Club of Rome Conference Report

2018 ANNUAL CONFERENCE – INDIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE CLUB OF ROME RESOURCE EFFICIENCY AND JOBS: OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUSINESS AND POLICY The annual Club of Rome Conference brings together businesses, nonprofits, academics and government to highlight issues and challenges around development-related issues. The aim of this conference is to provide a space for debate to develop policy proposals and future steps to be taken to meet the challenges posed by the chosen topic of conversation.

This year’s conference focused on the twin issues of resource efficiency and job creation, with a specific focus on rural livelihoods, transitioning to a circular economy, employment opportunities & environmental challenges in the infrastructure sector, changing skills in the emerging service sectors, reshaping the economy to accelerate jobs and the challenges facing MSMEs.

HIGHLIGHTS: Challenges: 

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While India’s ecological footprint per capita is significantly lower than the rest of the world, it is crucial for us to remember that the aggregate footprint more accurately reflects the impact on our natural resources. As things stand, we are currently consuming our future to fuel the present.

The current job and financial instrument structure serves as a barrier towards the creation of sustainable and resource efficient jobs for the young in India.

Resource efficiency is hampered by fragmented supply chains and inefficient management of waste at pre-consumer (i.e. industrial) source.

Shrinking incomes in the agricultural sector, land fragmentation leading to large numbers of small landholding farmers and a fragmentation of resources slanted in favor of urban markets and areas has had a serious detrimental impact on rural livelihoods.

Current economic & political thinking has yet to adapt to disruptive shifts in technology and innovation and to ecological and sustainability challenges posed by climate change and resource depletion.

Proposals: 

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Instead of resource efficiency, it is necessary to look at the concept of resource regeneration, by uniting economics and natural resources to turn the process of regeneration itself into a sustainable yet economically viable market.

Move towards upcycling and management of waste at the pre-consumer stage.

Restructure and rethink both economy and education format, towards a systems design mode of thinking and the incubation of innovation at a school level.

Policy shifts in finance to encourage innovation and support alternative funding & payment systems for MSMEs to encourage entrepreneurship in the manufacturing sector.

Rethink the concept of smart cities towards the concept of smart villages. Development should be focused on turning villages into sustainable entities and leveraging their already existing ecosystems of entrepreneurship to develop rural livelihoods away from dependency on agriculture.

Equitable distribution of technology access so the productivity dividends of technology can benefit all, not merely be concentrated in capital investing structures.

Flexible skilling and reskilling, with a focus on modular learning that is both affordable and accessible.

Awareness must be generated on these issues across demographics, whether via educational means or by social media conversations etc.

INAUGURAL SESSION: The guest speakers set the tone and context for the talks and debates to follow by outlining the challenges and considerations regarding the future of sustainability and livelihoods in India.

Broad roadmaps for the future were outlined to facilitate the move towards resource efficiency in India and towards creating sustainable and resource efficient jobs in the future.

Challenges:    

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Inefficiencies in the agricultural sector & land fragmentation among small landholding farmers The vulnerability of the economy and the youth entering the current economy The rigidity of the labor market in the formal manufacturing sector propelling an informal labor market and stemming innovation especially in the manufacturing sector Increasing scarcity of natural resources and environmental degradation: every year the earth overshoots its annual quota of natural resource consumption by a significant timeline, with this effect accelerating faster in recent years.

The disruption of livelihoods by technology and automation, especially in rural areas.

India’s demographic dividend

Roadmaps towards the future: 

A move towards a circular closed loop economy from a linear economy, opening up avenues for businesses to move into transitioning waste back into a reusable and productive form.  Policy coherence and better implementation and enforcement of policies on sustainability and ecologically sensitive resource consumption  A utilization of biomimicry to shape technology and our economic landscape, especially in developing technologies that can simulate and replicate nature’s efficient use and reuse of resources, very often to achieve the same results that require intense resource consumption in human-created technologies. (e.g. Eastgate, Kenya)  The exploration of new resource streams  Better resource mapping efforts to understand mass city & country scale resource consumption patterns in India that will, in turn, help pinpoint areas of resource utilization that require targeted efforts to achieve sustainability.  A transition towards understanding new, disruptive technologies as moments of opportunity and, with the help of skilling and reskilling efforts, developing the most vulnerable segments of India’s population towards absorbing these technologies to become creative innovators and entrepreneurs driving the country’s future.

ENHANCING FUTURE LIVELIHOODS IN RURAL INDIA AND RESOURCE EFFICIENCY During this session, the panelists debated the challenges facing livelihoods in rural India, particularly in the agricultural sector, and the problem of resource efficiency & resource security in the rural context. Over the course of the panel discussion, a few core ideas began to emerge as prototype pathways that would serve to strengthen rural India’s future without pushing the kind of lifestyle change that would require a shift to urban patterns of consumption and development. Each of these ideas emerged in consideration of three key questions posed to each panelist before the debate: 1) What existing policies need to be revisited with regards to the provision of basic amenities and enhancing skill jobs while regenerating rural livelihoods?

