Indian sovereign green bonds are issued for contribution towards sustainability of climate and to strengthen the Indian currency. They are issued in local currency in the national and global market. They attract primarily domestic investors because the get invested in the central bank of India. Just like regular bonds, companies and governments issue green bonds, but the borrowed money goes toward specific environmental projects.

In India, ongoing environmental projects, including the Green India Mission (GIM), which influences green bands (or green belts) to protect, restore, and enhance forest cover, contributing to climate change adaptation and mitigation, and promoting sustainable development. In environmental context, a “green belt” refers to a policy or practice of designating and protecting areas of undeveloped land, often surrounding or near urban areas, to prevent urban trail, preserve natural habitats, and enhance the environment. 

Some well-known green bonds in India include those issued by NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation) for renewable energy projects, IRFC (Indian Railway Finance Corporation) for sustainable transportation, and Yes Bank, one of the first private sector green bond issuers, Tata Cleantech Capital Limited, Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and green bonds issued by municipal corporations like Vadodara and Indore which are also focused on renewable energy. 

Green bonds that are issued to raise finance for climate change solutions were in the past also called climate bonds. They are used for climate change mitigation or adaptation related projects or programs’, what makes a bond “green”? The funds raised from its issuance are exclusively used to finance or refinance projects with a positive environmental impact, such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable water management, rainwater harvesting, reforestation etc. 

It’s all about the purpose. When you buy a green bond, your money is being used for things like renewable energy sources, clean transportation, or projects that reduce pollution. A green bond is used to finance or refinance projects that contribute positively to the environment and or climate. As of January 2023, green bonds have raised $2.5 trillion globally to support green and sustainable projects. As the market for these bonds has grown, investors have become more conscious of the overall impact of their investments.

Why do we need Green Bonds? These bonds could help meet India’s ambitious clean energy and infrastructure development goals. For instance, in Feb 2023 the government committed ₹35,000 crore, over multiple years, towards green tech to achieve its net zero emission target. This spend is only expected to rise.

India’s Sovereign Green Bond (SGrB): In a bid to mobilize resources for green infrastructure projects, India issued its first SGrB of ₹8,000 crore, a two-tranche deal divided equally between five and ten-year terms, in January 2023. On February 9, each portion of money  was reopened for an additional ₹8,000 crore, bringing India’s total green bond liabilities to ₹16,000 crore in FY23. Sovereign Green Bonds are debt securities issued by a national government to fund projects that have positive environmental benefits. The proceeds from these bonds are exclusively allocated to green initiatives, which can include renewable energy projects, sustainable agriculture, waste management, and more.

In 2024, the green bond market saw strong performance, with issuance reaching record levels and outperforming conventional bond markets, reaching a cumulative value of $447 billion. Green bonds continue to be the preferred instrument for utilities, with 81% of their total issued in GSS bonds. Green, social, and sustainability (GSS) bonds finance projects with measurable environmental, social, or sustainability objectives. Green bonds fund eco-friendly projects such as renewable energy and climate adaptation. Social bonds address social challenges like affordable housing and healthcare.

Green bonds are a good source for safe investment. For corporates, it is one of the best tools to raise funds to support environment or climate-related projects. Organization-guaranteed Bonds – it is also known as general obligation bonds. The bonds creditworthiness is based on the organization issuing the bond.

Like green bonds blue Bonds and blue loans are financing instruments that raise and allocate funds for investments such as water and wastewater management, reducing ocean plastic pollution, marine ecosystem restoration, sustainable shipping, eco-friendly tourism, or offshore renewable energy. Blue bonds have not been issued in India yet. However, a report on blue bonds has been prepared by Niti Aayog and submitted to SEBI in 2023.

Every monsoon, millions gallons of water goes in the sea directly. Which if stored, can sort out the glaring water requisite. Experts have advised rainwater harvesting on various platforms. But, many housing societies in the city are using the technique for combating water shortages, their action is credible.

So what is rainwater harvesting?

The concept is to accumulate the rainwater when it falls. A large portion of rainwater that falls on the earth’s surface, runs-off from streams to rivers and finally to the sea. An average of 8% of the total rainfall recharges the ground water table. Hence, most of the rainfall is wasted through surface run-off. The technique of RWH involves conserving rain from catchment surfaces such as roof-tops, plain and sloping ground surface. The rainwater that falls on these areas is then diverted into ponds, vessels or underground tanks for storage.

