Day 1 (14 November 2018)

Conference Programme

Effective Methods of Collaboration in Pursuing SDGs: What Lessons for India?

Date Time Venue
14th November, 2018 09:30-11:00 Hrs Royal Ballroom 1&2, Eros Hotel, New Delhi

This marks the opening of the conference with the esteemed presence of imminent practitioners. The discussions would revolve around the topic “Effective Methods of Collaboration in Pursuing SDGs: What Lessons for India?”

Speakers:

Mr. Rijit Sengupta
Chief Operating Officer, Centre for Responsible Business
 
Dr. Bimal Arora
Honorary Chairperson Centre for Responsible Business & Assistant Professor, Aston Business School
 
Dr Julie Reviere
Country Director, GIZ India
 
Prof Dirk Matten
Professor of Strategy; Hewlett-Packard Chair in Corporate Social Responsibility; Associate Dean, Research, Schulich School of Business
 
Shri Kailash Satyarthi
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2014 & Founder, Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation

Mrs. Naina Lal Kidwai
Chair, Indian Sanitation Coalition & Former Country Head, HSBC India

Dr. Harsh Vardhan
Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India
 
Shri Suresh Prabhu
Hon’ble Minister, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation, Government of India
 
Dr. Amita Joseph
Director, Business Community Foundation and Governing Body Member, CRB
 
 

Cooperation Among and Across Governments: Linking the Global Goals with the Local Challenges

Date Time Venue
14th November, 2018 11:30-13:00 Hrs Royal Ballroom 1&2, Eros Hotel, New Delhi

Context

This session on ‘Cooperation Among and Across Governments: Linking the Global Goals with the Local Challenges’ will probe the effectiveness of cooperation:

how bilateral development partners have and can effectively cooperate among themselves for achieving SDGs
strengthening partnership between bilateral development partners with national governments and agencies, especially in the context of developing countries like India, to promote SDGs
among various national governments for approaching the SDGs, through financial, technical and other modes of cooperation
within the nation (especially from an Indian context), covering both the horizontal (cooperation between different national level Ministries) and the vertical (cooperation between national level with the state level and provincial level government agencies)

Speakers:

Marten van den Berg
Ambassador, Dutch Embassy in India
 
Ms. Soyoung Park
Deputy High Commissioner, Canadian High Commission in India
 
Dr. Rene van Berkel
Representative, Regional Office India, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

Mr. Pulkit Khare
District Magistrate, Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh

Creating Lasting Public and Private Sector Collaboration Models in Practice, Building Trust

Date Time Venue
14th November, 2018 14:00-15:30 Hrs Royal Ballroom 1&2, Eros Hotel, New Delhi

Context

This session ‘Creating Lasting Public and Private Sector Collaboration Models in Practice, Building Trust’ will explore the following:

What are the Key ‘Principles’ to make collaboration between Public and Private sector effective, especially in the Indian context?
What steps can be taken to strengthen Transparency and Accountability in such Partnerships and mitigate Risks
Critical SDGs that Public and Private Sector collaboration can address in Indiat? Why & How? (iv) What are some of the key ‘enabling conditions’ necessary to make this collaboration work? 

Speakers:

Dr. Wolfgang Engshuber
Former Chair of the Board, UN Principles for Responsible Investment

Mr. Douwe Jan Joustra
Head Circular Transformation at C&A-Foundation
 
Mr. Bharat Wakhlu
Founder – President, The Wakhlu Advisory & Former Group Resident Director, Tata Sons Limited
 
Mr. G S Krishnan
Regional President – India, Novozymes South Asia Pvt. Ltd.
 
Prof. Linda Hancock
Personal Chair in Public Policy, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University

Dr. Jana Helbig
Former Managing Director, German Centre for Industry and Trade

Mr. Tony Henshaw
Chief Sustainability Officer, Aditya Birla Group

How to Make Multi-stakeholder Partnerships Work to Achieve SDGs?

Date Time Venue
14th November, 2018 16:00-17:30 Hrs Royal Ballroom 1&2, Eros Hotel, New Delhi

Convened and co hosted

Context

The discussions would consider:

What can make Multi-stakeholder Partnerships (MSPs) work in India?
What levels should MSPs be developed (global/national/state) for them to be effective and Why? What does some examples indicate
What are some of the challenges that MSPs (could) face? How can they be addressed, particularly in the context of India?
With illustrations, please share your thoughts on how MSPs have (i) leveraged resources of particular issue through collaborations, (ii) create innovative approaches; (iii) tackle complexities and implement systems changes

Speakers:

