8/13/2019 Ecobiz Newsletter II Issue

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Recentappenings

Our MissionPromong, praccing, studying,

commenng on & communi-

cang about sustainable business

& social pracces for the devel-

opment of the society.

Content The Jyrngam enets

Part of the paper presented by

Dr Natalie Kharkongor at Oxford Carbon Emission Trading

A fallacy of averages Swaayam

Empowering women for lasngsuccess

Food waste harms climate water land and biodiversity new FAO reportFood and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has released a report on 11Sep13, for first of a kind study done to analyze the impacts of global foowastage from an environmental perspective, looking specifically at its consequences for the climate, water and land use, and biodiversity. The repostresses on having better policies and stresses on the importance of the neeto scale up and replicate success stories.

India and UK form Green Energy ForumIndia and UK have jointly formed a Green Energy Forum to enhance anaccelerate activities and research related to clean energy. The idea behind to introduce long-term and sustainable commercial collaboration in cleaenergy, especially with reference to power and energy sector and also work collaboratively to improve energy efficiency, for better engagemenbetween businesses and policy makers and think tanks.

Greenpeaces challenge To develop a green pump for IndiaWith a mission to green Indias agriculture further, Ingo Boltz, Global Innovation Manager of Greenpeace, is spearheading a new innovation to replace diesel pumps with a viable alternative based on renewable energGreenpeace is looking to develop a renewable energy pump that is chea(maximum Rs 1 lakh), portable and which will provide enough irrigatioperformance. Currently Greenpeace is mobilizing people for the same anhave decided on an innovation challenge which will be judged by a team oexperts to select the best design. Post the design finalization, they are planning to develop prototypes by involving companies and also farmers so as tbuild a robust model.

newsletter14th Sept 2013Issue II

The Flagship Event of

ECoBiZ Club

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14th September 20

newsletter

World economies have grown and developed in

terms of and in relation to their GDP. Many coun-

tries developed during these 20 years but what kind

of development have we had? What has really hap-

pened in the past 20 years? The gap between the

haves and the have nots has increased. On the

one side, there is poverty (deficit) and on the other

side, there is wastage (excess). The global economy

witnessed a high degree of imbalance in terms of

extraction and usage of resources. The state of na-

ture and its natural resources like the quality of wa-

ter and air are on a downward spiral and have

reached an alarming point.

The damage done to the ecology and the wastage of

resources all around us forms the base of The

Jyrngam Theory. The theory states that a green

activity adds value to the ecosystem and hence car-ries remuneration. Similarly, any activity leading to

environmental degradation has to be compensated.

The word Jyrngam originates from a Khasi word

which means green. It also means sustainability,

hope, life, and future. The theory has in it the two

main constituents, Jyrngam Benefits and Jyrngam

Levy. Jyrngam Benefits refers to incentives in cash

or in kind provided by the Government or any Insti-

tution to public sector, private sector, householdsand civil society for a green activity or for any con-

tribution towards enriching biodiversity or main-

taining ecological balance. The benefits can be fixed

after assigning a specific value to a green activity, On

the other hand, Jyrngam Levyrefers to payment in

cash or in kind that has to be paid for the damage

caused to the ecology. Likewise, the payment can be

fixed after assigning a specific measure to the harm

caused.

The fixation of Jyrngam BenefitsandJyrngam Levy

will vary from place to place, from sector to sector

and from activity to activity in four identified areas,

viz., environment, economic, social, and governance.

The mentioned benefits will motivate every stake-

holder to enrich biodiversity and ecology as a whole;

and the mentioned tax will tend to reduce ecological

degradation. Hence, Jyrngam Theory talks about

making this world a green, balancing and a healthy

place to live in.

Sustainability Reporting is a sine qua non for balanc-

ing global economy. It is an organizational report

that gives information about economic, environmen-

tal, social and governance performance as per GRI.

According to Corporate Sustainability Reporting of

Altonova energy & sustainability, Sustainability re-

porting makes the connection between corporate

financial performance and corporate environmental,

social and governance (ESG) behavior transparent

and traceable. Hence, Sustainability Reporting

serves as the most appropriate mechanism to ascer-

tain the amount of value added and the amount of

damage caused and thereafter fixing the benefits and

tax accordingly.The Government being an important stakeholder in

maintaining ecological balance needs to come for-

ward to support and encourage all concerned: the

public sector, private sector, and civil society to pub-

lish Sustainability Reporting leading to successful

implementation of Jyrngam Benefits and Jyrngam

Levy.

The Jyrngam TheoryBy Dr Natalie West Kharkongor

Issu

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Carbon Emission TradingA Fallacy Of Averages

14th September 20newsletter

A few years back, governments and international envi-

ronment bodies had grown concerned over the increas-

ing rate of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the

planet. The effects of global warming were evident, and

proactive steps aimed at global climate change had be-

come a necessity. Thus came into effect the Kyoto Pro-

tocol, a treaty signed by 191 countries and the Europe-

an Union, agreeing to limit their emission of green-

house gases to pre-determined standards. However, the

Kyoto Protocol also permitted international emissions

trading, which allowed developed countries to trade

their commitments under the Protocol with other

countries.

