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Map-SA GEC 2020 Background Note Agenda Speakers
GEC Global Meeting 2020
Development Alternatives, India partner of Green Economy Coalition (GEC), will be hosting the eleventh GEC Global Annual Meeting in New Delhi, India from 4-6 February 2020. It is a three day event where Day I will focus upon the scope and potential of green MSMEs in building green and inclusive economies in the world. Day II will see Local Green Entrepreneurs sharing stories of transformation and building solidarity while reflecting upon the scope, opportunities and challenges of Local Green Enterprises (LGEs) in India. In the discussions on Day III, participants will work towards identifying what has been done, what needs urgent attention and who will need to steer and play roles in taking these actions forward.
  • Why do we come together every year?
  • What are we going to do this year?
  • Who all will be present?
  • Highlights from the Global Meeting in 2019
The overall objective of the Global Meet is to build a platform for the civil society and small businesses to engage with green economy policy making in India and other parts of the world. Together we bring together over 300 civil society networks spanning poverty, environmental protection and labour rights, who are actively championing the green economy transition at local, national and global levels. We centre our dialogues and debates to moving Societal Demand and Inclusion – both critical for the transition to be sustained across traditional investment or parliamentary cycles.
Our focus this year is on ensuring that local green businesses get a stake in the transition to a green economy. The Global Meeting will delve deeper into aspects of finance, measurements, markets and governance needed for enabling LGEs in India and other countries to carve the story of Green Economy Transitions. The Global Meet will also reflect on the stories and lessons from seven national/regional GEC hubs in the Global South, which are part of the ongoing Programme of GEC on creating enabling policy conditions for the transformation towards an inclusive green economy, currently supported by the European Commission.
The meeting will bring together representatives from business, finance, NGOs and citizen’s groups from India and around the world. It will be attended by members of the GEC, including the seven GEC regional/ national hubs (Caribbean, India, Mongolia, Peru, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda).
The 2019 GEC Global Meeting focused on how everyone can get a stake in the transition to a new, greener economic system. It gathered 130+ participants from over 30 civil societies, small businesses, academia, government and international organisations. The event Report can be found here
Why do we come together every year?
The overall objective of the Global Meet is to build a platform for the civil society and small businesses to engage with green economy policy making in India and other parts of the world. Together we bring together over 300 civil society networks spanning poverty, environmental protection and labour rights, who are actively championing the green economy transition at local, national and global levels. We centre our dialogues and debates to moving Societal Demand and Inclusion – both critical for the transition to be sustained across traditional investment or parliamentary cycles..
What are we going to do this year?
Our focus this year is on ensuring that local green businesses get a stake in the transition to a green economy. The Global Meeting will delve deeper into aspects of finance, measurements, markets and governance needed for enabling LGEs in India and other countries to carve the story of Green Economy Transitions. The Global Meet will also reflect on the stories and lessons from seven national/regional GEC hubs in the Global South, which are part of the ongoing Programme of GEC on creating enabling policy conditions for the transformation towards an inclusive green economy, currently supported by the European Commission.
Who all will be present?
The meeting will bring together representatives from business, finance, NGOs and citizen’s groups from India and around the world. It will be attended by members of the GEC, including the seven GEC regional/ national hubs (Caribbean, India, Mongolia, Peru, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda).
Highlights from the Global Meeting in 2019
The 2019 GEC Global Meeting focused on how everyone can get a stake in the transition to a new, greener economic system. It gathered 130+ participants from over 30 civil societies, small businesses, academia, government and international organisations. The event Report can be found here.
4th Feb
B-32 TARA Crescent Qutub Inst. Area
New Delhi
Taking Stock
  • Agenda
  • Background Note
5th Feb
B-32 TARA Crescent Qutub Inst. Area
New Delhi
Building Solidarity
  • Agenda
  • Background Note
6th Feb
India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road
New Delhi
Building Synergy
  • Agenda
  • Background Note
Our Speakers
Ashok Khosla
Development Alternatives Group
Chairman

Since 1982, Chairman of the Development Alternatives Group, the world’s first social enterprise dedicated to sustainable development. Innovation by the nonprofit DA, and incubation and market delivery by the commercial affiliate, TARA create sustainable, scalable consumption and production solutions in rural India. Earlier, after faculty positions at Harvard, Ashok Khosla became Director of the Indian Government’s first Environment Office and then Director of Infoterra in UNEP.

He has been Co-Chair of the UN’s International Resource Panel, President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and President of the Club of Rome. He was a member of the Government of India’s National Security Advisory Board and Scientific Advisory Council to the Cabinet and was awarded the OBE by the UK Government, the UN’s Sasakawa Environment Prize, UAE’s Zayed International Environment Prize, WWF’s Duke of Edinburgh Medal and the Award for Outstanding Social Entrepreneur by the Schwab Foundation. He has an MA from Cambridge University, a PhD in Experimental Physics from Harvard University and is an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Simon Fraser University, Canada.

