Events

The 10^th Subir Raha Memorial Lecture was organized by United Nations Global Compact Network India on the theme “Climate Conversation and the secret of prosperity in 21^st Century” on 7 July. The event was supported by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited and Indian Oil Corporation. Initially Director (HR) of IOC, Late Mr. Subir Raha was the former Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC.

Held after a gap of two years due to the pandemic, the Memorial Lecture had Dr. Joyashree Roy, the Bangabandhu Chair Professor at Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand, as the keynote speaker. The first woman to deliver the memorial lecture, Dr. Roy is also an Economics Professor of at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, where Mr. Raha was an alumnus.

Dr. Roy started out by expressing her admiration for Mr. Raha, given how much she had heard about him in Jadavpur. Citing this as the primary reason why she agreed to mark her presence at the Memorial Lecture, she mentioned that her elder brother was his batchmate at Jadavpur University, and she had grown up hearing about him. Articulating about the nuances of sustainable development and new climate economy, Dr. Roy stated that “Communities are going to be at the forefront to tackle the challenge of the climate crisis. We need to have these difficult conversations every day and synergy shall build the way forward.” As she spoke at length on the role of diverse stakeholders in climate action, she mentioned that, “This Decade of Action is prudent to decide onto further Climate Actions and set priorities to refocus and reconfigure technology, investments, demand and supply chain models, and redefine value creation.”

Dr. Roy claimed in her address that investments concerning nature are crucial for the sustainable path to transform the twenty-first century. Business models and systems will then have to change tremendously for that pursuit. “The time for climate action is now! To open up the secrets of the twenty-first century, we need to tread the path towards stabilization & sustainability,” Dr.  Roy opined. She concluded her address by stating that every person present at the lecture, either physically or digitally, along with all citizens would need to contribute to this pursuit, and ensure proper sensitization.