutral by 2035 and the pricing of a second $1 billion green bond meant to support the construction of renewable energy resources for its telecommunications networks. Raised in Arkansas with seven siblings, Kirk serves on the board of numerous organizations, including the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Leadership Council and the C-200 women’s leadership initiative. She was executive producer of the 2017 documentary "Without a Net: The Digital Divide in America." "Whether in education, nonprofit, business, media, policy or another industry, the individuals who have influenced me the most are the innovators — the leaders and change-makers who are pulsing the world forward," Kirk said in a 2017 Forbes interview. "Those who don’t just talk — who act." Jill Kolling, Cargill Jill Kolling, Vice President, Global Sustainability, Cargill LinkedIn | Twitter Jill Kolling, a former entrepreneur and management consultant who hails from Minneapolis, joined the agricultural giant in 2015. Over the past six years, she has been at the center of the strategy to build a global sustainable team focused on climate science, water and sustainable agriculture practices. As one of the largest private companies in the U.S. — and a huge buyer of commodities such as soybeans, which have been linked to deforestation — Cargill’s work on climate action is highly scrutinized, and Kolling’s team has been pushed to set ambitious, transparent commitments. Among the initiatives that have emerged under Kolling’s leadership include the company’s science-based climate commitments, which include a target to reduce operational GHG emissions by 10 percent by 2025 and those from the Cargill supply chain by 30 percent per ton of product by 2030. Her team also last year set context-based water targets that aim to restore 158 billion gallons of water and reduce about 5,500 tons of water pollutants in priority watersheds. And like many agricultural companies, Cargill is investing in regenerative agriculture, with the goal of advancing practices such as planting cover crops or rotational grazing on 10 million acres. "I think farmers are starting to realize that it's ultimately the consumer who's starting to care more and more about this," Kolling told GreenBiz last summer. "Over the coming years, those pressures and those desires from consumers to want to know more about how their food was produced and having greater expectations, we believe it's going to grow and will continue to trickle back to the farmer.” Yuko Koshiishi, Suntory Yuko Koshiishi, General Manager, Corporate Sustainability, Suntory LinkedIn | Twitter With more than $21 billion in revenue as of 2019, Japan’s Suntory is parent to well-known water, tea, soft drink and spirits brands, including American bourbons Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark. Company veteran Yuko Koshiishi, who has held multiple communications and business development assignments over the past two decades, is the woman behind its sustainability strategy. The hallmarks of Suntory’s climate action plan include a high-level commitment to eliminate "petrol-based materials" from its PET bottles by 2030, a pledge it is supporting with a mechanical recycling process called Flake-to-Preform; it’s also developing chemical recycling approaches. To address and decrease its heavy dependence on water, Suntory created a concept back in 2003 called Natural Water Sanctuary, which it uses to protect the watersheds near its production facilities in places such as Japan, India, Mexico, the United States and Spain. The goal: to cultivate more water — and habitat in those watersheds — than it uses in its plants by 2050. "Water is a very localized issue, which means we need a tailored approach for each site," Koshiishi said late last year. Suntory also has embedded sustainability considerations into its procurement policies: All new suppliers are screened on criteria including environmental considerations such as emissions, as well as broader factors such as ethics, security and human rights. "We have maintained the momentum behind our sustainability strategy during the pandemic," Koshiishi said in October. "This includes working closely with our supply chain to make sure that we are promoting sustainability in the sourcing of raw materials, transportation and production processes." Ellen MacArthur Ellen MacArthur, Founder and Chair, Ellen MacArthur Foundation LinkedIn | Twitter It’s the rare corporate sustainability professional who doesn’t recognize the name Dame Ellen MacArthur. The British sailor-turned-circular economy strategist’s eponymous foundation has been instrumental in getting some of the world’s best-known, biggest brands to commit to moving away from linear models of economy production to processes that prioritize the recirculation and regeneration of materials and products. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) was created in 2010 to inspire next-generation business leaders to rethink and redesign their approaches. The idea was born during MacArthur’s three-year-long "journey of discovery" around the world from 2006 to 2009. "If we create a circular economy, if we use things rather than using things up, then why can’t we build a future that works," MacArthur said at the EMF launch. Since that time, EMF, based in Cowes, U.K., has orchestrated collaborative initiatives targeting everything from plastics to food waste and bringing together large companies, NGOs and policymakers. In 2018, it raised the stakes further, joining the World Economic Forum, World Resources Institute, the United Nations Environment Program and several dozen other organizations to create the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy. And last summer, it convinced 50 CEOs in food, fashion, finance and plastics — including the leaders of Danone, H&M, L’Oreal, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever — to commit to making circular principles a fundamental part of their post-COVID economic recovery plans. Essentially, to push reset. "This is something that’s moved phenomenally quickly in the last five years, and I think that’s because