ES. How did you land up here? What were the past experiences, achievement or lessons that shaped your journey as a successful leader in this industry?
Satish Ramchandani. Having spent 20 years in space of Governance, Ratings, Corporate Finance and Business Development, the experience has been quite diverse and in environments having varied culture. My last experience in CRISIL Ratings gave me access to various market participants including CSR & ESG. With entrepreneurship being close to my heart, I met like-minded people with a common mission of building Updapt and helping businesses in their sustainability journey. One of the key aspects over the years have been non-stop learning and challenges by taking the non-conventional route of new roles across multiple domains which makes the entire journey a very enterprising one.
ES. Company’s USP defines the differences between you and your competitors. Please tell us how Updapt sets apart from the competition by offering unmatched services to clients.
Satish Ramchandani. Updapt is an ESG Tech. Co. with cutting edge digital tools enabling businesses to simplify their Sustainability journey. Our mission to solve sustainability issues of companies through our tech tools, drives us to create solutions that are deep and broad enough. With this mission, Updapt has created a product suite comprising of multiple solutions around carbon footprint accounting, ESG monitoring and reporting, net-zero module, risk management, supplier assessment and portfolio assessment for funds and lenders. Our key competitive advantages are that we are a one-stop shop with multiple tools for our clients towards their net-zero and sustainability goals having easy to use, 18x faster and affordable solutions.
ES. According to you, what are some ESG trends to expect in 2023 and beyond?
Satish Ramchandani. In my view, some of the ESG trends to expect in 2023 and beyond would be:
- Increased reputational and regulatory risk for businesses in case of any lapses on key ESG metrics
- Standardized ESG disclosures guidelines allowing comparison and transparency in reporting aiding decision making of investors and other market participants
- ESG measures forming part of core lending and insurance processes beyond investment themes
- Increased demand of sustainability and environment professionals and formation of more education programs around sustainability from capacity building perspective
ES. What were the key highlights of your panel sessional at IEIA Open Seminar?
Satish Ramchandani. The key highlights was how technology can aid businesses in their decarbonization journey of emission measurement, reporting and managing expectation of various stakeholders. There were also very good insights on how players in Exhibition and Events space can follow sustainable practices in their delivery to clients and be preferred partners for companies who are driving sustainability across their supply chain partners.
ES. What in your opinion is the most pressing sustainability issue facing in this industry today? Is there anything you would suggest to make trade exhibitions more sustainable?
Satish Ramchandani. I think one of the key sustainability issues that can be addressed in exhibitions and conference industry is choice of venue and waste management. Choosing a venue which uses green and optimal energy including managing food waste and water in non-plastic bottles can enhance the overall ESG score of partners.
ES. What is your outlook for the year 2023?
Satish Ramchandani. 2022 has been a transformational year from ESG standpoint given the embracement of sustainability by governments, businesses and multi-lateral agencies at principle and policy level. This would have a ripple effect on larger market in 2023 wherein we can expect action at execution level with many companies framing ESG strategy, setting net-zero targets and begin monitoring and reporting. We can also gradually expect consumers demanding sustainable products pushing businesses further to invest and innovate their core business operations and processes.
ES. What message would you like to share with the readers?
Satish Ramchandani. Sustainability eventually would be a way of life for building successful businesses and living a healthy life.
