According to Steven Pinker
And supported by many a thinker,
The world’s becoming a better place
Though at a slow but steady pace.
And yet there are problems for sure
And climate change is at the fore.
Inequality is also dire
And maybe getting much higher.
If progress on all these is slow
The consequences are grave, we know.
Their abilities and constraints are such
That governments can't do much.
NGOs have few means but ability
And businesses have means but don't see
These issues as part of their core.
For profit is how they would score.
But businesses slowly realise
That profit is a short-term prize.
After all what do businesses gain
If they die out and don’t sustain?
But how much can they afford to spend
To ensure their existence doesn't end?
That answer's not easy to find
But a thought still comes to my mind.
If the efforts of all are combined
The synergies that we can find
Reduces costs and raises gain
And obviates inevitable pain.
There’s a capitalistic strain
That enthrones shareholder gain.
And Milton Friedman could see
That this simplistic philosophy
Could lead to great efficiency
But wherever there's externality,
This capitalism, red in tooth and claw,
Can prove to be a dismal flaw.
Correction can come from regulation
Or even from self-remediation
And Adam Smith himself foresaw
That business could address this flaw.
It should be clearly understood
One can do well by doing good.
Doing it smartly we do better
So why not be the trend setter!
In capitalism's early days we see
Social responsibility in some degree.
To dissipate the urban gloom
Both Cadbury, Lord Leverhulme
Then pioneered the company town.
Some observers would surely frown
At their extremely paternal attitude
But many might view it with gratitude.
We should remember in that age,
It compensated their lowly wage.
It's time to get the Tata group
Now very much into the loop.
Because it seemed morally right
The Tata group then set its sight
At such a very lofty height,
For what Trade Unions had to fight
In Europe for several years
Was gifted by these worthy seers,
From the goodness of their heart.
Undoubtedly this played a part
In honing their great reputation
And then contributing to the nation.
And doing good is very sound
What goes around does come around.
Doing good isn’t just a cost
The gain outweighs all that’s lost.
My grandfather probably saw
These examples and found no flaw.
He bought faraway marshy land.
His critics just couldn't understand.
They concluded he had gone quite mad
But today we are glad, not sad.
A township then slowly arose
And this is where our business grows.
We provided every needed tool
Housing, hospital and school.
My uncle known as SPG
Way back could clearly see
The environment was under stress
Neglect he knew would be a mess.
Our creek side land was reserved
The mangroves there well preserved.
And from my office I gaze out there,
A Mumbai view that's very rare
With greenery all the way
Until you sight New Bombay.
And now and then, with friends I float
On a gently moving boat,
With pink Flamingos in full flight,
To my mind a splendid sight.
In saving tigers, he played a role.
The environment was a major goal.
And here I think that we all ought to
Pay careful heed to Michael Porter.
With Shared Value there's no cost
For doing good as nothing's lost.
All it takes is a thinking brain
To remove a societal pain
And combine it with a business gain
To create a sustainable chain
Of endless mutual benefit.
This concept is a tremendous hit.
We thought that we should also try
And see if we could apply
This philosophy to our group
Our employees also joined the loop.
In the year 2010
Studies were commissioned and then
With the help of Dasra and FSG
Our new program, one could see.
We aptly named it Good and Green
And what a journey it has been!
And how do we define our role
What could be a proper goal?
Every opportunity we should seize
To focus on our SDGs.
But the UN has a lengthy list,
So, in recounting, some would be missed!
So, I will focus on just three
That I think would be the key
For all the others to fall in place
And enable us to win the race.
Good health through perfect sanitation,
Environment and education.
All of these can be seen
In our program Good and Green.
A step change is what we could see
Upon joining WBCSD.
The World Business Council of Sustainable Development
(WBCSD) is bent
On ensuring business is sustainable
This goal is eminently attainable.
All the members are obliged to sustain
With membership criteria they must attain.
I serve on their Executive Council
And their effective counsel
Clearly helps to show the way
Effectively we learn to play.
Collectively we make a pact
With governments we interact,
Ensure that policies are fair.
Our experiences we can share.
Collectively we all learn
To be sustainable while we earn.
All our members truly care
About a planet green and fair.
The planet of course must survive
If businesses are to thrive!
It is no longer Climate Change
Within a tolerable range.
A crisis is what it’s about
With fires, floods as well as drought.
Every week a constant blast
Far worse than seen in the past.
If we must, we will adapt
Prevention though would be more apt.
There is a cost to adaptation,
It’s rising fast in every nation
As well as for the world at large.
This will be a heavy charge.
In fact, we should all conclude
Prevention would be really shrewd.
In practice it would cost much less
And avoid a lot of stress.