2) How to improve the supply chain, augment shelf life, value addition in agriculture production and increase local market opportunities instead of dependency on urban markets?

3) What improvements are needed for the proper execution of resource efficiency and resource security in rural settings?

Challenges:  

For alternate income opportunities via a holistic development of economy, especially as rural populations expand Poor implementation and execution of existing programs to boost rural livelihoods, develop their infrastructure and skill youth living in those areas.

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A need to move away from thinking in limited terms of resource efficiency, towards resource regeneration.

Turning the regeneration of natural resources into an investable proposition, which would turn resource regeneration into a site of untapped job potential and a potential new economy structure for rural India.

Alternate infrastructure facilities, diverging from the capital and resource intensive energy infrastructure options currently powering urban India and slowly pushing into rural India.

Roadmaps to the future: 

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Reinforce income resilience in rural India by further supporting the already occurring diversification of incomes ongoing in the area and providing further opportunities for income diversification via a holistic development of the rural economy.

Better and systematic planning and development of new and rural areas, in ways that encourage sustainability Regularized funding and implementation of already existing rural initiatives, programs and solutions Skill development centered on financial literacy and management Corporates entering rural areas for work reframe their perspective, towards centering the communities in which they have production facilities and thus incorporating sustainable and socially responsible practices that benefit these communities at the heart of their business practice.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENVIRONMENT CHALLENGES The infrastructure and construction sector is the second largest sector in the Indian economy, holding 11% of our GDP. It is also one of the most wasteful industries in the country, with significant detrimental effects on the environment and our natural resource reserves. In this panel, the speakers turned their attention to the question of turning the infrastructure economy into a circular economy where wastage is minimized and towards the challenge of innovating technologically in the sector, while strengthening jobs in the sector. Through the conversation, a few core thoughts emerged concerning the future of the sector in response to these questions: 1) How can the criticality challenges of resource efficiency in Infrastructure be overcome?

2) How can the government and the corporate sector set up methodologies and institutions for making informed decisions on renovation versus new construction promoting both efficiency and jobs?

Challenges: 

Fragmentation of current supply chains and the informalized nature of construction employment, from brick kilns to building

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Severe environmental degradation posed by the mining of sand, the use of cement Poor awareness and implementation of already existing regulations concerning the industry Current economic growth is predicated on a masking of the fault lines of environmental degradation and growing inequality An absence of due diligence practices concerning the environment and its preservation, on the part of corporates and government bodies.

Roadmaps to the future: 

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Mindset shift to a new green paradigm and a focus on an as yet untapped trillion dollar industry in renewables, through initiatives such as soil remediation and afforestation initiatives, the development and use of alternatives to cement, aeroponics and the use of IT in natural resource management Set tangible targets and action plans developed around localized solutions and form coalitions to achieve these targets Move towards “deconstruction” over demolition, which will facilitate the recycling of materials such as steel etc. up to nearly 90% of the resources used in building The need for permissions and land for production plants where alternative building materials such as bricks made from recycled waste Coordinated thinking across the board from local and state government as well as private developers and corporates to implement these alternative construction materials and solutions Mechanization accompanied by a skilling of workers Better safety training & supply of protective equipment Improved conditions for workers on site and a consolidation & awareness of supply chains so as to prevent worker abuses down the supply and construction chain

RESHAPING THE ECONOMY TO ACCELERATE JOBS: SPECIAL ADDRESS In this session, the panelists discussed the future of the economy and whether or not sustainability and job creation could be achieved by cosmetic changes to its current paradigms, or whether an entire paradigm and structural shift was required to prepare the Indian economy and people for the future.

The panelists focused on different aspects of the challenges posed: ecological, technological, educational, structural inequalities and changing job structures. Together, they presented a synthesized path forward, incorporating these myriad elements of the economy to build a future economy with robust jobs especially for India’s youth.