Mr. Arun Maira
Former Member, Planning Commission, Government of India

Ms. Jane Hwang

President & Chief Executive Officer, Social Accountability International

Mr. Noor Naqschbandi
Head, Private Sector Development Programme, GIZ India

Ms. Vidya Rangan
Senior Manager – Impacts, ISEAL Alliance

Mr. Terry Nelidov
Managing Director, Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise University of Michigan

Mr. Satoshi Sasaki
Deputy Director, International Labour Office, Office for South Asia and India

Day 2 (15 November 2018)

Date Time Venue
15th November, 2018 09:30-11:00 Hrs Royal Ballroom 1&2

Co-host:

Context:

During this session the principles and practices for the circular economy would be discussed, with industry examples for instance from the fashion-/textiles industry. The session would also aim to highlight the need for collaborative approach in promoting and implementing a circular economy strategy for India and its relevance in the pursuit to achieve the SDG’s.

Objectives:

Creating awareness and understanding of the capabilities for companies to become circular entrepreneurs, through:

Deep dive in circular economy principles;
Understanding existing circular businesses models especially their relevance for India;
Focusing on innovation, implementation and emergence in business and governance

Outcomes:

Based on the enhanced awareness, two outputs are identified:

Starting an information/implementation strategy on circular economy for India across some pertinent sectors including apparel;
Identifying three or four Indian organizations that may take the lead in facilitating circularity approaches and collaborative action(s) with governmental institutions.

Speakers:

Mr. Douwe Jan Joustra
Head Circular Transformations, C&A Foundation
 
Mr. Prabh Sharan Singh
Secretary, Northern Region, Indian Chemical Council
 
Ms. Deeksha Vats
Joint President-Sustainability, Aditya Birla Group
 
Dr. Rachna Arora
Deputy Team Leader, European Union – Resource Efficiency Initiative (EU – REI), GIZ
 
Dr. Pradip Kalbar
Assistant Professor, Centre for Urban Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay

Date Time Venue
15th November, 2018 11:30-13:00 Hrs Lutyen’s Lounge

Co-host :

Global concerns on climate change and current unsustainable growth patterns led United Nations to announce introduction of seventeen sustainable development goals (SDGs) in October 2015 wherein accountability has been put on businesses, governments, and civil society to pursue a more sustainable path. After the introduction of SDGs, businesses world over, including technology giants like Dell, GE, Google, and Microsoft are in the process of strategizing to align their businesses to focus on one or more SDGs.

Objectives of the Session:

To examine if there is a ‘business case’ for aligning e-waste management with sustainable development goals (SDGs) in India
To explore ways of measuring impact in the sector (environment, health and business) to spur investment and growth in the sector

Anticipated Outcomes

Evolving long-term collaborative arrangements and partnerships involving key stakeholders to augment the state of e-waste management in India
Identification of key enablers (in the ecosystem) to support this transition
Speakers:

Ms. Sarina Bolla
SME & Value Chain Solutions-India Program Lead, International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Mr. Sujeet Samaddar
Senior Consultant (Industry), NITI Aayog

Dr. Kalyan Bhaskar
Assistant Professor, XLRI

Mr. Pranshu Singhal
Founder, Karo Sambhav
 
Ms. Preeti Mahesh
Chief Programme Coordinator, Toxics link

Ms. Sunita Prasad
Senior Manager, Sustainability and CR, Ericsson India Ltd.

Dr. Sandeep Chatterjee
OSD, Ministry of Electronics and Technology (MeitY)

Date Time Venue
15th November, 2018 11:30-13:00 Hrs Viceroy

Co-Host:

Context:

The session will discuss why and how sustainable land use can achieve greater impact for businesses operations and biodiversity conservation when planned at a multi-site and multi-sector scale. It will also introduce the Sustainable Palm Oil Coalition, a new Indian initiative to support achieving sustainable landscapes in Indonesia and Malaysia, where India sources most of its palm oil. The session will also showcase examples of the collaborative efforts of the private sector to achieve the SDGs.

Objectives:

Explain with examples the characteristics and benefits of a landscape approach
Give a platform to companies that see the value of moving beyond traditional supply chain approaches to sustainability
Consider the implications for Voluntary Sustainability Standards
Introduce the Sustainable Palm Oil Coalition, which was launched in September 2018

Outcomes

Outreach to potential civil society partners for future work of Rainforest Alliance in India
Outreach to potential new participants in the Sustainable Palm Oil Coalition

Speakers :

Mr. Edward Millard
Director-Landscapes & Communities, Rainforest Alliance

Mr. Rajiv Kumar
Corporate Head- Cane & Sustainability, Olam India

Dr. Anushree Bhattacharjee
Programme Officer – Forest Landscape Restoration, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

Date Time Venue
15th November, 2018 11:30-15:30 Hrs Royal Ballroom 1

Co-Host:

Context:

This session will be a partnership between the CSO Working Group and CRB, aiming to take stock of the current scenarios in which women operate and engage in value chains of organized businesses, the challenges and opportunities that are available. Furthermore, it will bring focus to explore how deeper strategic partnerships can be developed amongst the various stakeholders and provide a positive impact on the challenges that women workers face. Sectoral and subject experts will be invited to share their perspective as well as CSO’s and Brands who are working on gender related issues.  Nevertheless, this session will focus on perspectives from various sectors.