All industry should play a role
In the carbon neutral goal.
We can preserve both profit and planet.
With a proper price and if we plan it!
GHG emissions should be reduced
More green energy should be produced.
And so, without partiality
Our goal for all's neutrality.
Whether water, carbon or solid waste
And very soon we will make haste
To make our net emissions zero.
Will that make the group a hero?
In 2010 the goal looked tall
But we took a reasoned call
Technology would save the day.
So far it has turned out that way.
To achieve these goals, we will strive
To do it all by 2035.
As technology takes a leap
Green energy gets very cheap.
Keen observers quickly saw
That Solar also tracks Moore's law.
Whether groundnut shell or bagasse
Our India's full of biomass.
At first, we thought we'd have to spend
But that's not true, for in the end,
The more we thought and the more we slaved
We did invest but we also saved.
And solar is still getting cheaper
And as we start digging deeper
In India it will hit the goal
Of being cheaper than even coal
In just a handful of years.
Already we and our peers
Are sourcing solar electricity
At lower rates than from the utility.
For quite some time we've been extorted
As their finances aren't still sorted.
A silver lining can be seen,
Since it incentivises green.
We can also use solid biomass
As well as biofuel and biogas
We certainly would then see
More flexible green energy.
Now Biomass cogeneration
Makes sense for a continuous operation.
In Palm Oil mills we use our own.
But biomass that’s specially grown
Or byproduct biomass
Such as shell powder or bagasse
Can now be sourced quite easily.
A low-cost source for every industry.
And low ash bamboo’s on the way
It can help to save the day
As it’s better and cheaper than coal
It can play a major role.
Though our cost of water is not so high
We nevertheless attempt to try
To reduce our water consumption
But all the same it's a safe assumption
Our water use won't disappear
And so, to be neutral, I fear,
We will have to mitigate.
Though fortunately I can state
That developing a watershed
Doesn't cost much and instead
Our agribusiness can benefit.
It must be clearly understood
The social impacts are very good.
Once you understand the nitty-gritty
Of the Village Watershed Committee,
You see it helps to promote unity
In all sections of the community
And thanks to the 30% participation goal,
It’s women that play a significant role.
New businesses are a worthy goal.
Self help groups, can now play a role.
As you add poultry and dairy
Agriculture becomes less scary.
The income becomes more steady.
For any eventuality, you’re ready.
As the women begin to earn
Their earlier destiny they can spurn.
The spin-off benefits are great.
They can change their children’s fate
By improving health, housing and education,
A huge benefit for the nation.
Our partner is our true trump card
It is none other than NABARD.
We’ve covered 100 million square metres
And saved 32 million Kilolitres.
Watershed schemes don’t cost much
And the social benefits are such,
That it’s a solution we can all apply
To ensure a water supply,
For business and society at large
At a very affordable charge!
The government will do its bit
But where it fails, we'll fill the breach
And hopefully we will reach
Many farmers on the cheap
But the benefits that we reap
Will compensate for the cost
And once again nothing's lost.
And steadily we will see
A reduction in plastic intensity.
As products are concentrated
Our plastic use is abated.
We removed Three Thousand Tons of Plastic
A cut that is indeed quite drastic.
Great collaboration is what one sees
Around GCPL’s factories.
There are many benefits as everyone knows
In working with municipalities and NGOs.
Lots of waste is diverted
Toxic pollution is averted.
We have the intent, we have the will
To divert waste, no more land fill.
Plastic intensity we’ll first reduce
Then we will recycle and reuse.
Installations of waste based art
Can play a very useful part
In purposeful, awareness raising.
The effects can be quite amazing.
The benefit that one then sees
Is in our work with communities.
Good segregation, we ensure.
Collection happens, door to door.
Proper parks for sanitisation
Are set up throughout our nation.
Much waste is then diverted.
Waste to landfill is averted.
Our employees often volunteer
Clean up campaigns, is what we steer.
Now is the time to get some traction
With an urgent call to action!
There are many paths that we can see
For achieving Carbon neutrality.
But the cheapest way is certainly
Through energy efficiency.
Real interest rates are rather low
And high returns quickly flow
From any energy saving device.
For business this is very nice.
Not only are returns quite brisk,
There’s also very little risk.
In India mandated CSR
Can help us go very far.
Multiple benefits are what one sees
With water projects or growing trees.
Good livelihoods are created
Our carbon emissions are abated.
Trees planted at a river’s source
Maintain the flow throughout its course.
So many benefits we can see:
The preservation of biodiversity,
Different species can be tried.
Useful products can be supplied
Like biomass or edible fruits
And yet the trunk and the roots
Can sequester carbon, clean the air,
A win-win that is very fair.