In the previous issue of ECoBiZ newsletter, we have

learnt about carbon credits. Since carbon dioxide is one

of the major components of GHG emissions, hence

carbon emissions trading (or carbon trading in short)

constitutes the bulk of international emissions trading.

Based on the permitted levels of carbon emission, all

industries / companies receive carbon credits. These

credits are then compared to their actual levels of car-

bon emission. If a company emits more carbon than it is

permitted to, it can either reduce its carbon emission

levels to the specified limits, or it can buy additional

credits in the open market, from those that emit lesser

than their permitted levels, and hence have extra credits

to sell.

Carbon trading, however, bears uncanny resemblance

to the classic fallacy of averages. The fallacy of averages

is the fallacious information that you get when you re-

place a set of data with their expected values. So, for

example, if you are standing with one foot in a block of

ice and another foot set on fire, your average body tem-

perature might appear to be fine, but the extremes w

actually kill you. By allowing carbon trading to ta

place, a similar situation arises, with carbon emitt

continuing to pollute the environment, and then buyi

carbon credits from other sellers. Since this carb

emission load gets averaged out through such tradin

there is no real incentive for heavy emitters to cut dow

their emission rates immediately. In fact, these hea

emitters can actually continue to increase their carb

emission and buy carbon credits at the same time, wh

lesser emitters keep their emissions in check and sell

their extra credits, thus leading to an overall increase

the carbon emission levels. Hence, the real incentive

cut down emissions comes only when there are no mo

extra credits available in the market to buy. Gover

ments and industries would also love such a schem

since it provides them with a considerable time lag b

fore any proactive action is required on their pa

There are underlying economic implications of carb

trading as well. The buyer of carbon credits can contue with their industrial expansion plans with les

overall environmental impact to show for, while tho

that have already sold their extra carbon credits have

curb their growth to stay within emission limits, sin

they already bear a portion of the load of carbon em

sions caused by another country.

The only feasible alternative to prevent this fallacy

averages would probably be carbon taxing. This is

simpler scheme wherein each industry / company g

taxed at a pre-determined rate for every ton of th

carbon emissions. With such taxation, it would be im

possible for a company to transfer its carbon emissi

burden to other parties, thus holding it accountable

its own emission rates and making it absolutely impe

tive for the company to cut down on its emission leve

Such a scheme, thus, tackles the initial issue of cutti

down upon the growing levels of emission, without fa

ing prey to the fallacy of averages.

Issue

By Sayar Banerji

8/13/2019 Ecobiz Newsletter II Issue

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By Ernesto Dhileeban

Visitus at hps://www.facebook.com/EcobizC

14th September 20newsletter

ECoBiZ Club

Faculty Co-ordinator : Dr Natalie West Kharkongor

Members : Ernesto DhileebanHriday Bikash DasJeremy Simon NongrumPrasanthi BitrakantiRutwik Phatak

Contacts : 8974115744 / 8974055542e-mail : ecobiz@iimshillong.in

Empowering Women...

...for lasng success Stories of Change:Education:

Over 3000 SHGs are boosting literacy and lead-ership skills among 43,400 women in villages ofJaunpur, Mirzapur and Sant Ravidas nagar districts.Sheila Devi, a 35 year old mother of three says lo-cally formed SHGs have become a lifeline andlearning center for women. She says I now ensurethat my daughter is not only fed well but also goesto school

Politics:

In 2005, only 5 women stood for elections from the500 villages and none of them were elected. In 2010,764 women contested the election and 278 emergedvictorious who will lead their communities and vil-lages into an exciting future over the next five years.

Entrepreneurship:

UNDP is supporting women to set-up an equityshareholding producer company to expand dairy-related employment opportunities to 12,000 women

who will eventually supply milk to the governmentmilk grid and earn a profit a. 5 per liter of milk

Thus this unique partnership pulls together all thethreads that have direct impact on the lives of thewomen and communities- social, economic, politicaland legal through a process that taps into thestrengths of women.

In a country, where physical violence anddiscrimination against women is evident, a small ini-tiative for transforming lives of women is paying offwell in one of the poorest region of the country. In2009, a first of its kind collaboration betweenUNDP India and the IKEA foundation is launchedin 500 villages of Uttar Pradesh which aims to helpwomen secure and enhance incomes and effectivelyparticipate in and contribute to decision-making indomestic and public spheres.

Swaayam, a Sanskrit meaning by oneself isa womens empowerment initiative symbolizing theability, confidence and power of women to trans-form their own lives, the lives of their children andcommunities. The partnership takes an integratedapproach to womens empowerment with the recog-nition that real change implies change in all thespheres of a womans world- social, economic, polit-ical and legal.

As a part of the womens empowerment pro-ject in UP, UNDP is supporting 50,000 women be-longing to Self-help groups evolve a new definitionof empowerment. Activities centered on functionaland financial literacy, leadership and group manage-ment, business skill development and training onlegal rights and politics have opened all kinds ofdoors for many women.

Swaayam Issu

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