Objectives:

Perspectives on women in value chains from multiple stakeholders on current scenarios
Strategic partnerships as a key to ‘the way forward’

Outcomes:

Gain a practical understanding of the opportunities and challenges for women workers and how they should be addressed
Provide an understanding on how partnerships can develop amongst various stakeholders and have a positive impact on women workers.

Speakers :

Ms. Lakshmi Bhatia
Advisor on Business Rights, Traidcraft

Ms. Sousumi Sarangi
Country Representative India, Fair Wear Foundation

Ms. Aya Matsura
Gender Specialist, ILO

Ms. Vandana Verma
Program Manager, IKEA Foundation

Mr. Rakesh Supkar
Business head, Traidcraft

Ms. Aarti Pandya
Program Head, CEC

Ms. Navya D’Souza
Comms Coordinator, HomeNet South Asia

Ms. Soma Kishore Parthasarathy
National Facilitation Team, MAKAAM

Ms. Subhadra Gupta
South Asia Head, Fair Labor Association

Ms. Shikha Bhattacharjee
Lawyer and Researcher

Mr. Ranjeeb Sarma
Head of Compliance, CSR, Plan A & Administration, Marks and Spencers

Mr. Manoj Bhatt
Country Director, Goodweave India

Date Time Venue
15th November, 2018 11:30-13:00 Hrs Royal Ballroom 2

Co-host:

In this session the Netherlands Embassy in India and CRB aim to encourage dialogue, awareness and engagement on the ‘Water, Energy and Food nexus-approach’, both between the Indian and Dutch government, as well as Indian-Dutch companies.

 Through this engagement, The Netherlands embassy in India and CRB aim to create sustainable win-wins with the private sector. Through the Indo-Dutch ‘INDUS-platform’, sustainable challenges are transformed into business opportunities. By online B2B-matchmaking, challenges and solutions that make business sense are brought together.

Objectives:

How can the understanding on the WEF-nexus be improved?
How can private sector and financial institutions be mobilized towards more sustainable agriculture, water use and energy?
How can we learn from existing initiatives to respond to falling groundwater tables, existing cropping patterns and climate change?
Explore partnership/projects/engagements with the Indian stakeholders and work towards the kick starting of 2019 strategy of the Netherlands Embassy in India vis-à-vis the nexus approach.

Outcomes:

Identify partners who can contribute to the plan for 2019
Audience to get better understanding on the Netherlands approach

Speakers :

Mr. Michiel Bierkens 
Economic Counselor, Netherlands Embassy in India

Mr. Rajeev Vijh
Director, DIPP, UNIDO International Centre for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (IC-ISID)

Mr. Eric Bouwmeester
Deputy Head International Affairs, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Kingdom of Netherlands

Mr. Anindya Chowdhury
Country Manager, Energy Transitions Programme, Shell India Markets Pvt Ltd

Mr. Rajagopal Balasubramania
President, DSM, India

Mr. Rahul Bhajekar
Country Director, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)

Mr. Anirban Ghosh
Chief sustainability officer, Mahindra Group

Date Time Venue
15th November, 2018 14:00-17:30 Hrs Royal Ballroom 2

Context

Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) with support from Social Xleration has conducted a research on “Creating Effective District Mineral Foundations (DMFs) for Sustainable Mining Communities in India” this year across few districts (two each in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan) to identify factors/measures that make or can make DMFs effective, in line with the goal for which they were established. State level multi-stakeholders’ Consultation on DMF were organized in the months of September and October in these states. As a next step, this session would act as a National level stakeholder consultation workshop on 15th November, 2018.

Objectives and Outcomes:

Highlight the findings about the current status of DMFs in the States of Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan
Identify and create consensus about improvement to make DMFs effective, especially for welfare of mining affected communities/people
Identify, disseminate and strive for replicating good practices and initiate a discussion about the state of DMFs across other states in India
Establish linkages between DMFs/ PMKKKY and SDGs.
Co-creating a blueprint of toolkit for DMF Implementation at district levels
Recommend Government of India and other key stakeholders with relevant suggestions
Speakers :

Mr. Arun Asthana
Executive Director, CRB

Mr. Deepak Arora
Vice President, Nayara Energy Ltd

Mr. Prithul Kumar
Director, Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India

Mr. Rijit Sengupta
COO, CRB

Mr. Ashis Dash
CEO – SMI, Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI)  

Mr. Vineet Bose
Head – Legal, Hindustan Zinc Ltd.

