|
Shri Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, has said that sustainable development and corporate responsibility must go hand in hand. Speaking at the Corporate Awards Ceremony of the The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) here this evening, the Minister said that he had in his capacity as Minister for Environment & Forest a decade ago spoken about “sustainable development” and now in his current responsibility as Commerce & Industry Minister, he was talking of “sustainable trade”. He said this was not just polemics. “If trade & commerce – and by extension, business & industry – is not sensitive to its social and environmental contexts, it will not be sustainable. And if it is not sustainable, it will collapse”, he said.
“At a time when Indian companies are developing global outreach and widely spread business networks it is necessary that they be careful about their footprints on society and on the environment. This is where I see an immense potential of corporates in being partners with the Government and with their stakeholders. Indian industry today has to think beyond traditional ways of doing business and creating wealth. Creating wealth is only possible when one has an environment that supports business – and by ‘environment’, I mean both, the natural environment as well as the social environment: the society, the people with whom we do business and for whom we do business. The sense of commitment to take up activities that promote both business and the community must be regarded as an integral part of business decision making”, the Minister said.
He also congratulated TERI on its CoRE-BCSD – the Corporate Houses linked with the Business Council for Sustainable Development.
SB/MRS
|
