Sustainability, at its core, embodies the concept of development derived from Brundtland Report about meeting the present needs without compromising the future generations’ ability to meet their own needs. It encompasses a multidimensional approach that takes into consideration environmental, social, and economic factors. The world has recognised that to achieve sustainability a paradigm shift is required in how we think, live, and interact with the planet. We need to ensure environmental, social, and financial equity at intragenerational as well as intergenerational level along with an environmentally conscious future for all.
In this era marked by mounting environmental challenges and social inequalities, the United Nations (UN) in 2015 launched a guiding framework for global sustainability efforts in the form of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 sustainable development goals or SDGs include ending extreme poverty and hunger and ensuring universal access to healthcare, clean water and sanitation. Others advance human rights, empowering people through quality education, gender equality, employment and decent work, reduced inequalities, and innovations in industry and infrastructure so people prosper and feel valued. The wide range of environmental goals aims to keep the world within key planetary safety boundaries by changing how the economy works across the globe. They cover climate change, access to affordable and clean energy, sustainable consumption and production, and biodiversity on land and below water. The final two goals focus on values and governance. Together the 17 goals form an integrated package.
One of the key strengths of the SDGs lies in their interconnectedness. The goals recognise that sustainable development cannot be achieved in isolation. Progress in one area often has ripple effects and influences other goals. For instance, addressing Quality Education (Goal 4) will result in achievement of Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and Goal 10 (Reduced In equalities). Recognising and harnessing these synergies while implementing our projects and designing our strategies is crucial for maximising the impact of sustainability efforts.
Through our business processes and Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives at Tata Steel we contribute to 15 out of the 17 Goals, prioritised through an intensive and multi-pronged approach considering National/Regional context, current company contribution and opportunity to create greater impact. A total of 68 targets have been prioritised across the 15 Goals.
The Urgency of Climate Action
Within the realm of sustainability, climate action (Goal 13) emerges as a pressing priority. Climate change poses an unprecedented threat to our planet and jeopardises progress in achieving the SDGs. The Paris Agreement, a landmark international accord, sets the stage for global climate action. Upholding the Paris Agreement and transitioning to a low-carbon economy are essential steps towards safeguarding the planet and securing a sustainable future.
Tata Steel has set an ambitious target to be net zero emissions by 2045. In its pursuit of decarbonisation, Tata Steel has adopted a two-pronged approach of Carbon Direct Avoidance (e.g., use of hydrogen or steel making using the electric arc furnace route) and Carbon Capture & Usage. Tata Steel’s decarbonisation roadmap includes Green Hydrogen – Direct Reduced Iron based steelmaking, use of cleaner fuel (e.g., hydrogen & coal-bed methane) in blast furnaces, carbon capture & usage, increased scrap usage in existing operations and scrap-based steel making
The Need for Biodiversity Conservation
While we are working on developing low carbon technologies, biodiversity (SDG15) will form our strongest natural defense against climate change.
When human activities produce greenhouse gases, around half of the emissions remain in the atmosphere, while the other half is absorbed by the land and ocean. These ecosystems and the biodiversity they contain are natural carbon sinks, providing so-called nature-based solutions to climate change.
Protecting, managing, and restoring forests, for example, offers roughly two-thirds of the total mitigation potential of all nature-based solutions. Despite massive and ongoing losses, forests still cover more than 30 per cent of the planet’s land. Conserving and restoring natural spaces, both on land and in the water, is essential for limiting carbon emissions and adapting to an already changing climate. About one-third of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed in the next decade could be achieved by improving nature’s ability to absorb emissions.
Thus for the world to prosper, poverty elimination efforts should be complimented with actions to preserve “natural capital” as people and businesses are dependent on the natural resources. On the other hand progress towards decarbonisation and the UN SDGs will together redirect the world’s economic systems, making normal business activities sustainable, climate resilient, socially fair and environmentally stable.
Tata Steel aims at integrating biodiversity into its business ecosystem by committing to conserve, enhance and restore biodiversity in all of operation and across the supply chain. We aspire to achieve No Net Loss of Biodiversity. Tata Steel plans to cover 100% sites to assess the impact and dependence of direct operations on biodiversity by 2024. We have planted over 3.2 lakh saplings of native species across all locations. Tata Steel has also set up the Kadma Biodiversity Park, spread across 13.5-acres, where 5,650 trees and 4,650 shrubs have been planted.
The Market Opportunities Created
Achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals opens up 60 biggest market “hot spots” worth up to US$12 trillion of market opportunities in food and agriculture, cities, energy and materials, and health and well-being by 2030. These include Ecosystem Restoration, Waste reduction, Circular Business Models, Energy Efficiency, End-use steel efficiency, Renewables, E-mobility, Cultural Tourism, Carbon Capture and Storage, Modular and Green Buildings.
Moving business to a sustainable growth model will be disruptive, with big risks as well as opportunities at the same time. It will involve experimenting with new “circular” and more agile business models, creating first-in-the-world technologies with research and development and digital platforms that can grow exponentially to shape new social and environmental value chains.
This is an opportunity to strike out in new directions to embrace more sustainable and inclusive economic models which is not only low-carbon and environmentally sustainable, but also turns poverty, inequality, and lack of financial access into new market opportunities for smart, progressive, profit-oriented companies.