I think, it’s high time, if we don’t act now the water crisis might create mayhem. It is the need of the hour – the housing complexes should have proper rain water harvesting system and draw groundwater for non-drinking purposes. Let’s assume, even if water from bore-wells is used for toilet flushing (50 lpcd) and cleaning (10 lpcd), the load on the piped water supply will come down to 50%. This means that the same piped water supply will be sufficient for double the population. Recycling of the water used for washing is possible by re-using it for watering the garden will further bring down the load on the overworked system. Desalination of sea water will eliminate the need to set up newer projects that require transporting water from 100km at a high capital cost; it will also make that resource available to other needy water scarce areas

Johan Rockstrom, internationally acclaimed environmentalist and executive director of Stockholm Environment Institute during his visit to s Symbiosis International University as a part of ‘Sweden India Nobel Memorial Quiz’ spoke to Indian Express on seriousness of RWH. In his interview he said that the world has to get ready to face climate changes which pose serious threat to water resources; as there is inconsistency in the rains. We are already witnessing long dry spells in some parts of the world while other parts experience floods. Though there is unevenness in rain pattern, the amount of water has remained almost the same. The need is to tap this available water effectively.

He proposed rainwater harvesting as one of the viable option as it would also provide fresh water for use. To meet the demand of its rising population, India will not only have to manage its water resources well, but will also have to see that the quality of water is good, both for drinking as well as agriculture purposes. In terms of river linking project in India, he said though it faces some disadvantage as it could pose serious environmental issues, it should be carried forward as India is already facing crisis situation in water resources.

The eminent expert also said expanding irrigation projects would not help in a great way as there is not much potential for irrigation in future. The rivers are drying up and fresh water resources are reducing.  According to Rockstorm, India can lead in the green revolution by using innovative techniques in water management. His institute is doing collaborative research with TERI (The Energy Resource Institute) and CEC (California Energy Commission) and some good results are established so far. There is lot of funding available at the international level in the area of water resource management; collaborative approach can help develop the innovative techniques.

Lack of awareness is the biggest hurdle in the implementation of rainwater harvesting. Let’s get ready to solve it on war footing.

Women are crucial for economic growth. If we decisively take measures to empower women in supporting their full participation in society, business, and knowledge management and at all levels we will find lasting solutions for many of the pressing problems we face in our world. Major challenges such as poverty, disparity, violence against women and girls, and insecurity will be addressed significantly. Compared to men, women spend the majority of their income on the well-being of their children, their siblings, parents and family.  Raising women’s participation increases economic growth. By ending enforced paucity of women in decision making, we will sustainably and significantly reduce acute poverty worldwide.

Businesses across the world are fostered and nurtured with lot of inter-woven laws, structures and policies. They are based upon cultures, societal norms, educational standards, training and development which are deeply ingrained in the society. Are men and women treated same while implementing policies in a state? Does a woman get equal chances as her male counterpart from credit institutions, from government when she runs her own business? Are both men and women on even footing? Are we ready to treat women entrepreneurs equally to male entrepreneurs, if we are not; we are knowingly stopping our economic growth. Economically empowering women may be one of the most impactful sets of development interventions, both in terms of growth and job creation. 

We are seeing this in our surrounding that women have been starting businesses at a higher rate than men. They are opting for home-based micro (less than 5 employees) and small businesses. What started as a way for women to keep them occupied and earn a small amounts though home-grown businesses has become a source of establishing their self-identity. Now, more women aim to express themselves creatively.

Women see the world through a different lens; they are more responsive and aware of problems from the grass root level, therefore they do things differently. They are gifted with the natural instinct of rearing and nurturing therefore they can solve problems differently without destroying much. If we are able to encourage even a fraction more women to turn their experiences and ideas into reality, I think many of the pressing issues such as climate change, environmental issues, pollution, inequality in distribution of financial resources, population growth, nuclear weapons, genocides, terrorism, racism, sexism, fundamentalism, water shortage, power shortage etc. could be dissolved faster. Today there is a greater need than ever before for green businesses and innovations all around the world, we need more women to clutch these sorts of opportunities.

Women have had to overcome barriers from beginning of history; whether in political life or the business sector and these obstacles will not disappear overnight. Women have a strong historical record when it comes to sustainability; we need to see that women get ahead. We need to see more creative solutions to encourage women entrepreneurship – it is indeed need of hour.

There are some countries which are taking faster steps in this direction. Recently, The Vancouver Board of Trade’s President and CEO Iain Black strongly recommended investigating ways to increase the involvement of women on boards and in senior management positions. In order to arrive at learned recommendations, The Vancouver Board of Trade’s Women Leadership Circle solicited input from local business leaders who have extensive corporate management and board experience and particular insight into how to address gender diversity issues in Canadian workplaces.

