5 years of

June 25, 2024 13:00 - 17:00 Almedalsbiblioteket

Engaging India at Almedalen 2024

Samband for Climate

The theme for the 5th edition of "Engaging India at Almedalen" was "Samband for Climate," combining the Hindi and Swedish words for "connection" to emphasise the need for a collaborative approach to global challenges. The seminar sessions opened with address from H.E. Tanmaya Lal, Ambassador of India to Sweden and Latvia, and H.E. Jan Thesleff, Ambassador of Sweden to India. Through keynote speeches, panel discussions, and case-study presentations, we heard from from Indian and Swedish industry, academia, policy, and civil-society on their vision for climate action, and learnings from green transition for heavy industry to innovation for the last mile, from biologicals to biodegradable alternatives. The seminar ended with a line-up of startups who shared how they are solutioning for the 2030 sustainable development goals.

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Who spoke at Engaging India @ Almedalen 2024?

H.E. Tanmaya Lal is Ambassador of India to Sweden and Latvia. He has also held positions such as Ambassador/Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations Permanent Mission of India in New York, and Head of the UN Economic & Social (UNES) Division at Geneva.

Mayank Singhal is Vice Chairman and Managing Director of PI Industries. He is recognised as Asia’s Most Promising Business Leader by the Economic Times and named CEO of the Year by Business Today. He is on the advisory board on the Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability. He has been nominated by the Department of Science and Technology, Gol as a member of the Governing Board of the Indo-US S&T Forum (IUSSTF). Mr Singhal is also on the Board of PI Life Science Research Ltd., PILL Finance and Investment Ltd., TP Buildtech Pvt. Ltd. Fratelli Wines Pvt. Ltd. and CropLife India.

H.E. Tanmaya Lal,
Ambassador of India to Sweden and Latvia

H.E. Jan Thesleff,
Ambassador of Sweden to India

Daniel Westlén,
State Secretary to the Minister for Climate & Environment,
Ministry of Climate & Enterprise

Meher Pudumjee, Chairperson,
Thermax Ltd

Mayank Singhal,
Vice Chairman & MD,
PI Industries

Amarendu Prakash,
Chairman,
Steel Authority of India

Owe Ronström is an ethnologist and Professor Emeritus at Uppsala University. He's written extensively about sustainability, sustainable destination development, and multiculturalism and has over 100 publications to his credit. He has also been awarded the title of Rikspelman by the King of Sweden for his contribution to Swedish music.

Owe Ronström, Professor Emeritus,
Uppsala University

T.S. Balganesh

President,

GangaGen Biotechnologies &
Independent Director,

PI Industries

Viral Thakker is Partner & Sustainability Leader at Deloitte India. With over 26 years of consulting experience, Viral supports clients across industries in the public and private sector to design and drive their ESG strategy and transformation, helping them deliver social impact, transition to net-zero, build responsible value chains, introduce transparent disclosures and reporting, and bring about climate resilience.

Viral Thakker,
Partner & Leader, Sustainability & Climate
Deloitte South Asia

Felipe Sanchez leads the Secretariat’s efforts to suppport two parallel industry transition partnerships between the governments of India-Sweden and Brazil-UK. He combines his expertise on industry and energy transitions with his experience addressingpolicy development and implementation issues. Prior to his role with LeadIT, Felipe served as a senior policy adviser in the Strategy Unit of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, providing evidence-based advice to Ministers on critical or strategic issues. Most notably, this involved developing the framework for the UK’s first legally binding targets for the environment. Felipe has also worked with public sector, investment banking and telecommunications clients as a management consultant at Accenture

Felipe Sánchez,

Head,

Partnerships LeadIT Secretariat &

Policy Fellow,

SEI

Dr. Swaminathan Ramanathan, Lecturer & Researcher,
Uppsala University,
Director, Deloitte

Oscar Hållén,
CEO,
Cemvision

Raine Isaksson is Docent and Associate Professor in Quality Management and Sustainable Organisational Development at Uppsala University. His research areas include sustainable building materials, and quality management.

