Eco-innovation critical to long term growth of Indian economy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) February 18, 2012 -- Chennai, February 17, 2012:Smt. Jayanthi Natrajan, Minister for Forests & Environment inaugurated the conference earlier in the day and said the Indian Government recognizes and is committed to encouraging product, process or system innovations that provide a better quality of life with minimal use of natural resources.

Body: Eminent academia and business leaders including Dr Nandita Krishnan, Director - CPRAF and Editor, Indian journal of environmental education, Prof Oopali Operajita, Chair- The Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition, Mr P Murari, Advisor- President FICCI, Ulhas Parlikar, Director, ACC-Geocycle India & Golden Peacock Eco-Innovation 2009 Award winner, Prof. Sudhir Chella Rajan, Head –Indo-German Centre for Sustainability at IIT Madras, Mr. Rajendra Singh, winner of 2001 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community leadership and Sudeep Jain I.A.S, Chairman & Managing Director, TEDA, among others spoke at the conference. They reiterated that the market for eco-innovation in India is enormous and said that political backing and enabling policies though is fundamental to ensure progress in the right direction...

India has among the highest per capita resource consumption which is leading to rapidly growing demand on energy, metals, construction, material, etc. and significant scarcity in many of the natural resources. A demand for eco-innovation has arisen because of the need to address today’s pressing environmental challenges. Housing, mobility and food and drink were identified as having the highest environmental impact. These fields of demand account for more than 70% of environmental impacts arising from all products over their life cycles. The environmental impact within these areas are multifaceted, ranging from global warming, photochemical ozone formation to localized pollution.
Speaking on the occasion, Smt. Jayanthi Natrajan, Minister for Forests & Environment said, “Incremental resource saving innovations related to existing technology are important but will not help deliver long term results. Radical eco-innovations are required which rethink and develop whole new systems to deliver economic activities with a small fraction of natural resources. Policies must therefore be urgently reoriented towards material saving technical progress. There is a need for fundamental change in the economic incentives that drive technical progress in this area.”

Making an inaugural address, Fr. Christie, Director, LIBA said, “Emerging and fast growing economies like India cannot afford to ignore the double imperative of economic growth and environmental stability. The critical question with respect to growth is how can businesses meet the demand of growing sustainably without abusing the natural environment. We are glad that Beacon 2012 is providing a platform for thought leaders, policy makers and practitioners to engage in discussions and analysis of how eco-innovation can be fostered in India.”
About LIBA:

Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA), established in 1979, is a premier management institute known for its academic excellence and value-based education. It is the only private B-school in South India to consistently rank in the Top 10 of such institutes in India. LIBA provides management education to both fresh graduates seeking world-class management education and also to those who are already employed and want to enhance their managerial skills. In addition, it offers a doctoral program, one year executive PG Diploma, certificate programs, blended learning (E-Learning) and executive PG programs. The Post Graduate Diploma in Management (full-time) is being offered since 1995. Both the part-time and the full-time PGDM programs are approved by the AICTE and the full-time program is recognized by the AIU as equivalent to the MBA degree of Indian Universities. LIBA also has collaborations with several Universities overseas and seeks to imbibe a global mindset in its students.
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