It is predicted that India will be the world's third largest economy by 2030. This implies that the country would soon be an economic power house and Indian businesses would redefine global businesses.

If left unchecked, this potential economic power house could become an environmental wasteland, according to Mr Unnikrishnan A R, National Head – Structural Glass Solutions, Saint Gobain Glass India.

He was addressing management graduates at RMK Engineering College at a BL Club lecture presented by Tata Photon. The topic of his address was the relevance of ‘sustainability' in today's business.

Leading business groups in the country and outside it have started working on ‘sustainability' as an integral component of their business model, he said.

The simple definition of environment sustainability is ‘Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs through optimum use of natural resources and environmentally responsible initiatives and solutions.' This would mean the use of renewable/ clean energy, designing products that save energy and, all the more, aligning one's business goals along environmentally conscious lines.

‘next big decision'

Working towards a sustainable business model is the ‘next big decision' that every corporate should adopt, he said. At Saint Gobain Glass, awareness about ‘sustainability' is seeded at every level of the stakeholder community, right from the workers at the plant to the end customers, from the architects to the student community, through various educative initiatives such as the organisation of the Glass Academy and Transparence Design competition, relevant to these stakeholders.

To deploy sustainable practices, managers need to be committed and passionate about conservation. It needs to be addressed by every function in the organisation. So, whether it is production, marketing, product development, research or supply chain, one should be conscious of his or her eco-system, he said.

Elaborating on this point, Mr Unnikrisnan said, “Saint Gobain Glass invests in research and development to launch products that contribute to energy efficiency. Globally, Saint Gobain is also a part of the ‘Carbon Disclosure Programme' — a method of measuring greenhouse gas emissions; it's score is 89 per cent.

The company's portal ‘glassisgreen' educates customers about choosing green glass products.

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