So, while we decarbonise
Why not also monetise.
So never fall for either or.
Our hearts and minds demand much more.
Neutrality can come with ease.
Some may think that I’m a tease.
Some companies are not yet sold.
For some it’s tough, or so I’m told.
Energy intensive firms would say
It’s much tougher, for them to play.
If you can turn all waste to gold
And if you can be very bold
With inventing technology
Any industry can see
Eventual neutrality.
And there is so much more to gain
If it’s across our entire chain.
The case of course is very clear
And yet we are nowhere near
Any kind of firm solution
To end Greenhouse Gas pollution.
Around the world we would find
So many leaders that are blind.
Or perhaps not so benighted
But conveniently shortsighted.
Why undergo any pain
If by the time you get the gain
You will no longer be around.
To politicos this may seem sound.
Prevention is much better than cure!
So learn it now or then endure
The endless pain and aggravation
Of the heavy cost of adaptation!
If you neutralise at a cost.
Competitively much is lost.
A uniform carbon tax
Would protect all our backs.
But bear in mind it’s not a cost.
For the economy nothing’s lost.
A UBI could be instated,
Some other tax could be rebated.
And if this is indeed just so.
Each economy would still grow.
Now with the right advocacy
Someday soon we could see
An enabling global policy
That would encourage us to be
Quite Carbon neutral with no pain.
The world can only stand to gain.
We can be fair to every nation,
Avoid the cost of adaptation!
But if we don’t collaborate
We can’t escape this sorry state!
Businesses shouldn’t wait
It doesn’t pay to wake up late.
I believe it would be nice
To set an internal price.
Efficiency will always pay
Green energy’s cheaper every day!
There may be some short term pain
But over time we’ll surely gain!
Now Covid, opened up our eyes
Let’s hope that we’ve become quite wise!
We saw the benefits of green.
But something else was also seen.
The different outcomes we could see
Because of inequality.
Can Covid then act as a spur.
Now couldn’t it help to stir
Our hearts and minds to newer heights
With ESG now in our sights?
The vision that we should now share
Is a brave new world both green and fair.
The environment isn’t all.
On society let’s take a call.
Throughout the chain let’s keep in sight
Every person’s human right.
It’s business as usual, not bravery
To end child labour and slavery.
And in all businesses, we should see
The broadest reach of diversity.
Not only is it fair and right.
It would give us the best insight.
Since life is full of many hard knocks
We need to think out of the box.
Diversity’s the perfect aid
When we are required to wade
Through troubled waters or quagmires
Unusual thought is what inspires!
Lack of health and education
Leads to the perpetuation
Of inequality through generations
In almost all our nations.
Without good health you never learn
If you don’t learn you cannot earn.
For health as well as climate change
It certainly isn’t strange
That prevention’s better than a cure.
On public health we should spend.
It is much cheaper in the end.
With little cost and greatest ease
We could reduce lifestyle disease!
At any rate I am quite sure
We would spend less than for a cure.
In order to achieve this goal
Businesses could play a role.
Through business models and CSR
Together we can go quite far.
And similarly, through education
We can serve ourselves and the nation.
We often think that charity
Can address disparity.
But tackling health and education
Are better means for alleviation.
Through action and advocacy
We can help all humanity
To create a world that’s just and fair
And everyone is free to share
Nature’s bounty and be fulfilled
And then I’m sure we’d all be thrilled.
Our people also volunteer,
Together all of us can steer
A world in which there’s harmony
Between business and society
A mutual reinforcing loop
Benefitting every group.
And once again our CSR
Can serve to take us very far.
The projects that are the biggest hits
Provide us all with benefits.
Ingeniously we can plan it
Serve profit, people and planet!
Sustainability is not a pain.
For after all it is a gain.
It helps us all to survive,
Last long as well as to thrive.
It’s a license to operate.
The ecosystem finds it’s great.
Society, Governments, Banks
Cooperate, convey their thanks.
Together with both heart and brain
Sustainably let’s sustain!
With sustainability spends nothing’s lost
As benefits outweigh the cost!
And Governance also pays.
It’s an effort in the early days
But over time you are rewarded
Implicit trust is then awarded.
The values for which you stand
Help to enhance your brand.
You must persist and never balk
Consistently walk the talk.
If your Governance is strong
The payback won’t be very long.
Always keep these facts in sight
Don’t hesitate to do what’s right.
This strategy is tried and tested
In the long haul it can’t be bested.
Sustainability will take you far.
Don’t just be a shooting star
Rising high before you fall
Instead take the enduring call.
All of us can forge ahead
If we only learn to shed
The barriers that can divide.
And if cooperation's tried,
With the help of business, I foresee
A helpful, thriving society.