Rohtash Mal
EM3 Agriservices Pvt Ltd
Chairman and Managing Director

Mr. Rohtash Mal is the founder of a large scale start-up in the Agri Tech and Agri Services space. In his long career of over 40 years, he has extensively worked across different industries like Agri-Machinery, Agriculture, Telecom, Automobiles, Paper, Chemicals, Switchgear. He has a proven track record of successfully executing greenfield projects, managing steady growth businesses and delivering turnarounds. Currently he is a member of the Confederation of Indian Industries, (CII) Agricouncil, and of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) National Committee on Technology. He is also the Charter Member of Indian Angel Network & TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs).

Madhu Sharan
Hand in Hand
President
Madhu Sharan is a Livelihoods and Gender Specialist with over fifteen years of extensive field research and global work experience in facilitating economic empowerment of rural women. As President of a leading NGO, Hand in Hand India, she oversees projects related to social mobilization, SHG management, promoting skilling, financial inclusion, entrepreneurship and jobs for people living at the bottom of the pyramid across six States of India. Prior to this, she has worked as a Consultant with several bi-lateral and multilateral organizations including Asian Development Bank, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and Department for International Development. The Department for International Development (DFID) for monitoring and evaluating projects related to financial inclusion, gender and development.
Arvind Malik
Udyogini
CEO
Arvind Kumar Malik , Chief Executive Officer of Udyogini. He has a degree in Forestry Science, advanced training in human rights and over 25 years of professional experience in the development sector working with some leading national and international NGOs including two and half years as Regional Rural Development Manager, Aga Khan Foundation, Afghanistan. Arvind was recognized as Ford Fellow in 2015, a global fellowship organized by Ford Motor Company and 92 Street Y, USA. His area of expertise are to build sustainable programs and teams around natural resource management including sustainable agriculture, rural energy and strengthening of market systems to build viable value chains and business development services for rural poor.
Arun Kumar
Development Alternatives Group
President
Arun Kumar President, Development Alternatives has wide experience in the areas of Technology Innovation, Systems Engineering, Business Development, Organisation of Research and General Management. Since 1989, he has been responsible for innovation and development of technology systems required for large-scale creation of sustainable livelihoods. He has been responsible for development and commercialisation of sustainable technology packages in the areas of Low Cost Construction, Decentralised Energy Production, Cleaner Production Technologies, Biomass Utilisation and Paper Recycling. He has authored numerous publications on the technology and issues of sustainability, including ones related to technology assessment, technology development and processes that accelerate acceptance of cutting edge technologies
Zeenat Niazi
Development Alternatives
Vice President
Zeenat Niazi, Vice President of the Development Alternatives Group, leads the policy studies and development action initiatives at the organization. Her work over two decades has focused on sustainable housing and habitat in rural and urban areas, community based approaches to climate and disaster resilience and support to national, sub-national and local governments in mainstreaming integrated planning for achieving the Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement in India. Her key interests lie in the area of resource efficient and people-nature centric development planning. Her core area of interest is in social and ecological systems and resilience approaches for development, and her work in habitat planning now increasingly addresses the concern of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) systems through resource efficiency, circular economy and equity concerns in resource access and distribution of SCP benefits.
Ashish Kothari
Vikalp Sangam and Kalpavriksh
Founder

Ashish began working on environment and development issues in his school days in 1978-79, as one of the founders of Kalpavriksh, an Indian environmental NGO. He coordinates Kalpavriksh's programme on Alternatives. A graduate in Sociology, Ashish has taught environment at the Indian Institute of Public Administration in the 1990s, and has been a guest faculty at several universities, institutes and colleges.

He has been the Co-Chair of the IUCN Inter-commission Strategic Direction on Governance, Equity and Livelihoods in Relation to Protected Areas (TILCEPA) (1999-2008), and in the same period a member of the Steering Committees of the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), and IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP). He has served on the Board of Directors of Greenpeace International, and currently chairs Greenpeace India’s Board. Ashish has served on the Indian Government’s Environmental Appraisal Committee on River Valley Projects, and Expert Committees to formulate India’s Biological Diversity Act and National Wildlife Action Plan. He coordinated India's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan process. Ashish has been active with a number of people’s movements, including Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement) and Beej Bachao Andolan (Save the Seeds Movement).

