Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani said there is no option for businesses but to go green and every unit of Reliance Industries would have to pivot as the conglomerate moves towards net-zero. “We have no option as a society, as a business but to really adopt a sustainable business model,” he said speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum.
And embracing a model of clean energy is a pre-requisite.
Every unit making up the oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance would have to pivot as the conglomerate moves toward net-zero, he said.
“We at Reliance have adopted this wholeheartedly and transforming each one of our business lines to be sustainable, circular, recyclable and fully transparent environment, social, and governance standards,” he said.
When asked if this green push will require dialling back on some of Reliance’s businesses, Ambani said “it means transforming our businesses and integrating that with the future,” without sharing more details.
In July last year, Ambani, who is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd, had set a 2035 deadline for his company to turn net carbon zero, echoing views of his global peers in fighting climate change.
While RIL will remain a user of crude oil and natural gas, it is committed to embracing new technologies to convert its carbon dioxide emissions into useful products and chemicals.
“Achieving a cleaner planet can be done by making CO2 as a recyclable resource, rather than treating it as an emitted waste. We have already made substantial progress on photosynthetic biological pathways to convert our CO2 emissions at Jamnagar into high-value proteins, nutraceuticals, advanced materials and fuels,” he had said.
RIL also plans to develop next-gen carbon capture and storage technologies. It is evaluating novel catalytic and electrochemical transformations to use CO2 as a valuable feedstock.