In 2012, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched the Center for Women in Business (CWB) with the belief that putting more women in leadership roles will bring companies a host of valuable benefits, including more active boards, improved financial performance, and greater diversity of thought. In March 2012, CWB hosted a number of companies and business leaders for a conference to share insights on why women are not making it to the very top. CWB brought together stakeholders and allies not only to share insights but also to hear from the assembled audience about the areas and best practices that merited better understanding and appreciation. Women currently hold just 4.2% of CEO positions in Fortune 1000 companies. At the same time, there are companies that defy this trend. These companies are actively advancing women to the highest levels of leadership, and as a result, they have more engaged boards and greater diversity of talent and ideas, for example Coca-Cola. McKinsey & Co is already conducting a research of Fortune companies in world that practice putting women in the top positions and reaping good fortune. They are partnered with Wall Street Journal for this yeoman issue.

In India, the new company’s Act 2013 requires at least one woman director on its board;under the rules notified by the Corporate Affairs Ministry, every listed company and those public firms having paid up share capital of Rs 100 crore or more should have at least one woman director on their board. It will be also applicable to entities with a minimum turnover of Rs 300 crore.

The International Finance Corp announced via a press release that women-owned enterprises are experiencing an estimated $300 billion credit gap. This needs to be filled immediately. So on Women’s Day this year Google took an initiative with their “Google for Entrepreneurs” it aims at finding new ways to give female entrepreneurs the boost they need in order to play a more active role in the business world. As a result, the tech giant has committed $1 million to 40 startup-focused organizations. With this project, Google is set to promote women’s participation in the technology space.

The World Bank’s program infused $600 million to support economic opportunities for women by kicking off a global project of honoring female entrepreneurs. The gift came right in the middle of celebrating Women’s Day 2014 and it has been accompanied by the IFC, which also invested $100 million and expects to collect $468 million from private and public investors and Goldman Sachs Foundation’s “10,000 Women” programme, which offered $32 million. Goldman Sachs, the powerful Wall Street investment bank, said the partnership deepens the commitment of its 10,000 Women educational program that promotes female entrepreneurship.

Today policy makers in the world are recognizing that they need to advance equal opportunities for women by removing structural barriers. And, once those are removed it will reduce inequality and spur inclusive economic growth. By supporting women’s equal representation in leadership positions in peacemaking, in communities, in politics, in business and in religious institutions, we will build a more just, peaceful and protected world.

We cannot afford to go slow on women empowerment; if we do so, the progress will remain    uneven and we will see a further down fall in progress. No country in the world has achieved equality between women and men and girls and boys. All those violations of the rights of women and girls are infuriating. Let us understand this right – we can no longer afford to hold back half the world’s population, we cannot suppress their positive energies any further. The 21st century has to be different for every woman and girl in the world. She must know that to be born a girl is not the start of a life of hardship and disadvantages forever. Together we must make sure that:  SHE is safe and secure from gender-based violence, she has Human Rights that are respected, including reproductive rights.  She must be empowered economically and in every way through education, she must be given same opportunity as her brother, she must be included in partaking and leadership.

To begin with on home front we must train our daughters to choose the right life partner; an unsupportive spouse is a liability for her creative instinct.  We should ingrain in her to be self sufficient while enjoying each day of her life. She has to learn to enjoy her presence as a woman. Educate her – let her study as much as she wants. Help her build her own network. Tell her the importance of entrepreneurship, mould her to be one. Encourage her to take decisions of her own. She must never limit her own skills. Women are naturally good at multitasking. They should be trained to do one thing at a time. Starting and stopping in the middle of things to concentrate on something else is frustrating. Let us liberate the girl(s) in our family to begin with.

According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, there are 126 million women operating new businesses and another 98 million at the helm of established ones. Yet we face a huge equality gap. In only seven countries—Panama, Thailand, Ghana, Ecuador, Nigeria, Mexico and Uganda do women take part in business at rates equal to men’s; in some countries, like Pakistan, they barely take part at all. Even when women are active business owners, they do not utilize their probable capacity. Women own almost three in ten American firms, yet employ only 6% of the country’s workforce and account for barely 4% of business revenues.

Lets us start supporting women entrepreneurs, women farmers, women in households, and young women. Sectors with a high potential for wealth creation such as food security, or export promotion can offer particular opportunities for generating or expanding entrepreneurial and employment opportunities for women. For example, creative industries include a broad spectrum of subsectors; art, crafts, design, textiles, leather, furniture, perfumes and beauty products, food, and even community-based tourism related services that allow for innovative and expanded opportunities for income generation. UNIDO (United Nation Industrial Development Organization) projects in Bolivia, China, Pakistan, Panama and Peru have proven that creative industries can be a means for women to harness cultural knowledge and assets to generate wealth and income. Let us enhance women entrepreneurship and women’s participation in governance for a better and safer world.