Knowledge cafÉ
Mr Jeffrey D. Sachs University Professor and Director, Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University
R Mukundan Managing Director and CEO, Tata Chemicals
Mr Sumit Sharma Associate Director, Earth Science and Climate Change, TERI
Mr Takehiko Nakao President, Asian Development Bank
Mr Kjell Magne Bondevik Former Prime Minister, Norway & President, The Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights
Ms Mary Robinson Former President, Ireland & UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Climate Change
Dr José Ramos-Horta Former President, East Timor & Chair, High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, United Nations
Mr Kailash Satyarthi Founder, Bachpan Bachao Andolan & Chairperson, Global March Against Child Labour
Mr Venkatesh Valluri Chairman and President, Ingersoll Rand
Ms Lise Grande UN Resident Coordinator & UNDP Resident Representative, United Nations Development Programme, India
Mr Achim Steiner UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director
Dr Kandeh K Yumkella Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All & Chief Executive Officer of the Sustainable Energy for All
Dr Yuan Tseh Lee Nobel Laureate & President, International Council for Science
Mr Kofi Annan Chairman, Kofi Annan Foundation & Former Secretary-General, United Nations
Mr William Hammink Mission Director, USAID, India
Ms Tarja Halonen Former President of Finland
Dr Mariyam Shakeela Minister of Environment and Energy, Maldives
Mr Donald Ramotar President, Guyana
Mr Anote Tong President, Kiribati
Mr Marcin Korolec Minister of Environment, Poland
Mr Krishan Dhawan Chief Executive Officer, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation
Mr Michael Christiansen Chairman of the Board, Danish Cultural Institute (DCI), Denmark
Mr Zubin Irani Senior Managing Director - Commercial Companies, United Technologies Corporation (UTC), India
Lord John Prescott Former Deputy Prime Minister & Member of Parliament, House of Lords, UK
Dr Naoko Ishii CEO & Chairperson, Global Environment Facility
Mr Martin Hiller Director General, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP)
Mr Donald Kaberuka President, African Development Bank
Mr Haruhiko Kuroda President, Asian Development Bank
Mr Thomas L Friedman Foreign Affairs Columnist, The New York Times
Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University & Special Advisor to the Secretary-General of the United Nations
Prof. Joseph Stiglitz Professor, Columbia University and Nobel laureate
Managing Director and CEO, Tata Chemicals
The Fifteenth Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture on the ‘Role of Business in Shaping and Leading in Sustainability’ was delivered by Mr R Mukundan, Managing Director, Tata Chemicals. Mr Mukundan said that there is a need to imbibe societal developments in our business processes. Initiating community development and environment sustainability shall enable companies to build business-friendly societies, strengthened by their efforts and leads to a profitable future. He added that businesses must influence consumer choices and behavior; they must influence supply chain and must advocate sustainable practices.
