EC proposal moots stricter audit of corporate sustainability, says EU representative

U.T. government willing to consider adopting recommendation from the conference that will benefit the business community and consumers: Tourism Minister

The European Commission has submitted a proposal on corporate sustainability reporting, which if endorsed by European Parliament, would have important consequences for the supply chain of major manufacturers across the world, Laurent Le Danois, Representative of the EU delegation to India said on Thursday. Mr. Danois, who is in the city to participate in the first national Fair Trade Towns conference, said the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) proposal adopted by the Commission advocated due diligence on environment and governance issues. “While given the pace at which things move at the law-making level, it may be at least a couple of years more before the proposal is presented to Parliament, the mere fact that such a move is in process has caused some stir among a few large manufacturers”, Mr. Danois said. If passed in European Parliament, the CSRD would make much of the reporting process which is now on a voluntary basis a mandatory requirement that is subjected to stricter audit. This would have consequences on the supply chain of manufacturers in Europe and others who engage with the European Union market, he said. Mr. Danois also pointed out that one of the EU policies, within the broad-ranging partnership with India, advocated a territory-based approach to local development that tied in with the fair trade town movement where the emphasis was on adding value to available local resources. Tourism Minister K. Lakshminarayanan said the government was willing to consider adopting any recommendation from the two-day conference that would benefit the business community, the consumers and other stakeholders. The government was also looking to hold more G2G and B2B conclaves to spur business and sustainable livelihoods. Lise Talbot Barre, French Consul General, said climate change action and sustainability were key sectors in the two-decades-old Indo-French strategic partnership. Moreover, France and India which were taking initiatives on the sustainability front as co-presidents of the International Solar Alliance, also had a key role to promote good practices in fair trade globally, she said. Messages from Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and Jayanti Ravi, Secretary of Auroville Foundation, who could not make it to the meeting, were read out to the audience. R. Smitha, Secretary, Science, Technology and Environment, Kuppusamy Panchaksharam, president, Fair Trade Forum India, Brahmanand Mohanty, regional adviser for Asia, French Agency for Ecological Transition, Nallam Sathish, president of Alliance Francaise and Abhishek Jani, national steering committee member Fair Trade Towns India offered felicitations. Anjali Schiavina, national coordinator, Fair Trade Towns India, said there is a global necessity for economic growth to be environmentally sustainable as well as socially inclusive. India too has a growing Fair Trade movement with more and more consumers demanding fair and sustainable products. Apart from the Fair Trade Twin Towns Puducherry and Auroville, the movement has a presence in Chennai, Udhagamandalam, Coonoor, Kotagiri, Sahnewal and Goa.

The conference, hosted by National Fair Trade Towns India, Fair Trade Twin Towns Puducherry and Auroville, and supported by PondyCan, Hope and Upasana, has brought together sustainable professionals, Government officials, businesses, civil society, and experts from India and overseas to “harness procurement, responsible business practices and responsible consumption as tools for change”. The conference also aims to devise a national strategy, effective peer to peer and cross-sectoral collaborations and knowledge sharing to ensure we scale our movement and impact. Fair Trade is a socially conscious and environmentally responsible multi-stakeholder movement, and together with sustainable procurement can enhance our reach towards SDG12, and several other SDGs, organisers said.