Mr. Roberto F. Salazar-Córdova
CEO, CSP INC.TECH, SCL/LATAM

Mr. Ravi Raj Atrey
Senior Manager, CRB

 

 

 

Date Time Venue
15th November, 2018 14:00-17:30 Hrs Viceroy

Co-host:

The session intends to provide an understanding of the main challenges concerning the connection between business activities and human rights, with particular attention to some crucial issues: the role and obligations of States; the recent and emerging human rights-related legislation regulating corporate activities worldwide; the access to effective remedies for victims of corporate-related human rights abuses.

Objectives:

Explore opportunities as to how human rights can help in achieving SDG targets
Criticality of human rights in responsible business practices across the supply chain
How Human Rights Due Diligence benefits the business and importance of developing develop strategies for remedial action
Ascertain the roles of different stakeholders towards protection of human rights in the agenda of responsible business.

Outcomes:

Gain a first overview of what is expected from responsible companies with a focus on sustainable supply chain management;
The role of stakeholders in protection of human rights
Be able to raise awareness for the topic;
Get a first overview of where to find more information.

Speakers :

Prof. Vasanthi Srinivasan
Professor, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, IIM, Bangalore

Mr. Rajat Kumar
Program Manager-Digital Transformation, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedon

Dr. Jana Helbig
Former Managing Director of the German Centre for Industry and Trade, India

Ms. Jane Hwang
President & Chief Executive Officer, Social Accountability International

Mr. Anil Bharadwaj
Secretary General, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises

Ms. Natasha Majumdar
amfori Network Representative India

Ms. Subhadra Gupta
South Asia Head, Fair Labour Association

Mr. Gopinath Govindan
Director – Human Resources, CLP Power India

Mr. Abhay Pathak
Head of Corporate Sustainability, TATA Motors

Mr. Gangadhar Swamy
Field Implementation Manager-Social Compliance and CSR, BASF Vegetable Seeds

Date Time Venue
15th November, 2018 14:00-15:30 Hrs Lutyen’s Lounge, Eros Hotel, New Delhi

Co-host:

Context:

As a major global consumer of products such as palm-oil, rubber and wood products, Indian businesses and consumers also have a role to play in boosting demand for deforestation-free supply chains. This session will explore opportunities to achieve this in the Indian context. While focusing on India as a major consumer market, the workshops will also reflect on production-based challenges in Indonesia and Malaysia and other Asian countries.

Objectives:

Contribute to the knowledge of key stakeholders on deforestation-free supply chains and explore opportunities to achieve this with Indian businesses and consumers
Discuss perspectives around the sourcing of sustainable commodities in the Indian context and identify potential levers for change in the policy-making and business arenas

Outcomes:

Better understanding of the role that Businesses and Consumers can play in boosting demand for deforestation-free supply chains    
Identify committed stakeholders with whom ISEAL and partners can take forward the dialogue in two follow up roundtables to be held in Delhi (with policy makers and policy influencers) and Mumbai (with businesses and the finance sector) in early 2019
Speakers:
 
Ms. Vidya Rangan
Senior Manager – Impacts, ISEAL Alliance

Mr. Edward Millard
Director, Landscapes & Communities Programme Development, Rainforest Alliance
 
Mr. Palash Srivastava
South Pole
 
Mr. Sanket Bhale
Associate Director – Sustainable Business, WWF-India
 
Mr. Suhas Bhujbal
Procurement Lead, Ferrero India

Mr. Vaibhav Aggarwal
Project Leader: New Business South Asia, Ikea Services India Private Limited

Date Time Venue
15th November, 2018 16:00-17:30 Hrs Lutyens, Eros Hotel, New Delhi

Co-host :

Context:

Agriculture sector accounts for an estimated 70 percent of global water use, and up to 90 percent of global water consumption. The erratic rain patterns have led to the initiatives like Production standards around responsible water management by associations like ISEAL. However, these initiatives are site specific and do not address broader catchment management considerations and impacts. Interoperability is a key strategy for standards to scale up impact.

The session will focus on how members of the sustainability standard community active in agriculture sector can work together and collaborate under the aegis of the Alliance for Water Stewardship and its integrated water stewardship framework to deepen their collective impacts on catchment water security through multi-stakeholder collaborations creating a shared value for the system.

Objectives:

Explore the feasibility and mechanism of interoperability of sustainability standards on water stewardship in agriculture sector.
Give examples of how sustainability standards have collaborated on water stewardship in agriculture sector e.g. BCI & AWS
Learning for Panelists and participants on how schemes can evolve to provide a pre-competitive environment to serve joint project, efficiency gain and recognitions.