Challenges: 

An economy of snakes and ladders in the informal sector, where income is spent as it is earned and it is difficult to accumulate savings which may be invested in enterprise, as they have no

employment or financial security to insulate them against the worst financial effects of crises etc.  A mismatch between potential employee capabilities and expectations and existing work as well as the problems of the realities of the job market, especially of the mismatch between wage expectations and reality  Job shortages and rising unemployment especially among the youth  Rapid urbanization and the secondary problems it poses in terms of rural neglect as high capital investment is directed towards developing urban areas, while little is done for rural spaces  New technology transforming the ways we think, operate and function in our environments  The differing job difficulties faced by India’s various economic demographics  Skill development currently has a less than 30% success rate in rural areas Roadmaps to the future:        

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Moving away from certain core assumptions to building on the resources we have the most of and by growing incomes from the bottom From thinking of “small” as “weak” towards creating aggregations via clusters and platforms, Adaptation to an educational model that encourages lifelong and modular learning – learning just in time, not just in case A concerted move towards systems thinking and systemic actions, across disciplines and sectors Accessible, affordable and acceptable modular lifelong learning, Better access to resources especially for rural areas Universal social security Investment in village development and industries by promoting local produce, the establishment of cooperatives, investment in and development of artisanal occupations and the potential of outsourced work as a means of kickstarting village development New regulatory policy approaches which adapt quickly to the changes on the ground, to embrace the idea of creative disruption and unleash India’s entrepreneurial spirit Adaptation to the challenges of automation and incorporation of new jobs raised through new technologies Decentralized and grassroots solution that take into account rural India’s already entrepreneurial spirit, rather than moving them into other disruptive and mismatched fields that may consist of already declining jobs, as is the case with many skill development initiatives being implemented across the country.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN URBAN INDIA (HARMONISING EMPLOYMENT AND THE QUALITY OF LIFE) At present, the Indian economy follows a linear model in which extracted resources are turned into consumable forms and the waste created during production, distribution and consumption is discarded, thus exiting the economy and its processes. In this panel, speakers considered the challenges of

transitioning the Indian economy into a circular economy, in which waste is reused in production processes to close the economic loop and ensure maximum resource efficiency. The panelists turned their attention to both the issues of lifestyle change to facilitate this transition, as well as larger, structural economic shifts that will have to take place to facilitate this change. Over the course of their discussion, they attempted to answer these questions: 1) 2) 3) 4)

What are the job-related challenges to policies that encourage Resource Efficiency in India?

How can a circular economy that upcycles and recycles, be scaled up without losing jobs?

How can secondary raw material usage be facilitate in the public and private sectors?

Should the following be given priority or do they require a change in course?

• More relaxation in taxes for upcycle, recycle, waste management businesses • Separate public and private procurement policies • Easy availability of finance and capital • Inbuilt environment profit and loss in audit and more as cohort deems suitable

Challenges:     

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Developing sustainable public infrastructure growth, especially in urban areas Turning agriculture into an energy efficient and sustainable sector.

Developing standards and regulations markets for upcycled products, while encouraging market creation through governance and policy.

Moving away from abusive consumption patterns, particularly in our personal lifestyles Mindset changes regarding the processes of recycling and waste segregation, which in themselves might not be enough to insulate from environmental degradation or foster the move to a circular economy.

Sustainability, employability and equitability in skill training.

The depreciation and decay in lifespan of recycled materials.

The in-built paradox between growth and equity and sustainability and profitability.

Roadmaps to the future:   

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Better connections between the cities and the interiors of India, whether in terms of knowledge exchange, understanding contexts or spatial closeness Better sourcing of waste for upcycling and recycling purposes, at a pre-consumer level (i.e. at industrial source) versus down the line at the post-consumer stage.

Need for rethinking the artificial divide between “society” and “economy” and a directed move towards grappling with inequality and making urgent lifestyle changes while realistically reconsidering the sustainability through profitability model.

Investment in redesigning infrastructure in both rural and urban areas, ecosystem services, clean energy, decentralized water harvesting methods, and systematic waste management systems.

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Transition away from the 3R model – reduce, reuse, recycle – to the 6R model – reduce, reuse, recycle, repair, refurbish and remanufacture – in which waste materials are repurposed for use in the economy while preserved in their original form.

Careful green management techniques Repair and upcycling businesses can provide opportunities for new jobs, both in preparing waste for re-entering the economy and in selling knowledge to third parties.

Relaxed taxation structures and policies concerning upcycled products, to allow meaningful penetration into markets.

Transition away from large and unsustainable infrastructure projects in rural areas, towards renewable energy based projects that leverage natural resources such as solar energy and land contours to facilitate distribution of energy and water in rural regions.

Modular skill training developed with a specific target in mind, made accessible and available to all and not just youthful demographics – e.g. targeting young mothers is crucial; if a young mother is trained and then employed, there is a positive cascading effect on other members of her family.

CHANGE OF SKILLS IN EMERGING SERVICE SECTOR (FINANCE, SERVICE INDUSTRY, RENEWABLES, IT AND TELECOM) As the service sector expands and jobs in the Indian market begin to move into newer areas, demand for new skills and capabilities among the young begin to arise. These challenges will be further compounded in the future as new technologies and shifts towards sustainability shape the kind of jobs that emerge, especially in the service sector. The panelists in this session discussed the challenges and opportunities presented by these shifts, especially for young people entering the job market. They centred, in particular, the problem of transitioning India into an innovating and job creating market, where entrepreneurship plays a more central role in the economy. Over the course of their discussion, they attempted to pose answers to these key questions: 1) What are the existing means and policies available to integrate environment-skillsjobs in context of livelihoods for All? Do these policies need changes or revision?

