Five industrial clusters from India join WEF sustainability initiative

Thirteen industrial clusters, including five from India, have joined the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) Transitioning Industrial Clusters initiative, which unites diverse industries and geographies with the aim of pursuing decarbonization and sustainable growth.

By joining the initiative, the clusters will leverage shared knowledge, resources, and technologies to achieve their net-zero goals.

Among the clusters that have joined the initiative are Kerala Green Hydrogen Valley spanning 2,970 acres in Thiruvananthapuram; Gopalpur Industrial Park developed by Tata Steel Special Economic Zone Ltd near Ganjam in Odisha; Kakinada cluster backed by AM Green on the eastern coast of Andhra Pradesh; Mundra cluster in the Kutch district of Gujarat, and Mumbai Green Hydrogen cluster.

The other eight clusters joining the initiative are from Australia, Brazil, Colombia, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Thailand and the United Kingdom.

The WEF launched the initiative at the COP26 climate conference in 2021 in collaboration with Accenture and the non-profit Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).

With the addition of the new 13 clusters, the initiative now comprises 33 clusters across 16 countries and five continents.

The 33 signatories together represent potential carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions reductions of 832 million tons–about the annual emissions of Saudi Arabia, while also making a direct contribution of $492 billion to gross domestic product (GDP) and support 4.3 million jobs, WEF said.

“Leading industrial clusters treat decarbonization as a destination that must be reached collectively–one that has the potential to drive business growth and industry reinvention,” Stephanie Jamison, global resources industry practice lead and global sustainability services lead at Accenture, said.

“These industrial leaders are adopting digital technology to accelerate the deployment and optimization of net-zero infrastructure. They are harnessing the power of data and AI to provide intelligence for enterprise and ecosystem decision-making, predict emissions progress, and even facilitate new business models that would not have been possible previously,” added Jamison

“The addition of 13 industrial clusters to this global initiative reflects the vital importance of bringing all stakeholders together to deploy the advanced energy technologies, low-carbon fuels and supporting infrastructure at the foundation of net-zero economies,” added Neva Espinoza, EPRI senior vice-president of energy supply and low-carbon resources.