it has to," MacArthur said during a presentation at Circularity 20. "The brands know it has to." Roma McCaig, Campbell's Roma McCaig, Vice President, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, Campbell Soup LinkedIn | Twitter With much of her early career focused on operational efficiency, change initiatives and stakeholder engagement, Roma McCaig brings a relatively unique point of view to her work on ESG strategy for food company Campbell Soup. She’s been influencing the Camden, New Jersey, company’s sustainability strategy for the past three years, first as head of responsible sourcing in the procurement function and for just under two years in her current role. Under McCaig’s leadership, Campbell is working to improve its transparency about progress — it hasn’t reached its renewable goal, for example, and that work continues. The company also identified 14 areas of ESG focus ranging from climate to human rights to board diversity — issues that are material to its business in the future. And it’s committed to reporting against those risks. Among the new commitments McCaig has cultivated over the 12 months include a pledge to halve food waste and loss by 2030 as part of the 10x20x30 initiative; a vision to transition 100 percent of its packaging to recyclable or industrial compostable materials by the same time frame; and a push to set science-based targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions across the company’s supply chain. As part of its COVID-19 response, it donated more than $8 million in cash and food to organizations across North America. “During these challenging times, it is more important than ever that we continue to build a sustainable and resilient supply chain, while giving back to the communities that we call home,” McCaig told a consumer goods trade publication in May. Maria Mendiluce, We Mean Business Coalition Maria Mendiluce, CEO, We Mean Business LinkedIn | Twitter With more than two decades of experience in policy and sustainable development, energy economics expert Maria Mendiluce brings both private and public perspectives to her relatively new role as CEO of the We Mean Business coalition, with positions with the Spanish prime minister’s economic team and Iberdrola’s CEO office among her career highlights. The initiative, which focuses on coordinating corporate climate action, is a collaboration among BSR, B-team, CDP, Ceres, CLG Europe, The Climate Group and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). It's Mendiluce’s mission to orchestrate coordinated responses on key issues, including amplifying the voices of businesses that want national governments to deliver zero-carbon economic stimulus packages as part of the response to COVID-19. "Governments need to take confidence from the growing call from businesses for policies that will boost the economy and get us on track to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030," she said in May. "By doing so, they will enable companies to invest now and innovate at the scale and pace that is necessary to build back better and create the future we all want." A champion of women’s leadership in sustainability, prior to joining the coalition Mendiluce was with WBCSD. There she played a pivotal role in establishing the Alliance to End Plastic Waste; the Transforming Urban Mobility Project; and the Low Carbon Technology Initiative. Mendiluce also serves on the boards for organizations including the Science Based Targets initiative and the Energy Transition Commission. Rebekah Moses, Impossible Foods Rebekah Moses, Head of Impact Strategy, Impossible Foods LinkedIn | Twitter Just five years ago, Impossible Foods launched its plant-based (aka "fake meat") burgers in a handful of specialty restaurants. Today, while the category it represents is still tiny — just 1 percent of the meat market — the company’s consumer brand recognition and its presence in mainstream supermarkets have grown by leaps and bounds. One of its first hires was Rebekah Moses, an agricultural and international development scientist who previously worked on numerous field projects domestically and in the Middle East. She’s head of impact strategy for the San Francisco-based company, valued at $4 billion in August. It’s her job to calculate the potential environmental outcomes associated with eating an Impossible Foods product versus the ones associated with meat cultivated from farmed animals. That’s not necessarily to "demonize behavior" but to raise awareness of habitat loss and other side effects of eating animal meat, and to keep that philosophy central within the company’s innovation process. While the health and agricultural impacts of the Impossible Burger have been criticized — after all, one of the main ingredients, soy, is closely linked with deforestation — Moses says it requires less land and water to produce, and the production process emits fewer GHG emissions than raising animals for meat. Cultivating a variety of plant protein sources will be crucial for the future of food systems, Moses said in a recent interview. She noted: "One of the really interesting questions for our industry is how do you actually biodiversify your protein and fat ingredient streams so that you support agricultural diversity within the system itself?" Sunita Narain Sunita Narain, Director General, Center for Science and the Environment LinkedIn | Twitter Indian environmental researcher Sunita Narain has been associated with the country’s Center for Science and Environment for close to 30 years, starting as an assistant and assuming the director general role in 2011. She’s also a prolific writer and the editor of a fortnightly magazine on politics and environment, Down to Earth, published in New Delhi. Narain’s work and recommendations have directly informed India’s policies including around air pollution, with a focus on how to learn from strategies used by the Western world and leapfrog them. One example is the adoption of buses that run on compressed natural gas (CNG) in India’s capital city. Water is one of the issues about which Narain is most passionate; one of India’s largest rural