Outcomes:

Exploring the pre-competitive collaboration to undertake joint research and follow-up discussion on water stewardship in agriculture sector.

Speakers: 

Mr. Ashish Bharadwaj
India Coordinator, Alliance for Water Stewardship

Mr. Rajeev Baruah
Country Head, Better Cotton Initiative

Ms. Vidya Rangan
Senior Manager, Impacts, ISEAL Alliance

Mr. Litul Baruah
Analytics Officer, Sustainable Raw Material, C&A Foundation

Mr. Joseph Wozniak
Head, Trade for Sustainable Development, International Trade Centre

Day 3 (16 November 2018)

Date Time Venue
16th November, 2018 09:30-11:00 Hrs Royal Ballroom 1&2

Co-host:

Context:

Each business decision represents an opportunity to contribute to, or detract from, an SDG. Based on his practical work with C-suites of Fortune 500 companies, Professor Árvai will suggest some of the missing links from goal-setting to intended impacts, to contribution to the SDGs. He will highlight some of the natural biases of human decision-making, and suggest techniques to help executives recognize and counter those biases in their own decisions. Professor Árvai’s approach will help executives be more consequent in aligning company goal-setting with the SDGs, and then more disciplined in making the necessary follow-up decisions to keep implementation and impact aligned with these original goals.

Objectives:

Offer a glimpse into the power of decision-making for a better world, using business decisions and their impact on achievement of the SDGs as a tangible example.
Suggest practical techniques and approaches to better leverage executive decision-making for meaningful contribution to the SDGs.
Learn from fresh perspectives in the panel discussion about some of the potential applications of this decision-making approach to fulfillment of the SDGs in India, some of the caveats and limitations given the unique management culture of India and some of the areas for possible further research in the Indian context.

 Outcomes:

Participant recognition that their own decision-making approaches are not immune to the types of biases discussed.
Participant interest after the panel to learn more—during the conference, online and through follow-up contact with CRB and / or Erb—about how to better align their companies’ goal-setting, implementation decisions and impact measurement with meaningful contribution to the SDGs.

Speakers :

Dr. Bimal Arora
Honorary Chairperson, CRB & Assistant Professor, Aston University, UK
 
Dr. Joe Árvai
Faculty Director, Erb Institute, University of Michigan
 
Dr. Dirk Matten
Schulich School of Business, University of York, Canada

Dr. Wolfgang Engshuber
Former Board Chair, UNPRI

Mr. Bouba Housseini
Programme Officer, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada

Ms. Dipanwita Chakraborty
Regional Director (Asia Pacific), Corporate Responsibility, Cargill India

Date Time Venue
16th November, 2018 16:00-17:30 Hrs Viceroy

Co-host:

Context:

The session aims to increase awareness of the “Guidelines for Providing Product Sustainability Information” developed by UN Environment and ITC under the Consumer Information Programme of the One Planet network.  The Guidelines outline five fundamental principles and five aspirational principles on how to make effective, trustworthy claims to consumers on product-related sustainability information.

Objectives:

Provide an overview of the Guidelines on Providing Product Sustainability Information
Allow the roadtesters from India to present a testimony of the practical application of the Guidelines
Demonstrate the applicability of the Guidelines and their value and utility to attendees of the session by providing a practical exercise for them to assess a hypothetical product sustainability claim
Promote the Consumer Information Programme of the One Planet network and seek new, engaged partners

Outcomes:

Attendees can demonstrate knowledge of the Guidelines and will lead to more downloads of the resource from the website
Attendees have knowledge of the Consumer Information Programme of the One Planet network
Build partnerships with a focus on a replication effect
Country-level awareness raising and identification of national specificities of the Guidelines

Speakers:

Mr. Rijit Sengupta
Chief Operating Officer, CRB

Ms. Naomi Scott-Mearns
Sustainable Consumption Manager, Consumers International

Mr. Naresh Tyagi
Chief Sustainability Officer, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited

Date Time Venue
16th November, 2018 16:00-17:30 Hrs Lutyen’s Lounge

Co-host:

Context:

During this session, the discussions would involve the legal and business context in India focusing on employment law and issues of supply chain, forced labor and anti-trafficking. The speakers will highlight the innovative approaches they have taken to tackle these issues with a specific focus on supply chains. The discussion will be followed by a brainstorming session on synergies and collaborations on the work to be done during 2019.