2) How to make a balance of job losses and new skills enhancement with existing educational and skill development policies and their sonority?

3) What are the challenges to engage rural youth dividend in emerging service sectors?

How to overcome them so that equality can be maintained in the service sector’s growth?

Challenges: 

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Infrastructure development and expansion is occurring without a view to the future, spurring a form of intergenerational colonization in which the future of following generations is devoured to fuel the present.

Current ecosystems of support are skewed and disconnected from the realities on the ground.

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The current economic structure facilitates the consumption of “human resources” in exploitative and unsustainable ways, producing attributes that fit the exigencies of industrialization to create profit and wealth, without much thought given to people as individuals with individual needs etc.

Roadmaps to the future:     

Ecosystem of innovation across the country, which focuses on preparing young people for both the jobs of tomorrow as well as becoming the job creators of tomorrow.

Innovation incubators and other forms of support to encourage entrepreneurship among the young Ecosystems to develop a level of adaptability and a closer synchronicity with on the ground realities in order to move towards meaningful employment generation.

A mindset shift away from materialist markers of success and happiness towards sustainable notions of success and happiness.

Building actualized individuals and conscious cultures by encouraging individuals to think about personal goals, desires and elements of who they are, thus nurturing human resources.

MSMES: KEY TO INDIA’S MANUFACTURING AMBITIONS As the international economy transitions into a highly technological and digitalized form, new challenges are posed to MSMEs in India, to cope with the disruptions each new technological wave facilitates. The panelists in this session considered these technical challenges as well as other policy and infrastructure based challenges facing MSMEs; particularly the question of financing & financial structures and of cheaper, sustainable energy that could bring down operating costs for MSMEs. Resource efficiency was one of the focal points of discussion, along with the potential of alternate forms of production and MSME structuring. Over the course of the session, the panelists attempted to tackle these key questions: 1) What should be the more interconnected opportunity framework at different stages of development of MSMEs with reference to infrastructure, regulations, financial support and skill India?

2) How to enhance the partnering approach by the various stakeholders through incentives, rather than compliance - and encourage more environment friendly start-ups?

3) How can leading corporate houses, government and civil society organizations contribute jointly to enhance production led MSMEs where more resource efficient jobs can be developed in India?

Challenges: 

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Is the technology boom making a meaningful difference in terms of wages and productivity in the lives of the working class? What does it mean to distribute the benefits of the technology boom equitably?

Better utilities, especially of sustainably powered and run utilities in MSMEs, to encourage and raise occupancy rates and improve energy consumption in industrial estates.

Asymmetry between the current needs of MSMEs and bank offerings Mindset shift in manufacturing, towards understanding disruptive technologies and leaner manufacturing processes that reduce and eliminate waste.

Roadmaps to the future:  

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Incubation-centric growth which builds on the strengths of digital India, such as its empowerment of creative and independent thinking among the young.

Exposure to next generation technologies and disruptive trends and technology, to foster innovative entrepreneurship, along with early development and prototype support.

Coherent, coordinated innovation support as well as encouragement and financial/policy support for moves towards greener business models Collaboration with academia, especially academics involved in technical/technological research to innovate new and sustainable means of powering MSME facilities/utilities.

Shifts in financial models available for MSMEs, to ease capital stresses and insulate against vulnerability in crisis.

Clustering similar MSMEs allows for greater scale and mobility, allowing them to collectively meet and bear certain mutual costs at lower stresses to their finances than when fragmented.

VALEDICTORY SESSION: After an extensive in-depth look into the questions posed over the two days, the conference concluded with a recap of the proposals for the near future and a few key action plans that could begin the transition into an innovating, sustainable and circular economy. While the core action plans focus on large scale structural changes that require cross-collaboration between corporate entities, government bodies and communities, a few personal, lifestyle based changes were proposed for people to make the mindset shift necessary to adapt to a future, sustainable economy.

Roadmaps to the future: 

There must be a shift away from imposing the notions of modernity and the urban on rural India, towards working with and understanding the challenges and issues faced in rural areas while fostering and building on their diversity and strengths.

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There must be a move away from urban bias, especially in terms of trade, which is weighted heavily against rural areas, towards equitable trade and resource and value development in rural India that will put it on par with urban India.

Constant skilling and reskilling in preparation for the future is the need of the hour.

Human resources are the only appreciating resources. Through self-discipline and a willingness to maintain a capacity to learn and an urge to curiosity, as well as care for social well-being, people will be the greatest asset to India in the future.

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