On 24th September 2024, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) organized Empowering Businesses: A Workshop on Sustainability Collaboration and Shared Responsibility.

The objective of conducting the workshop is to raise awareness about the importance of sustainability, promote partnerships among stakeholders, explore innovative solutions, build capacity, advocate for policy change, and foster a sense of shared responsibility. By achieving these objectives, the workshop can contribute to a more sustainable and equitable future for India.

The proceeding of the workshop was commenced by enlightening deliberations by key speakers representing the industry. Welcome remarks of the exercise was delivered by Mr. Gautam Ray, President, BCC&I and President- Corporate, RPSG Group along with Dr. Meera Mitra, Special Invitee and Advisor, BCC&I Sustainability Forum, Mentor, Economic Affairs National Committee, BCC&I and Governing Body Member, CRB.

The opening address was followed by a thoughtful and enlightening message by Mr. Franck Viault, Minister Counsellor, Head of Cooperation, Delegation of the EU to India and Bhutan.

The workshop also welcomed two esteemed guest speakers. Mr. Pekka Halmet, Chairman, British & Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce, Finland (B3CF) and Mr. Tom Reiner, Regional Director, Kolkata, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC). Mr. Pekka rightly portrayed the necessity of capacity building, proper governance. He also mentioned the importance of businesses being not only environmentally friendly but also socially friendly in order to comprehensively conduct the operations in a responsible manner. 

On a different note, Mr. Reiner rightly pointed out the importance of collaborations with countries who are already ahead in the Sustainability index in order to foster the best practices and modify according to needs of the market. In an instance put forward by him, the German capacity building programmes for Women was brought forward and it was highlighted how these practices are contributing to the overall economy and social strata hand in hand.

The workshop then moved to the scheduled technical session wherein several senior representatives from Centre for Responsible Business presented their work and respective thoughts on Sustainability Collaboration and Shared Responsibility. The speakers were:-

• Ms. Devosmita Bhattacharya, Programme Officer, CRB: Orientation and overview of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)
• Ms. Nandini Sharma, Director, CRB: Orientation on Indian regulations [National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBC), Business Responsibility & Sustainability Reporting (BRSR)] and the interface with EU regulations
• Ms. Anamika Ghosh, Senior Programme Manager, CRB: Orientation on the ‘How-to Guide’ to drive impactful business collaboration on sustainability between EU Businesses and Indian stakeholders

The participants then were engaged into separate focus groups for formulating a theoretical solution on Sustainability Collaboration and Shared Responsibility which was then presented by the leaders.

The workshop was concluded with a Partner’s session on Sustainability Standards and Procedures in Business Supply Chain which was delivered by the industry expert, Mr. Dattatreya Dutta, ESG Advisory Lead, Intueri Consulting LLP.