Raine Isaksson,
Associate Professor & Docent,
Uppsala University

Per Östborn,
Project Leader,
Gröna Mobilister

Jakob Kiefer,
Executive Board Member,
Spowdi & Former Sweden Ambassador for Sustainable Business

Gunilla Rosenqvist is Project Leader at Blått Centrum Gotland, an institution working towards measures for a better marine environment. Prior to this, she was a professor of Ethology at Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and Co-ordinator of Baltic Sea Region at Uppsala University.

Gunilla Rosenqvist,
Project Leader,
Blue Centre Gotland

Jacob Hallencreutz,
CEO,
EPSI Rating Group

Shilpa Sachdeva Bhullar is the Head of Legal Risk & Compliance at PI Industries. She has nearly 20 years of experience working as a corporate generalist counsel, with an interest in sustainability and environment protection initiatives.

Shilpa Sachdeva,
Head of Legal, Risk & Compliance,
PI Industries

Tor Broström,
Professor,
Uppsala University

Carl-Johan Linér,
CEO,
SaltX

Rupali Mehra is the co-organiser of Engaging India @ Almedalen. She is founder of Content People AB, a strategic communications company, and Chief Marketing Officer and Head of South Asia of Spowdi, a Swedish green-tech company. She has over two decades of experience in media and communications in Sweden and India.

Rupali Mehra,
Founder, Content People AB & CMO & Head of Asia,
Spowdi

Pheroz Pudumjee,

Non-Executive Director,

Thermax Ltd

"Research and innovation is the key theme of engagement between India and Sweden, and sustainability lies at the centre of it with sectors such as clean technology, smart grids, circular economy, life sciences, public health, and energy efficiency."

H.E. Tanmaya Lal,
Ambassador of India to Sweden and Latvia

H.E. Ambassador Tanmaya Lal on India-Sweden Samband

H.E Ambassador Tanmaya Lal speaks about why it's 'time for India', and why a stage such as Engaging India at Almedalen is important in bringing together Indian and Swedish businesses to collaborate on various solving sustainability issues.

Nandan Nilekani on aligning the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals to the rollout of Digital Public Goods

Nandan Nilekani, Co-Founder & Chairman, Infosys & Founding Chairman, UIDAI speaks about the architectural thought and process behind developing the Aadhaar national identification in India, and the significant role it plays for other digital public goods to be stacked upon.

Professor Owe Ronström on the idea behind Engaging India at Almedalen

Owe Ronström, Professor Emeritus, Uppsala University and co-organiser, Engaging India at Almedalen elaborates on the idea behind establishing Engaging India at Almedalen; to engage the people of Gotland with the problems and solutions of a state the size and scale of India.

Conversations so far at Engaging India @Almedalen

Since 2019, Engaging India at Almedalen has hosted a diverse line-up of speakers from Swedish and Indian industries to exchange ideas and discuss collaborative solutions to some of the most pressing global climate challenges. By bringing together the Swedish and Indian innovation, technology and sustainability ecosystems, Engaging India at Almedalen serves as a platform to catalyse co-thinking, co-solutioning and co-creation between India and Sweden on global issues such as climate action, sustainable development, and collaborative innovation.

Themes explored previously at Engaging India at Almedalen include:

1.⁠ ⁠Samband for the Planet
2.⁠ ⁠Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – The World is One Family
3.⁠ ⁠Indian ‘Sunya’ and Swedish ‘Lagom’ – Can zero as an ethos bring about a new circular model and show the way towards a more sustainable world?
4.⁠ ⁠Pathways to energy transition for climate neutrality for Sweden and India.
5.⁠ ⁠Technology collaborations to build a more sustainable planet.
6.⁠ ⁠Partnerships towards Global Goals - Can Sweden and India show the way.