JSW Foundation :: Media Room

Press Release

JSW PIONEERS WORK ON CLIMATE CHANGE

JSW Group in technical support with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) & Center for Environment Education (CEE) has announced the "Earth Care Award" in recognition for local relevant action in tackling challenges posed by climate change.

When the global bodies are deliberating on climate changes due to pollution and global warming, JSW takes this pioneering step in a response to the increasingly felt need to provide credible and technically sound leadership to identify and foster action across several sectors with special reference to mitigation and adaptation imperatives related to climate change and Global Warming.

The driving force behind JSW Group initiating the award process is a successful in-house effort, which has eliminated a significant volume of emissions from the production processes; achieved by optimizing energy use. This initiative was also cited by the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate as a benchmark indicating excellence through proactive initiative in the stainless steel sector. This initiative is set to provide substantial economic and environmental gains through validated carbon credits for JSW. The uniqueness of JSW's vision of responsible corporate action, in this context, centers on the fact that JSW will use a significant portion of such gains to co-finance the award and help sustain some award winning initiatives on mitigation and adaptation. This is a logical extension of the framework of using the benefits of becoming cleaner for larger good, progressing beyond the domains of the industry per se.

As a part of this initiative, Mr. Sajjan Jindal Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, JSW Group and an environment enthusiast said, "At JSW we are committed to mitigation and adaptation of Global Warming. The Group will take all the relevant steps - small or big, to mitigate the risks by utilizing each and every calorie of heals."

The company plans to make huge capital investments to capture such heat and covert it into useful energy thereby pioneering Green Technology.

Mr. Sajjan Jindal also marked, " As the world is beamed more prosperous, we should not forget our responsibilities towards mother earth. Hence each one needs to contribute a lot to mitigate the risk. JSW Steel is thus taking one step towards the same."

JSW Group, incorporated in 1994 as JSW Steel Limited, is today one of the lowest cost steel producers in the world. It is primarily engaged in manufacture of flat products viz. HR Coils, CR Coils, auto/ white goods grade CRCA Steel and power generation. JSW Steel also has the largest galvanizing production capacity in the country and is the largest exporter of galvanized products with presence in over 74 countries across five continents.

As part of the US $ 8 billion O P Jindal Group, JSW group has now diversified interests in mining, carbon steel, power generation, aluminum, industrial gases and port facilities.

JSW Foundation an integral part of the group and a driving force behind the work on climatic change is the CSR wing of the group. It has a vision to create socio economic difference in the life of the community; some of the initiatives undertaken are infrastructure development, education, health care, sports, livelihood generation and art culture & heritage.

Mrs. Sangita Jindal, Chairperson, JSW Foundation rightly, "We are the trustees of our health and well-being of our future generations. Open spaces are diminishing and the forest are depleting drastically. We hope that this award initiative would propel a climate protection movement that is triggered by the acknowledgement of climate change as a 'noble' peace initiative. What gives me confidence to be able to reach out and hand hold for wider dissemination of local knowledge, is our partnerships with strong institutions such as CEE and TERI combined with media support."

This joint initiative is fuelled by the successful in-house mitigation in JSW and the urge to facilitate further action through its CSR framework. CEE & TERI provide the technical framework. This signifies an industry led process towards becoming environmentally efficient through mitigation and adaptation to tackle challenges posed by climate change. The eminent Jury includes:

Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, Chairman, M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation; Dr.W.D.Dar, Director General, International Crops Research Institute for the SemiArid Tropics; Dr. R. K. Pachauri, Director General, The Energy and Resources Institute; Prof Aneeta Benninger, Executive Director, Centre for Development Studies and Activities; Shri Kartikeya Sarabhai, Director, Centre for Environment Education; Dr. A. S. Manekar, Director, Nehru Science Centre; Shri Sajjan Jindal, VC and MD, JSW Steel Ltd; Dr. Jagdish Kishwan, IFS, Institutional Representation, Indian Council of Forestry Research And Education.

Several bilateral and multilateral mechanisms on mitigation and adaptation have progressed significantly and need further hand holding to grow in scale and geographic spread. In this regard to humanity welfare, the Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has acknowledged that the excellence the experts stand for has been duly recognized and has provided the impetus to further consolidate efforts in documentary interpreting and deliberating on the best mix of interventions world over. IPCC supports the effort and wishes a great success on the way forward. While engagement with the government is central to success, an equally important role has to be played by the civil society by responding to the call for concerted action. This is particularly true for India wherein location - specific interventions are important considering the geographic expanse of the continent.