Building Capacities of the
Bottom
of the Pyramid to Participate in Green Growth
T
oday, India enjoys demographic dividend and has a large section of young adults poised to add to the working population. However, it also faces two major challenges: acute climate change and massive unemployment. The youth in the informal sector or those who are unemployed have no understanding of ‘green’. The green perception is either not there or limited to the extent of switching to a CFL from an incandescent bulb.For greening of growth to become a reality, there is need
for a bottoms up approach. Green growth will result once there is a
conducive ecosystem that nurtures ‘green’ small, mini and micro enterprises.
Creation of green jobs is an important direct benefit arising from green
businesses. Jobs are green when they help reduce negative environmental
impact, ultimately leading to environmentally, economically and socially
sustainable businesses and economies.
The concept of green growth highlights the triple bottom line sustainability in terms of people, planet and profit. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), a green economy is: "One that results in improved human well - being and social equity, while significantly reducing environment risks and ecological scarcities."
1Green growth includes the broader dimensions of energy and resource efficiency, poverty eradication, social equity and human well-being. Capacity building of the base of the pyramid to understand these concepts is essential for sustained growth. Technology integration is the means to resolve local problems like water, energy, housing, agrarian value chains and waste management. Institutional development to build capacities of the stakeholders in technology, finance and market linkages thus becomes important.
To provide support for green technologies and
innovations, TARA, the social enterprise wing of the Development
Alternatives Group has contributed in the capa
city
building of green entrepreneurs. TARA facilitates the establishment of
eco-friendly micro and small enterprises (MSEs) by application of readily
available technology solutions for green entrepreneurs and providing market
and finance linkages. The green technology focus is on creating ‘wealth from
waste’, where efforts are streamlined in setting up of green enterprises in
the areas of eco-friendly building materials, packaging re-cycled paper and
fibre and processed fuel solutions. TARA has also facilitated setting up
some enterprises using solar energy such as RO units, e-learning centres,
masala grinding units, wire nail units and namkeen making units. Through
skill development trainings, TARA trains construction workers and masons to
mainstream eco-construction techniques in rural areas.
As per the National Sample Survey Organisation of India’s data in 2009-10, over 427 million workers were informal workers. Green businesses can help solve this challenge. Identifying this opportunity, the Government of India has recently formed the Green Jobs Sector Skill Council2 that promotes jobs in renewable energy, green construction and green transportation. This is an important step towards accelerating green growth and forming a sustainable green economy. q
Arpita Goyal
agoyal1@devalt.org
Endnotes
1 http://unep.org/greeneconomy/Portals/88/EMPLOYMENT.pdf