IIFT cultivates the future minds for Carbon Consulting in the Green Conclave 2011

In focus of promoting the Indian Carbon Consulting Industry, IIFT, India’s premier B-school, took the initiative in focus with PAT: Perform Achieve and Trade by organizing “GREEN CONCLAVE 2011”. The baton of this strategy lies with the Carbon Consultant who would help the industries modify their processes to make them energy efficient.

IIFT was witness to one of the most contemporary debates in International Business involving the scope of carbon trading and consulting from an international as well as Indian Perspective. Conducted by Socrates (Consulting Club at IIFT DELHI) , this discussion had a healthy mix of industry stalwarts , delegates interested in carbon consulting , as well as the students who were curious to gain insights about a field which is still in its budding years.

The discussion was between three different industry experts from a different domain but with a common interest in PAT. It was moderated by a highly experienced professional who has been involved in projects involving carbon credits for several years now. Mr Tapan Chowdhury, Head, Fundraising, Care India was the moderator for the event. The panellists included Mr Nitin Zamre MD India ICF International (Climate Change Consultant), Mr Ajay Ahuja, General Manager Sun Microsystems (IT Professional) and Mr Birjendra Sangwaiya, Principal Consultant Emergent Ventures (Climate change Consultant).

The discussion started with the agenda from the moderator that the “Industry needs to play a major role in developing a sustainable model for carbon credits in India”.

Nitin Zamre focused on the fact there is no current climate related target as of yet which has been stipulated by the government. He gave us a brief overview of the PAT scheme and stressed on the fact that it is not a one size fits all model. Some of his notable quote which came out were “If everybody overachieves in gaining carbon credits, then there won’t be a market for carbon trading” which indicated that it was theoretical possibility that everyone achieves equivalent emission cuts

Ajay Ahuja brought about the IT industry’s perspective into focus. He stressed on the role that it industry had to play in reducing carbon emissions and make its technologies more efficient. With increased usage of it infrastructure across industries it was imperative that IT technologies should in corporate greater power savings, in order to make it a green technology. His most impact full quote was “The cost of operating power of servers is more than the cost to buy them” indicating the need of the hour was to find energy efficient solutions in order to make business a sustainable and green model.

Birjendra Sangwariya an IIFT alumnus principally discussed on the world carbon trading market, whether they are linked to each other, and the existing standards and registries. He discussed on the regulatory changes which might come into factor in order to bring a unified model and a consultant’s role in the entire scenario

This discussion ended with questions on a few major issues like the scope of unification of carbon credit schemes across the world, life cycle of these schemes and costs of implementation, export –import of these credits in the international market, role of cloud computing in reducing carbon emissions

It was an eye opener in terms of how much crucial role controlling of carbon emissions will play in the future of industrial sectors , and the role of the consultant involved in climate change solutions.