Shambu Prasad
Institute of Rural Management, Anand
Coordinator ISEED and Professor
Shambu is a Professor in the General Management (Strategy and Policy) area at the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA). At IRMA, he coordinates the incubation centre for social enterprises through the Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Enterprises (CSEE), and works on contemporary research issues of Farmers’ Producer Organisations (FPOs) through the Verghese Kurien Centre of Excellence on producer collectives. His expertise is in science and innovation policy, and his education has been multidisciplinary with a basic training in mechanical engineering, a Masters in Industrial Management with specialisation in science policy (both at IIT Madras), and a Doctorate in science, technology and society studies from IIT Delhi. His publications and teaching have been in the domains of rural livelihoods, sustainable agriculture, innovation management, managing collectives, and managing sustainable transitions. Shambu was awarded the Villgro-CSIE award for ‘Academic Contribution to the Field of Social Entrepreneurship’ in April 2013, and he was a Fulbright Nehru Senior Research Fellow attached to Cornell University pursuing a long term study on the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in 2013-14. He has been a member of a Sub Group on Upscaling Innovative Technologies in Agriculture for the 12th Five Year Plan and in several round table discussions on FPOs.
Ramakrishna NK
RangDe and Habba
Co-founder & CEO
Ramakrishna is the co-founder of Rang De - India’s first non-profit, peer-to-peer micro lending platform that supports underserved communities with access to low cost credit for livelihoods and education. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer and was elected to the Ashoka fellowship in 2012 in recognition of Rang De’s game changing efforts to lower the cost of borrowing when the focus was mostly on accessibility and not affordability. Ramakrishna, an engineer by qualification and a software consultant in his previous avatar, strongly believes in social business models that focus on impact maximisation. He also believes that when people come face to face with a problem and understand its manifestations, they are more likely to do something about it. A lot of his efforts at Rang De and in the social space, therefore, revolve around helping create empathy. He loves to teach social entrepreneurship, and is a guest faculty at the Centre for Social Initiative and Management (CSIM), and also a mentor at the TATA Social Enterprise Challenge in IIM Calcutta.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Ministry of Finance, Government of India
Director - Procurement Policy
Sanjay is holding the post of Director (Procurement Policy) in Ministry of Finance, Government of India. He is also the Secretary of Task Force on Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) constituted by the Indian Government to prepare the Action Plan on SPP. He has varied experience spanning more than 27 years in procurement and supply chain management with special expertise in electronic procurement. Sanjay was also the lead team member of the Task Force on revision of General Financial Rules (GFRs) of the Government of India released in March 2017. These Rules are overarching instructions for all procurements in India. Sanjay has assisted in development of the capacity building programme in Public Procurement. The programme has trained more than 6,000 procurement professionals across all Ministries and Departments of Government of India. He also has interest in the area of electronic commerce, and was elected the Vice Chairman of Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) between 2008 and 2010. Besides a graduate degree in Engineering, he also holds three post-graduate qualifications in Public Administration, General Management and Financial Markets.
Oliver Greenfield
Green Economy Coalition
Convenor
As the Convenor, Oliver provides the GEC network with leadership, enabling people from diverse institutions to work and influence collectively. Before GEC, he spent seven years enabling stakeholder change, leading WWF’s Sustainable Business and Economics work. He previously worked as the corporate strategy advisor with Booz Company and the BBC World Service.
Chris Hopkins
Green Economy Coalition
Policy Manager
Chris works on the GEC network’s public policy and project implementation, having joined the GEC in May 2014. He works on green economy policy, sustainable economics and climate ethics, having spent five years as a freelance journalist in the energy sector. Chris holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) from the University of York.
Emily Benson
Green Economy Coalition
Director of Engagement
Emily manages the GEC's external communications as well as stakeholder and outreach strategy. As lead on many of the GEC's published reports, Emily is author of the GEC's external voice and positioning. She was previously Head of Communications and Engagement at Stakeholder Forum, and initially worked in documentary-making as a researcher and producer.
Ben Martin
Green Economy Coalition
Communications Editor
Ben joined the GEC in May 2017 to help grow the reach and impact of our work, bringing his experience of climate communications and policy advocacy gathered during his years working with Members of Parliaments around the world on climate and energy legislation. Ben has a Masters in Social & Political Science from the University of Chicago, and a First Class honours degree from Oxford University.
Catriona McLean
Green Economy Coalition
Project Manager
Catriona's expertise includes project design, management, monitoring, evaluation and learning methodologies and processes, particularly in climate-resilient sustainable development; the nexus between climate, environment, gender and poverty/development; proposal development; institutional fundraising; and grant management. Before joining the GEC in 2017, Catriona worked for WWF-UK, coordinating implementation of a portfolio of programmes in Africa, Asia and South America; international development organisations and the Scottish Parliament.
Najma Mohamed
Green Economy Coalition
Policy Director
Having joined the GEC in August 2019 from the International Labour Organisation, where she led work on green jobs and the just transition, Najma has previously worked for the UN Partnership for Green Economy and the Development Bank of Southern Africa. Author of "Sustainability Transitions in South Africa", Najma’s role is ensuring our GEC policy work goes to the next level of clarity, working closely with our global network partners and our country hubs, and leveraging her knowledge of what economic policy works in each country.
Stuart Worsle
Green Economy Coalition
Dialogues Director
Stuart joined the GEC in July 2017 as the Director for Country Dialogues, and leads the coalition’s dialogue work around the world. With 27 years of working for development agencies, Stuart has extensive expertise in facilitating system wide change for development. He has led organisations and programmes that address change in agriculture, natural resources, water and sanitation. Stuart is the co-author of "Navigating Complexity in International Development".
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