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By Dr. Arvind Kumar Sustainability and development go hand-in-hand. There is a dire need for the industry to increasingly adopt sustainable practices to safeguard ecological balance, which in turn will give greater dividends to companies in future. Companies, which have adopted substantial green practices now, could well become future leaders in this space. Energy conservation measures provide direct benefit to companies in term of cost saving. In the wake of Kyoto protocol and rising pollution level in India, there is a raging debate over synergy between industrial development and sustainability. It's not only the international pressure of cutting green house gases but also the sensitivity of younger generation towards green practices that can force companies to adopt sustainable methods. Viewed in a broad spectrum, renewable energy sources like wind and solar power are the answers to India's burgeoning energy needs. New energy sources throw enough opportunities for business w

By Dr. Arvind Kumar* *President, India Water Foundation, New Delhi. Contemporary growth theories make it discernible that environmental sustainability is potentially incompatible with uninterrupted economic growth in the wake of limited resources. Inability to achieve environmental sustainability can even obstruct achievment of long-term economic growth. Given the trade-offs between environment and development, the issue is not to achieve the maximum economic growth or total maintenance of environment, but is one of arriving at optimality both in economic progress and environmental protection, and the concept of sustainable development may be the guiding force. Sustainable development is defined by the Brundtland Report as “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”1 This definition requires that future generations should at least get as much resources as we have, to meet their needs, but the questio

Dr Arvind Kumar* *President, India Water Foundation, New Delhi (India). Broadly speaking, there are more than two billion people worldwide who are currently living in regions afflicted with water scarcity and in India in particular, the water crisis is assuming added dimensions in view of rapid shrinking of Himalayan glaciers, brisk depletion of surface and underground water resources as well as pollution of major and small rivers. Presently, millions of people in India do not have access to clean drinking water and the situation is likely to get worsened, keeping in view growing demand for water in India. Having second largest population in the world, India is expected to overtake China by 2050 in terms of population, which would mean increasing strain on water resources as the number of people grows, rapidly growing economy and a vast agricultural sector dependent on scarce water resources. Demand for Water According to broad estimates, India’s average usage of water between the do