Objectives:

Discuss the term modern slavery from an Indian perspective
Learn about the legal framework that exists
Learn about innovative approaches
Plan an action for the next year

Outcomes:

Agree on gaps while promoting responsible business practices in tea supply chain
Alignment of interest of different stakeholders and work in cohesion towards responsible behavior and business
Exchange of knowledge and good practices in promoting responsible behavior and business
Agree on specific actions by different stakeholders to address the gaps

Speakers:

Ms. Trishna Mohan Kripalani
Legal Programme Manager for South Asia, TrustLaw

Mr. Ravi Kant
Lawyer, supreme court

Mr. Anindit Roy Chowdhury
Programme Manager, Gender Justice and Human Rights, C&A Foundation

Dr. Tina Kuriakose
Research and Development Specialist, International Justice Mission

Mr. Rishi Sher Singh
Associate Director, Twentyfifty Ltd.

Ms. Parvathi Madappa
Cividep India, Workers’ Rights and Corporate Accountability

Date Time Venue
16th November, 2018 11:30-13:00 Hrs Royal Ballroom 1

Co-host:

Context:

Collaboration is key to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and leveraging Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) are important strategies for future-proofing CSR in India. Given the unique nature and practice of CSR in India distinguished from almost rest of the world makes it special to focus on its pros and cons and to work upon a futuristic approach. CRB and CSR Satyagrha have decided to co-host a session with relevant multi-stakeholders’ group at the ISS-2018 to explore and discuss Future-proofing CSR in India – a forward looking approach.

Objectives and Outcomes:

Exploring and agreeing on common understanding on present CSR regime and needs
Validating pros and cons of current CSR Policy and Implementation
Consensus on a futuristic CSR approach with multi-stakeholders’ inputs
Speakers:
 
Mr. Sudhir Sinha
CSR Satyagrha

Mr. Arun Asthana
Executive Director, CRB

Dr. Jatinder Singh
Director, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PHDCCI)

Mr. Shankar Venkateshwar
Former chief TATA Sustainability Group

Mr. Sita Ram Gupta
Ex. Director & Head – CSR, Lupin Pharma
 
Ms. Vaishali Nigam Sinha
Chief-CSR, Sustainability and Communications, ReNew Power Ltd.  

Date Time Venue
16th November, 2018 11:30-13:00 Hrs Singh Sahib, Eros Hotel, New Delhi

Co-host :

Save the Children together with Civic Engagement Alliance (CEA) are committed to promote responsible business behavior in the small tea gardens and the supply chains. Focus will be given on the elimination of child labor from the entire supply chain of the Tea industry, promote rights of the children among the communities working in the tea plantations as well as ensuring fair wages to women and their empowerment.

This session aims to find solutions to the sustainability issues pertaining to the small tea growers and the supply chains through collaboration viz Multi actor working group. Different stakeholders at various levels need to collaborate, create partnerships and address the issues collectively.

Objectives of the Session:

Identify opportunities and challenges for promoting responsible business practices in tea industry
Ascertain the roles of different stakeholders and put across the agenda of responsible business in the Tea industry at the national level.

Anticipated Outcomes

Agree on gaps while promoting responsible business practices in tea supply chain
Alignment of interest of different stakeholders and work in cohesion towards responsible behavior and business
Exchange of knowledge and good practices in promoting responsible behavior and business
Agree on specific actions by different stakeholders to address the gaps

Speakers :

Alay Barah
Chief Executive Officer, Innovative Change Collaborative Services Private Limited (ICCSPL)

Ravi Kumar Agarwal
Deputy Director, Innovative Change Collaborative Services Private Limited (ICCSPL)

Prabhat Kumar
National Thematic Manager – Child Protection, Save the Children, India

Rupam Das – Project Officer
Save the Children, Assam

Rajen Bora
President, All Assam Small Tea Grower’s Association

Bidyananda Borkakoty
Board Member, Tea Board of India

Date Time Venue
16th November, 2018 11:30-13:00 Hrs Lutyens Lounge

Co-host:

Context:

The session would discuss the following:

Is Indian farming, climate conditions, regulatory framework and suitable to promote Agroforestry models? What is the scope for promotion of Agroforestry models? What could be done to make enabling environment for promotion of Agroforestry models?
Is the supply chain for different Agroforestry models/ plantations already established? What can be the role of industries in encouraging Agroforestry models? Live Examples?
Access to finance for agriculture is poor, while access to finance for Agroforestry is even worse. Commercial finance is required to take Agroforestry models to scale. What would be required to unlock financing for the sector, especially upstream part of the value chain to make farmers adopt it as welcome practice?
What could be the challenges in promoting sustainable standards in Agroforestry models?

