Tuesday, February 09, 2010:
Ashoka Buildcon Limited, which currently operates one of the highest number of toll-based BOT projects in India, has become the first Indian infrastructure company was officially certified with ISO 14064, making it the first Indian Infrastructure Company be accredited with this certification. It is the only and first member of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in the Indian infrastructure sector, which has initiated the bold and positive step of carbon accounting and measurement and also obtained ISO 14064 certification to verify Green House Gas (GHG) inventories aimed at combating climate change.
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Mr. Sanjay Londhe, (Director- Ashoka Buildcon Limited), accepted the certificate on behalf of the company, at the event held in the Ashoka Virtue Hall of the IEI building in Nashik. Mr. John Broome (Vice President, Business Development Asia Region), of ISC Pty. Ltd. Australia, which is a certifying body for ISO certifications, graced the occasion and addressed an audience of major industrialists, engineers, builders, etc. and elaborated on the need to control emissions of green house gases.
Mr. Sanjay Londhe, (Director- Ashoka Buildcon Limited), said, “There has been an increase in the awareness about Global Warming, and many discussions are taking place to combat it. We at Ashoka feel that the world does not have any more time for discussions. We need to act now and through this initiative we commit ourselves to measure, monitor and reduce green house gas emissions by our company.”
Mr. Broome appreciated this effort by Ashoka and said, “Though many organizations that are part of CDP have initiated carbon accounting and Measurement, very few companies have gone for ISO 14064 certification to verify their GHG inventories. Ashoka Buildcon Ltd is the first organization in infrastructure sector (India) which has taken this bold and positive initiative towards combating climate change by establishing verified GHG inventories.”
Recent climate change talks at Copenhagen couldn’t arrive at the binding GHG emissions reduction target, nevertheless, it emphasized that, without the active participation from developing countries like India and China, fight against climate change won’t be complete and lasting. Recognizing the role India needs to play in combating climate change, Indian government has launched National Climate Change Missions, detailing out the plan it would implement to reduce its GHG emissions. India has second largest number of CDM projects developed or being under development in the world. Taking clue from recent development and need for playing active role through taking appropriate steps in curbing climate change, Indian Corporations have initiated its efforts for the cause. These are the opinion leaders and conglomerates of Indian corporate sector which have set upon designing in-house GHG measuring, monitoring, and reducing management system.
The following companies are part of CDP1, and have responded to CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) questionnaire which talks about carbon accounting and measurement, assessment of risk due to climate change among others: ABB (Tech, hardware and equipment), ACC (Capital Goods), Asian Paints (Materials), Bharat Forge (Auto and equipments), BPCL (Energy), Tata Chemicals (Chemicals), Tata Motors (Auto), Infosys (Software), L&T (Capital Goods, Equipments), ITC (FMCG) and JSW Steel (Capital Goods) are part of CDP.
Ms. Subha Nishtala - Certification Manager - India Region, ISC Pty Ltd was also present on the occasion and she explained the details pertaining to ISO 14064 and how it helps in saving the environment.
Mr. Indrajit Dudile who represents the Ecological Consultancy explained the ways by which organizations can benefit from ISO14064.
Mr. Jaisingh Patil of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board expressed his happiness on the increasing participation of corporate sector in saving the environment.
Also present were Mr. Rajendra Basan- Marketing Manager - India Region, ISC Pty Ltd. and Mr. David K., Audit Planning & Administration Manager, ISC Pty Ltd and various officials of Ashoka Buildcon Limited..
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