Accelerating climate action in Indian public sector enterprises

The IKI initiated a regional workshop series on climate co-benefits methodologies and brought together 160 officials from 52 public sector enterprises in India.

To address climate change and fulfil India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, the Government of India and the private sector are advancing various climate mitigation and adaptation initiatives. Meanwhile many other initiatives, though not explicitly climate focused, contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change. When these impacts are missed, they are not measured in the larger goal towards India's NDCs. Strengthening capacities through innovative approaches is therefore crucial to ensure that these impacts are measured to support India’s climate goals. 

In November 2024, the fourth regional workshop on climate co-benefits methodologies convened 20 public sector enterprises (PSEs) and 43 officials from the western region of India. Held in Goa, the workshop focused on the “Role of Climate Co-Benefit Methodologies for Strengthening Climate Action by Indian PSEs”. It also marked the conclusion of a series of regional workshops for PSEs, held in the cities of Delhi (northern region), Kolkata (eastern region) and Bengaluru (southern region). 

Jointly organised by the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) and GIZ under the IKI India Interface Project, the two-day workshop was conducted with knowledge support from project consortium partners, namely the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), Oxford Policy Management (OPM), and Perspectives Climate Group (PCG).

Advancing India’s Climate Action  

Day one featured opening remarks from SCOPE, GIZ and OPM, emphasising the ongoing Indo-German development cooperation and its role in shaping India’s sustainable climate-resilient future. Special emphasis was placed on the role of climate co-benefits methodologies and decarbonisation strategies in the hard-to-abate sectors like cement and steel. 

In his welcome address, Mr Atul Sobti, Director General, SCOPE, reported on his participation at COP29 and shared highlights from his brief exchange with Dr Philip Behrens, Head of Division International Climate Initiative (IKI), Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, on exploring potential collaboration for decarbonising actions in the oil, gas, and coal sectors, and knowledge exchange and capacity building programmes for PSE officials on climate financing.

In his address, Dr Alexander Fisher, Director, Indo-German Climate Support Project for Climate Action in India, GIZ, highlighted the importance of a collaborative approach to integrating climate solutions with sustainable development goals. Commending the efforts of PSEs, he urged them to take on a leadership role in advancing India’s climate action.

Shri Brajesh Kumar Upadhyay, CMD of Goa Shipyard Limited and Vice Chairman of SCOPE, acknowledged PSEs efforts towards adopting green technologies, afforestation initiatives, and sustainable waste management practices to mitigate climate change impacts. Furthermore, he advocated for comprehensive assessment frameworks like climate co-benefits to strengthen and measure PSEs contributions to India’s climate goals. 

In his address, Mr. Prabal Vikram Singh, Country Director, OPM India & OPM Bangladesh, stressed the pivotal role of well-defined methodologies in quantifying the climate impact of sustainability initiatives. By fostering impactful scalable solutions, such approaches ensure alignment of climate actions with overarching sustainable development goals.

Online course on climate change and climate action for PSEs 

The regional workshop marked the official launch of an Advanced Certification Course on ‘Climate Change and Climate Action for PSE officials’ by SCOPE. This 12.5-hour self-paced course covers key areas such as climate policy, climate actions by private and public companies, and financing of mitigation projects. The course is designed to foster understanding on foundational aspects of climate change and enhance the capacities of PSEs for joint climate action. SCOPE will propagate this online course among PSEs to intensify the climate agenda within their existing operations across diverse sectors. SCOPE and GIZ jointly developed the online course under the IKI India Interface Project.  

Subsequently, a dedicated Online Knowledge Platform was launched on the SCOPE website to highlight successful climate initiatives by Indian PSEs across diverse sectors. It aims to foster knowledge sharing and synergies among PSEs, and functions as a comprehensive repository for national and international best practices and peer-to-peer learning resources. 

Climate Co-benefits for Climate Action 

During the workshop, a Draft Assessment Framework (DAF) was introduced to explore the potential of taking into account climate co-benefits from Urban Forestry and India’s Single-use Plastics (SUPs) ban to strengthen climate action by PSEs. The framework is being used to co-create and pilot climate co-benefits methodologies for circular economy and forestry programmes in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

Facilitated by experts from the consortium team, the first day’s sessions introduced the DAF to PSEs, examining its relevance, the scope of on-the-ground implementation and data availability in the focus areas. The experts presented the current status of urban forestry and SUP ban initiatives in India including technical inputs on how to utilise the DAF to measure the impacts of climate initiatives. Participants provided valuable feedback on the DAF, addressing practical challenges relating to operational factors and exploring solutions to effectively use the framework to assess climate co-benefits.  

Day two featured interactive guided group discussions, facilitated by the experts from the consortium team. Important aspects that were covered were:

• Existing approaches and best practice examples to measure climate co-benefits
• The relevance of a monitoring and evaluation system to track the progress of measuring the impacts of climate initiatives.
• Identifying the training needs of PSEs.

Outlook 

Overall, the two-day regional workshop in Goa facilitated discussions on the assessment framework with technical inputs regarding the co-development of actionable climate co-benefit methodologies. In total, expert feedback was collected from 160 officials across 52 PSEs in India.

As a way forward, based on the capacity building and interests of PSEs from the four regional workshops, selected companies will be invited to participate in:

• Focus Group Discussions (FGDs): To fine-tune the Draft Assessment Frameworks, aligned with the specific needs and operational context of PSEs.
• Handholding Opportunities: In-depth exchange to support PSEs in piloting the climate co-benefit assessment framework.