Objectives:

To understand the potential challenges and opportunities in promoting Agroforestry systems as climate smart agriculture
To explore the opportunities to promote sustainable standards in Agroforestry models to sustain and transform the markets
To discuss the role of local financial institutions, multilaterals and donors to enhance the financing to promote Agroforestry

Outcomes:

Identification of successful agroforestry models and strategies to promote Agrofreostry in India (what works, what doesn’t)
Identification of broad gaps in financing of the sector and possible remedies

Speakers :

Mr. Murli Dhar
Director, Sustainable Agriculture Program, WWF-India

Mr. Soumitri Das
Forestry Specialist, USAID India

Mr. Rajeev Ahal
Director, Natural Resource Management, GIZ India
 
Mr. Vijay Vardhan Vasireddy
Operations Manager, ITC limited

Dr. T.R. Manoharan
Senior Advisor, Forest Stewardship Council  (FSC) India

Ms. Teenal Sethi
Senior Director, Rabobank

Date Time Venue
16th November, 2018 11:30-15:30 Hrs Royal ballroom 2

Co-host:

Context:

Joint Workshop by Global March and CRB to present the toolkit titled ‘ Due diligence made practical: How to do Due diligence?’ that helps apparel and textiles companies/brands procuring from developing countries identify and mitigate the risk of child labour and/or forced labour in their supply chains. The idea of the session is to gather inputs from experts on how the toolkit works and give a short overview about the developments in the sourcing countries.

Objectives:

How to implement the UN guiding principles in a practical manner using the “zero child labour lens”
Understanding how civil society can be a partner
Connecting the practical and the theoretical: How Civil society will help implement Due Diligence?
Gain more practical understanding of the due diligence process.

Outcomes: 

Connecting the practical and the theoretical: How civil society will help implement due diligence and how it can be a partner
Gain more practical understanding of the due diligence process.

Speakers:

Mr. Marco Dubbelt
Lead staff, Global March Against Child Labour

Mr. Anindit Roy Chowdhury
Programme Manager, Gender Justice & Human Rights, C&A Foundation

Mr. Insaf Nizam
Specialist, International Labour Organisation

Dr. Geeta Sekhon
Global Consultant, United Nations

Mr. Thangaperumal Ponpandi
Country Manager-India, Terre des Hommes

Ms. Gazal Malik
Policy Research Officer, Global March Against Child Labour

Mr. Manoj Bhatt
Country Director & Management Trustee, Goodweave India

Dr. Bimal Arora
Chairperson, Centre for Responsible Business (CRB)

Mr. R.C. Kesar
Director General, OGTC (Okhla Garment and Textile Cluster)

Mr. Raphel Jose 
Experienced Corporate Ethical Trading Professional

Date Time Venue
16th November, 2018 14:00-15:30 Hrs Royal Ballroom 1

Co-host:                             in Association with

Context:

Social responsibility is not only about donating for educating the girl child while turning a blind eye on issues of gender equity or sexual harassment within the organisation. Neither is an organisation’s social responsibility about distributing drinking water during marathons while poisoning the water bodies by letting out untreated water.

A robust social responsibility strategy integrated into the management systems identifies strategic risk – be it in its systems or its relationship with its stakeholders. Discussions in the session will be around how organizations can use the framework of ISO 26000 – Guidance on Social Responsibility along with the relevant Indian laws to develop their CSR strategy involving their various stakeholders including the Boards.

Objectives and Outcomes:

Differentiate between philanthropy and social responsibility
Stakeholders engagements to help identify relevant social responsibility issues
Developing CSR strategy which contributes to business development
Reporting on social responsibility programmes – UN Global Compact, Sustainable Development Goals

Speakers :

Mr. Martin Neureiter
President , The CSR Company International

Ms. Prajakta Mony
Principal, BlueSky CSR Company

Mr. Murari K Singh
VP- Operations, Orient Craft LTD.

Ms. Meenakshi Batra
CEO, Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)

Ms. Jyotsna Belliappa
Head- Strategic Alliance, The CSR Company International

Mr. Ravi Raj Atrey
Senior Manager, CRB

Date Time Venue
16th November, 2018 14:00-15:30 Hrs Lutyen’s Lounge, Eros Hotel

Context:

This session will focus on creating a peer-platform for enhancing the quality of sustainability education in business schools. The session aims to dwell on the theme ‘integration of sustainability’, exploring the challenges such integration entails and proven/possible ‘good practices’ for achieving it, with a focus on subject-level integration.

Objectives:

To understand the level and mode of sustainability integration in curriculum and research agenda of business school
To explore existing good practices and benefits accrued
To understand the barriers, challenges, lessons and insights from such practices.

Outcomes:

To identify the specific modes and levels of sustainability integration at academic institutions;
To identify the subject specific aspects of sustainability integration at such levels.

