Creating awareness and driving industry action for clean air
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CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development (CESD) anchors CII’s National Initiative Cleaner Air - Better life. The vision is to provide cleaner air and a better quality of life to every Indian citizen by involving industry leaders to take concrete steps to curb air pollution across India. The initiative is being led by dedicated group of industry leaders named India CEO Forum for Clean Air.
Lending common platform to governments, businesses, communities, and change makers to improve air quality
Building momentum and capacities for evidence-based action on the ground
Providing industry leadership for driving cross-sectoral action on air pollution
Independent and actionable research to support communities and decision makers to assess air quality issues from a life-cycle perspective
Engagement with local communities, policymakers, industry leaders and change-makers to design and execute solutions with participatory planning
Assessment of solutions for key issues/sectors and dissemination of good practices for wide scale adoption
Creation of evidence & strategic campaigns to educate specific target groups on the health, economic, and social impacts of air pollution
'India CEO Forum for Clean Air' is a clarion call to India's top CEOs to come together and contribute towards making the air quality in India better. This platform aims to galvanize the Indian Industry to find lasting solutions to India's deteriorating air quality by 1. Providing collective leadership to Industry sub-sectors for emission reductions 2. Enabling Peer learning, cross-fertilization of ideas, and pooling of industry resources for high-impact projects 3. Undertaking proactive engagement with government and citizens
The forum creates awareness about the role industry can play in scaling sustainable business solutions and what it needs to do for balancing economic growth with sustainable development.
Industry Platform on Sustainable Transportation aims to scale Electric Vehicle (EV) supply chains in India by mapping barriers and building consensus on pragmatic solutions. The platform aims to foster new knowledge and understanding of the opportunities and challenges in India for faster adoption of EV technologies.
It will also inform the design of the government’s policies on electric mobility by bringing key outcomes from the platform to the attention of the policymakers. This platform is joined by members from diverse backgrounds including automobile and component manufacturers, energy companies, industry associations, and research institutions demonstrating leadership and action in this area.
‘Cleaner Air - Better Life’ provides the knowledge platform to all stakeholders including farmers and rural entrepreneurs in Punjab and Haryana for improved crop residue management practices and sustainable agricultural practices. Crop residue burning is a key factor behind peak air pollution episodes across many cities of North India. It also impacts the rural air quality and health of farming communities. The decades’ old practice of burning, combined with the overuse of inorganic inputs, is severely impacting soil health, leading to lower productivity in the long run.
‘Cleaner Air - Better Life’ provides the programmatic and research support to CII Foundation on the Crop Residue Management Programme. It is also mapping opportunities and demonstrating actionable solutions while piloting with rural communities of Punjab & Haryana. These solutions range from sustainable agriculture interventions (in-situ management and agricultural biodiversity) to use of biomass (ex-situ management) in green and clean products or as clean fuel.
Clean Air Better Life propagates the scientific evidence for implementation of actionable and cost-effective solutions in participatory manner with local communities and stakeholders to improve air quality. CII partnered with NITI Aayog in 2017 to create four multi-stakeholder Task Forces to design source-specific action plans for severely polluted Delhi NCR based on the latest scientific evidence and consultation with stakeholders across common airshed.
In 2020, we started working in one of India’s fast developing logistic and business hub, Indore Metropolitan Region, to demonstrate airshed management and planning approach in partnership with the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Smart City Indore, California Air Resources Board and Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi), Lung Care Foundation and Respirer Living Sciences. The objective is to develop a robust framework for data-driven approach on air quality management across rapidly developing Indore Metropolitan Region.
These are the visionary leaders who took the first step towards creating a cleaner environment and galvanize others in the Industry to join the movement.
Mr Ashwath Ram
Chairman, CII National Initiative: 'Cleaner Air - Better life'
Managing Director, Cummins India Ltd.
Mr Tejpreet Singh Chopra
Co-Chairman, CII National Initiative: 'Cleaner Air - Better life' CEO & President, Bharat Light & Power Private Limited
Mr Puneet Kumar
Managing Director, Accenture India
Mr Vineet Mittal
Chairman, Avaada Group
Mr Nitin Prasad
Chairman, Shell Group of Companies in India
Mr Mahendra Singhi
Managing Director and CEO, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited
Mr Balasubramanyam Rajagopal
President, DSM India Private Limited
Ms Rhea M Singhal
Founder & CEO, Ecoware Solutions Private Limited
Mr Madhav Krishna Singhania
Deputy Managing Director and CEO, JK Cement Limited
Dr Naresh Trehan
Chairman and Managing Director, Medanta Heart Institute
Dr Pawan Singh
Managing Director & CEO, PTC India Financial Services Limited
Mr Puneet Kaura
Managing Director & CEO, Samtel Avionics Limited
Mr R Mukundan
Managing Director, Tata Chemicals Limited
Mr Sanjiv Paul
Vice President (Safety, Health, and Sustainability), Tata Steel Ltd.
Mr Masakazu Yoshimura
Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited
Mr. Rahul Sharma
Deputy CEO, Aluminium and Power Vedanta
Mr Sukhmeet Singh
Founder, A2P Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
An eight-point declaration named ‘The CEO’s Declaration for Cleaner Air’ has been drafted to convey the Forum's broad charter. All Forum members are expected to sign this declaration as a mark of their endorsement and commitment to the cause of Cleaner Air – Better Life. We, the signatories to this declaration endeavour to act in the following areas
Demonstrate the use of clean fuels/technologies & showcase best management practices for addressing ambient air pollution
Design, pilot and scale-up high impact multi- stakeholder projects under Corporate Social & Environment Responsibilities to promote sustainable solutions to air pollution
Set targets & objectives for mitigation of air pollution linked directly or indirectly to business operations.
Promote peer learning among organizations for faster adoption of solutions across industry & geographies.
Handhold and build capacities of Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for sustainable supply chains & reducing overall air pollution footprint of products/services
Build capacity of implementation/ government agencies to design new programs/ policies, & improve design/ delivery of existing programs/ policies aimed at air quality improvement
Proactively engage with statutory bodies & research agencies for enabling scientific understanding of sources & evidence-based action.
Raise awareness on health impacts of air pollution & to build momentum for local action by engaging with employees, citizens & community-led organizations
Become a corporate leader in addressing air pollution and make your business more competitive, nationally and globally
Join Us
Farmer’s Toolkit
Fleet Electrification in India Digital
Crop Residue Management
Clean Industry
Actionable Solutions Waste2Wealth from Crop Residue
Air Pollution-The Silent Pandemic and its impact on business
CII Cleaner Air Better Life Report (2020) on Impacts and learning of crop residue management programme
Clean Transport
Clean Fuel
Biomass Management