economic development programs focuses on the ecological restoration of more than 1 million bodies of water. She has been recognized for her research on rainwater harvesting and local water management policies, and co-authored two books on the topic: “Dying Wisdom” and “Making Water Everybody’s Business.” In November, Narain was recognized with the Edinburgh Medal, rewarded annually to scientists who have made significant contributions to the wellbeing of humankind. "We need cooperation, we need equity, and we need climate justice," Narain said in her acceptance speech, pointing to the disproportionate burden that the world’s poor carry when it comes to the effects of climate change. Malin Nordin, IKEA Malin Nordin, Head of Circular Development, Inter IKEA Group LinkedIn | Twitter Sweden’s IKEA is at the leading edge of circular economy principles among retailers, through initiatives such as the furniture buyback program it tested last year on Black Friday in countries including Australia, Canada and Russia. The idea — to resell what’s still usable and recycle what’s not — was spearheaded by the team led by IKEA’s head of circular development, Malin Nordin. A chemical scientist by background, Nordin said the company’s vision to be 100 percent circular by 2030 starts with the design process. Through research in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund, it has identified 32 priority materials in woods, plastics, papers, metals and textiles that have the most potential to stand up in a circular model, Nordin has noted. "One aim of circular design is to develop products that can be useful throughout the changing lives of our customers,” she said, pointing to examples such as baby cots that can be transformed into toddler beds or modular storage systems. One principle central to Nordin’s mission is upholding the company’s vision of creating products that are affordable, a principle it calls "democratic design." "When you add the idea of circular design to the idea around democratic design, it makes the problem even better, even more valuable," she said in a November interview with EMF. Damilola Ogunbiyi, Sustainable Energy for All Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO, Sustainable Energy for All; Co-Chair, UN-Energy LinkedIn | Twitter After years of focusing on energy access in Nigeria — where she was the first female managing director of the country’s rural electrification agency — Damilola Ogunbiyi stepped into her current position in early 2020. She’s also a commissioner for the Global Commission to End Energy Poverty. As CEO of Sustainable Energy for All in Vienna, Ogunbiyi is responsible for promoting the development of reliable, affordable and sustainable energy not just in Africa but globally by 2030, the mandate set out by U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 7. She has extensive experience in shaping policy to that end. In Nigeria, Ogunbiyi was instrumental in supporting the construction of solar mini-grids and home systems across the country, where her work was particularly focused on energizing universities and healthcare facilities. At Sustainable Energy for All, she’s prioritizing the "smart use of data, next partnerships and scaled involvement of the private sector." Two core programs: the electrification of healthcare facilities and a focus on clean cooling, for which the organization estimates that more than 2.2 billion people globally lack access to clean, efficient options. "To truly deliver the vision of SDG7 and universal energy access in a sustainable way, decentralized solutions must be our focus to reach the most vulnerable and remote populations," Ogunbiyi said in a July 2020 interview. "We also need to build a bigger market for clean cooking fuels, so women don’t have to use dirty fuels to cook dinner for their family." Sanda Ojiambo, UN Global Compact Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact LinkedIn | Twitter Sanda Ojiambo has made a career out of cultivating effective partnerships between businesses and civil society. Before she ascended to the CEO and executive director positions at the United Nations Global Compact last summer, she was head of sustainable business and social impact for Safaricom, the largest telecommunications service provider in Kenya. There, she managed multiple relationships between Safaricom and U.N. organizations. During her initial months at the UN Global Compact, which now includes more than 12,000 companies and 3,000 other signatories, Ojiambo has urged business leaders to confront the issues of racial injustice that have surfaced more visible during the COVID-19 pandemic and to do their "due diligence" when it comes to establishing and enforcing human rights throughout their entire value chain. One initiative designed to speed the response is the new SDG Ambition Accelerator, a six-month-long executive training program meant to help leaders more holistically incorporate the Sustainable Development Goals into business strategy — no matter their industry. "There has to be an ‘all of’ sector, a multi-sectoral approach to driving this [social] change," Ojiambo said during a GreenBiz 21 keynote interview. "Each time I’m in a different sector, there’s different views, different challenges and certainly different opportunities." Raised in Nairobi, Ojiambo earned international development and public policy degrees in the U.S. and Canada. She worked in Somalia before her Safaricom career, shaping programs for CARE International and the U.N. Development Program focused on issues including education, safe motherhood, environmental conservation and dismantling land mines. Maria Outters, Sodexo Maria Outters, Group Senior Vice President, Sustainability/Corporate Responsibility, Sodexo LinkedIn | Twitter Born in Africa and fluent in four languages, Maria Outters joined French food services company Sodexo 12 years ago and held positions in human resources, marketing and group strategic planning before becoming its sustainability and CSR lead in January 2020. She’s also part of the investment committee for Sodexo Ventures. It was an eventful year for many reasons, but