Speakers :

Ms. Sangeeta Mansur
Associate, CRB

Prof. Peter Lund-Thomsen
Copenhagen Business School, Linda Hancock, Deakin University

Prof. Linda Hancock
Professor, Personal Chair in Public Policy, Deakin University

Prof. Ashish Aggarwal
Chairman, Centre for Business Sustainability, IIM Lucknow

Prof. S.K. Tapasvi
Chairperson, Public Policy Management Area, MDI Gurgaon

Date Time Venue
16th November, 2018 16:00-17:30 Hrs Royal Ballroom 1

Context:

CRB intends to develop a toolkit to align the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) with the CSR activities. The intended toolkit will not only address the key components of relevant sources such as ISO 26000, GRI, UNGC, ILO conventions, IFC and World Bank Frameworks, OECD Guidelines, UNGPs, SA 8000, ISO 37001, ISO 14000 series, and Equator Principles but will be broadly targeted towards achieving SDGs and NDCs for broadening the horizon of the CSR towards more impact and returns on one hand and building/managing corporate brands and stakeholders satisfaction on the other hand. The proposed toolkit will be a standard document to be used by the corporates in India which will help them fulfilling their different needs in the CSR domain.

This workshop is one of the series of consultations being organized with CSR functionaries and key stakeholders in CSR eco-system to co-cerate blueprint of the proposed Toolkit on aligning CSR with SDGs, NDCs and help develop more responsible brands.

Objectives and Outcomes:

To explore and innovate new area/theme/tools to broaden the ambit of CSR activities for larger social, economic and environmental reach, more impactful and touching more lives.
Understanding the connect of CSR activities to SDGs and NDCs by including defined and desired social, economic and environmental sustainability factors to contribute directly towards achieving SDGs and NDCs through CSR activities.
To elaborate upon the business case for sustainable practices and how the CSR–Sustainability combo contributes towards brand enhancement, reputation management/building, better business opportunities globally
Co-creating a blueprint of CRB Toolkit – “Aligning CSR with SDGs, NDCs and help develop more responsible brands”

Speakers:

Ms Cecilia Costa
Team Lead, Delegation of the European Union (EU) to India

Mr. Deepak Arora
Vice President –Public Affairs, Nayara Energy Ltd.

Mr. Roberto F. Salazar-Córdova
Chief Executive Officer, CSP INC.TECH, SCL/LATAM

Mr. Vishal Phanse
Chief Executive Officer, Piramal Swasthya

Mr. Arun Asthana
Executive Director, CRB

Mr. Ravi Raj Atrey
Senior Manager, CRB

Date Time Venue
16th November, 2018 14:00-15:30 Hrs Viceroy, Eros Hotel

Co-host:

    

Context:

This session explores the challenges of responsible sourcing, its impact on communities and the role of various stakeholders in working towards responsible sourcing practises that benefit the communities. The two co-hosts of the session are strong promoters of a multi-stakeholder approach in addressing the challenges that come with sourcing, linking it with the SDGs.

Objectives:

Understand the challenges that businesses face with regard to responsible sourcing in India
Share lessons learned how (various) responsible sourcing practices helped the communities
Inspire business houses to join collaborative efforts/multi-stakeholder platforms that have the objective to promote responsible sourcing that benefits the communities

Outcomes:

Increased awareness of downstream side supply chain actors on the importance of sustainability issues on implications on the lives of community
Participants expressed their interest to join the RMI/ like-minded multi-stakeholder platforms
Increased credibility/reputation of RMI as best-practice initiative working on solutions in india mica mining as multi-stakeholder initiative
Visibility of TdH-NL as a leading comprehensive child protection organisation and RMI as best-practise multi stakeholder initiative has increased among the participants of the session.

Speakers :

Mr. Thangaperumal Ponpandi
Country Manager – India, Terre des Hommes

Mr. Vijay Jain
Responsible Mica Initiative

Mr. Kinjal Shah
Responsible Jewelry Council (RJC)

Ms. Jyotsna Bhatnagar
Private Sector Partnerships Officer, UN World Food Programme India

Date Time Venue
16th November, 2018 18:00-19:00 Hrs Royal Ballroo, Eros Hotel

Context:

In the Closing Session, representatives from CRB and Lead Partners of the Conference would broadly reflect on the discussions, and glean ’emerging issues’ and key ‘take away’ for promoting sustainable/responsible business across various industries/sectors. 

Panelists’ and participants’ views would also be solicited about possible ‘theme’ for the CRB Annual Conference 2019.

Speakers:

Dr. Meera Mitra
Senior Advisor and Lead: Forum for State Private Sector Collaborations for SDGs

Representative from C&A Foundation

Representative from GIZ India

Representative from Dutch Embassy in India

Representative from ISEAL Alliance, UK

Representative from Aston University, UK