The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized the seventh annual Environment and Energy Conclave, an international forum for Climate Change mitigation and business response, on 29th and 30th August 2014 at the ITC Sonar, Kolkata. The theme of the Conclave this year was Sustainable Resource Management.

The relevance and importance of the Conclave stems from the fact that the new schemes, policies, practices and opportunities in the mining, energy and power sectors including energy efficiency related measures announced by the Government were discussed by renowned speakers from the Government as well as the Industry. Furthermore, environment management practices, and sustainable resource management being the focus area, the Conclave featured “Master Classes” by some of the iconic personalities in India Inc. and Civil Society.

ERM India was the Knowledge Partner of the Conclave. The Theme Paper: Sustainable Power – Unpacking the Buzz Word was published on occasion of this Conclave.

Shri Manish Gupta, Hon’ble Minister-in-Charge, Power & Non-Conventional Energy Sources, Government of West Bengal was the Chief Guest who addressed the Inaugural Session along with Dr. Arup Roy Choudhury, Chairman & Managing Director, NTPC Limited; Mr. Partha S Bhattacharyya, Former Chairman, Coal India Limited and currently Executive Director, Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited (DFPCL); Mr. Scott Furssedonn-Wood; British Deputy High Commissioner in Eastern India; Dr. Prodipto Ghosh, Distinguished Fellow, Earth Science and Climate Change Division & Director, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI); and Mr. Siddharth Mehta, Chief Executive Officer, India Power Corporation Limited.

The Inaugural Forum during the Inaugural Session focused on India’s Energy Future and Carbon Management – Perspectives on Policy and Practices. The Forum Members included Mr. Richard Rekhy, CEO, KPMG India; Mr. A Krishnakumar, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Philips India Limited and Mr. Aloke Mookherjea, Chairman, Solyvent Flakt (India) Private Limited.

The Conclave Commemorative Session: Master Class on Sustainability: The Indian story of Environment, Development, People and Resources featured Smt Medha Patkar. The other Master Classes included,

• Master Class on Sustainable Mining – What the future holds for India (Technology, R&R Practices, Policy and Legislation) by Mr. Partha S Bhattacharyya, Former Chairman, Coal India Limited and currently Executive Director, Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited (DFPCL) and Mr. Rana Som, Former Chairman and Managing Director, NMDC Limited; >

• The Revival, Regeneration and Conservation Master Class: Focus Water by Dr. Suresh Kumar Rohilla, Programme Director - Water Management, Centre for Science and Environment;

• The Ecological and Economic Interrelationships Master Class: A reality check for Global Warming – Indian Sunderbans Delta: Beyond Vulnerability and a Vision by Dr. A. Anurag Danda, Head - Climate Adaptation & Sundarbans Landscape, WWF-India; and

• Technology Master Class, Energy Technologies for India – Making the Conventional out of the Unconventional by Dr. R R Sonde, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President, Research, Innovation & Technology, Thermax Limited.

The Day 1 concluded with a CEO’s Forum – “From strategic environmentalism to environment management as an opportunity – Is India Inc. truly committed to sustainable management?” moderated by Mr. Nazeeb Arif, Vice President – Corporate Communications, ITC Limited. The Forum Members included Mr. Subir Gupta, CEO, ERM India Private Limited; Mr. Sutanu Ghosh, Managing Director, Ghosh, Bose & Associates Pvt. Ltd. and Mr. Aloke Mookherjea, Chairman, Solyvent Flakt (India) Private Limited.

The Inaugural Session of Day 2 (30th August) was graced by Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power, Government of India who addressed on “Moving towards Sustainable Power: Nudging users and suppliers with policies, technologies, and tariffs”. Mr. Anindo Chatterjee of ERM India made a presentation on the Theme Paper: Sustainable Power – Unpacking the Buzz Word.

The Discussion Forum of Energy Leaders: India’s Shift to a Sustainable Energy Future was part of the Inaugural Session of Day 2 which was chaired by Dr. Ajay Mathur. The Forum Members were Shri Sanjay Seth, Energy Economist, Bureau of Energy Efficiency; Mr. Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director, Energy Efficiency Services Limited; Mr. Joerg Uehlin, Head of Operations, European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC) India; Mr. Lalit Puri, Business Head – Professional Lighting Solutions, Philips India Limited; Mr. Padam Prakash Gupta, Managing Director, Techno Electric and Engineering Company Limited and Shri Narayan Swaroop Nigam, IAS, Chairman and Managing Director, West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited.

The Conclave also included a special session for the Academia: CleanTech on the Drawing Board – Insight into fundamental research and energy applications. Dr. Sudipta De, Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, Jadavpur University made a presentation on “Sustainable Power: some facts, some confusion” and Dr. B K Choudhury, Professor, Department of Energy Management, Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management spoke on, “Bio-Energy Use: From Tradition to Transition”.

The Bengal Chamber Special Young Energy Researcher Awards 2014 were presented to Mr. Pratim Raha and Mr. Dipayan Sarkar, both having completed Masters in Public Systems Management with Specialization in Energy Management (2012 -2014) at IISWBM, for their innovative on-field research in renewable energy applications.

Special Certificates were also presented to the school children who participated in The Bengal Chamber Sit n Draw Competition, held on 26th April 2014 commemorating Earth Day and World Environment Day.

The Conclave was greatly appreciated by the speakers, sponsors and the participants and a detailed paper on suggestions and recommendations would be prepared and submitted to the Government shortly.