Outters’ team used the economic, social and health crises brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic to "reaffirm" its sustainability commitments, including a commitment to reducing food waste by 50 percent at more than 1,500 sites. The program will continue as sites reopen: As of June, the company had saved the equivalent of 4.8 million meals. Sodexo is also prioritizing the adoption of alternatives to single-use plastics and a plan to raise the mix of plant-based foods on its menus to more than 30 percent globally. The company renewed a longstanding relationship with WWF centered, in part, on responsible sourcing of land commodities and seafood. "Underlying economic and social challenges ahead will magnify the need for economic models built on sustainable consumption patterns and solutions preserving natural resources," Otters said in June. "These priority actions in the current environment are part of our pragmatic approach to work with our clients, suppliers and employees to bring back confidence and seize the window of opportunity to make the recovery a turning point when it comes to sustainability." Katrina Shum, Lush Katrina Shum, Sustainability Officer, North America, Lush Cosmetics LinkedIn | Twitter Katrina Shum is challenging the personal care industry to get naked. As North American sustainability manager for 25-year-old U.K. company Lush Cosmetics, she leads a program working to doff single-use, plastic packaging across five manufacturing facilities, two distribution centers and 250 retail shops. Lush’s approach: Create solid versions of its products — from shampoo to toothpaste and more — that reach back to its roots more than 20 years ago, when the company’s founders "packaged" their soap in old pipes and other discarded containers. Its strategy is unique for an industry that creates an estimated 120 billion package a year, many of them impossible to recycle, if consumers remember to even try. Lush’s approach also conserves water. Plus, why not devote the millions if not billions of dollars consumer brands spend on packaging into true product innovation, Shum asked in an essay last year. What about labels with instructions and ingredients? "Leveraging technology, we have developed the Lush Lens App, which allows customers to use their phones to scan products and get the typical information they would find on a physical label, along with engaging and interactive content about the ingredients and stories behind them," Shum wrote. For products that still require plastic or paper packaging, Lush has been sourcing post-consumer recycled content for more than a decade. The reverse logistics haven’t been easy, but Lush’s vertically integrated production model has helped, she wrote. One of Shum’s "pet peeves" is food waste, she revealed in an October interview, and she keeps close tabs on her habits at home in the Vancouver area. The focus isn’t surprising: Prior to Lush, Shum worked on a sustainability strategy for food service giant Aramark. Dawn Wright, Esri Dawn Wright, Chief Scientist, Esri LinkedIn | Twitter Much of the ocean’s potential role in reversing climate change is unfathomable, literally — with just one-fifth of the its floor cataloged in maps. Dawn Wright, the first Black American woman to deep-sea dive in an Alvin submersible, is leading geographic information systems (GIS) company Esri’s quest to map the rest by 2030. "How can we take care of this planet, how can we understand this planet, how can we protect it if we don’t know the totality of it?" Wright said in a 2019 interview. "We have better maps of the moon, better maps of Venus and even Mars than we have of the oceans of the Earth, because the Earth is an ocean planet." As chief scientist for the software company, Wright spearheads Esri’s work in the scientific and research communities, where she champions the use of GIS imagery and data in applications ranging from flood risk planning to fighting deforestation. The company’s partnership network is expansive: last year, it teamed with Microsoft on its "Planetary Computer" initiative, aimed at helping protect biodiversity. A marine geologist and oceanographer by training, Wright was a full professor at Oregon State University for more than 25 years (she’s still on the faculty there) before joining Esri in 2011. Tae Yoo, Cisco Tae Yoo, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability, Cisco LinkedIn | Twitter One of Cisco’s earliest employees — she joined more than 30 years ago before the technology company went public — Tae Yoo has placed the concept of inclusion at the center of its CSR and sustainability initiatives with a goal to "positively impact 1 billion people by 2025." She has also helped elevate this strategy to the company’s board of directors. Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic in the San Jose, California, company’s 2020 CSR report, Yoo noted: "To avoid reinforcing prior inequities and vulnerabilities, it is critical that we apply significant effort on rebuilding … Living our purpose means continuing to get everyone involved, and that’s exactly what we intend to do." For Cisco, making an impact takes many forms, such as the Cisco Networking Academy, a program Yoo established in 1997 that has helped more than 2.7 million people find jobs since 2005. She also leads Cisco’s work on other educational programs, such as the 21st Century Schools Initiative. The networking hardware giant first set a GHG reduction target in 2006, and as of its 2020 fiscal year, it had cut Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 55 percent, just shy of its upcoming goal in FY 2022. Elsewhere, Yoo’s experience as the co-founder of Cisco’s business development organization has doubtless helped inform her strategy about tough strategic decisions. One of her team's top priorities is embracing circular economy business models (it’s an EMF founding partner), which calls for all of its new products to incorporate core principles such as reusability, recyclability and repairability by 2025. This, too, will require collaboration with the company’s expansive network of technology and service partners.