Workshops
Workshop on MSMEs Capacity Building on Race to Net-Zero organised by Centre for Responsible Business (CRB)
The SME Climate Hub and Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) co-organised a capacity-building workshop today for MSMEs on the race to net zero emissions in partnership with Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of India (ALEAP) and supported by NI-MSME. The workshop saw distinguished speakers including Dr. S. Glory Swarupa, Director-General, National Institute for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (NI-MSME), Debajit Das, National Project Coordinator, UNIDO, Dr. Rajani Kumari, Vice-Chairperson, Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of India (ALEAP), Dr. Jyothi Pidikiti, Vice Chairperson, WE ITTC, Sanjay Banka, Executive Chairman, Banka Bio, and Devyani Hari, Director, CRB.
MSMEs, being the backbone of any economy, are critical drivers for countries to deliver on their climate and sustainability commitments. They account for 30% of India's GDP and 49.5% of exports. At the same time, they also generate around 110 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, according to a report by the Centre for Study of Science, Technology & Policy (CSTEP). To address this challenge, MSMEs must transition towards more sustainable and low-carbon business models. As India is committed to achieving net zero by the year 2070, MSMEs can play a very important role. Today’s workshop provided a platform for these important stakeholders to share experiences, best practices, and challenges in transitioning towards low-carbon business models.
Around 70 participating MSMEs were given a primer on what net zero means, and how organisations can reach this goal. Further, the discussion identified practical solutions for supporting the MSME transition towards more sustainable and low-carbon business models. Dr. Glory Swarupa elaborated the Ministry’s initiatives, programs and partnerships to help MSMEs reduce carbon emissions. She further urged MSMEs to come forth and take more responsibility to take care of the environment and suggested that MSMEs should work towards disclosing the carbon footprint of their products. Dr. Jyothi recounted ALEAP’s 30-year journey to empower and enable women entrepreneurs to develop, expand and innovate. ALEAP has also launched an initiative called WE for Green Planet and are driven by the motto of “humanity for environment”. Dr Rajani Kumari stressed on the need for MSMEs to build their awareness on net zero and to start measuring their emissions. Dr. Debajit Das shared the learnings from various UNIDO programs for MSMEs and the impact they have achieved in terms of emission reduction, technology demonstration and providing innovative financing. Mr. Banka encouraged fellow MSMEs to start the journey for carbon reduction and shared practical examples of how his organisation imbibes sustainability practices.
For MSMEs to have increased access to climate action resources, the SME Climate Hub’s suite of free tools was presented during the workshop. These tools, which are available on the Hub’s website, equip MSMEs with a framework on how to calculate their emissions, learn how to make plans to implement climate action and help them track progress on cutting down greenhouse gas emissions. Overall, today’s workshop facilitated an important moment to raise awareness of the role of MSMEs in climate action and to provide them with the knowledge and resources they need to act.
There is a strong business case for MSMEs to adopt sustainable practices, especially in emerging markets like India. This case is driven by buyers’ requirements (especially in global value chains), increasing consumer awareness, more investments available for sustainable enterprises, and tightening regulations both at the domestic and international levels.
CRB and SME Climate Hub have partnered on an initiative to accelerate action on net zero by MSMEs. The objectives of the initiative are to create awareness and undertake capacity building for MSMEs about GHG emissions and potential measures to reduce the same and to encourage MSMEs to initiate action on GHG emissions reduction via commitments made on the Hub.