As the world marks World Environment Day 2026, leaders from India’s technology, telecom, climate advisory, mobility and digital infrastructure sectors have stressed the importance of combining innovation, sustainability and responsible business practices to address growing environmental challenges. With climate change, resource scarcity and rising energy demands becoming increasingly pressing concerns, industry executives highlighted how technology, renewable energy, AI and data-driven solutions can help businesses and governments accelerate their sustainability goals while supporting economic growth.
Sandeep Chandna, Chief Sustainability Officer, Tech Mahindra, emphasized the need for collaboration and innovation in tackling climate challenges: ”World Environment Day underscores the urgent need for collective action, innovation, and accountability in addressing climate challenges. At Tech Mahindra, we believe technology is a key enabler in accelerating sustainability outcomes and driving responsible growth. As we progress towards our commitments of achieving SBTi-validated Net Zero by 2035, a 90% renewable energy mix by 2030 and Water Positivity by 2030, we remain focused on embedding sustainability across our operations. We are also actively supporting enterprises in their sustainability journeys by leveraging digital innovation to help them meet their ESG goals. By integrating technology with responsible business practices, we are committed to delivering long-term value for our stakeholders while contributing to a more resilient, inclusive, and resource-efficient future.”
The telecom industry also sees sustainability as a key pillar of India’s digital growth story. Lt Gen Dr SP Kochhar, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), noted that telecom networks are increasingly becoming enablers of a greener economy: ”As India accelerates towards becoming a digitally empowered economy, sustainability must remain central to how we build and scale telecom infrastructure. The theme of World Environment Day 2026 strongly resonates with the telecom sector’s ongoing transition towards greener and more energy-efficient networks. Across the industry, telecom operators are increasingly adopting renewable energy, AI-led network optimization, infrastructure sharing and green data infrastructure to reduce environmental impact while supporting growing digital demand. Telecom networks today are not merely communication infrastructure, they are becoming critical enablers of a more sustainable economy by powering smart energy systems, precision agriculture, intelligent logistics and digital public services. India has a unique opportunity to lead globally in building digital infrastructure that is both inclusive and environmentally responsible.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Vibha Mehra, Country Manager, Nokia India, highlighted how intelligent network technologies can contribute to sustainability while supporting growing connectivity demands: ”As digital connectivity and AI reshape economies, the telecommunications industry has a unique opportunity to advance sustainable growth by investing in intelligent, self-optimizing and energy-efficient networks that adapt dynamically to demand while delivering greater capacity with a lower environmental footprint. At Nokia India, we are turning this industry imperative into real-world impact. Our advanced AI-powered energy management solutions are significantly reducing operational emissions in India without compromising network performance. By embedding renewable energy and circularity across our manufacturing operations and hardware lifecycle in India, we are helping ensure that the country’s digital expansion advances both sustainability goals and Nokia’s global ambition of achieving net-zero value chain emissions by 2040.”
While sustainability investments are gaining momentum, funding remains a challenge for many climate-focused ventures Vasudha Madhavan, Founder and CEO, Ostara Advisors, pointed to the growing opportunities within India’s climate technology ecosystem while underlining the need for patient capital: ”This World Environment Day, the signal from the market is unmistakable. India sold over 2.3 million electric vehicles in 2025, about 8 percent of all new registrations, and now runs over 100 compressed biogas plants (with a 5000 plant target by 2030) backed by a blending mandate that turns climate goals into guaranteed demand. Climate tech funding rose close to 2 billion dollars in 2025, up roughly 40 percent year on year, proof that capital is returning. But almost all of it stops early. Barely 3 percent of India’s climate tech startups reach Series B or beyond. The technology and the policy are ready. What the transition needs now is growth-stage, patient capital, and closing that gap is the work in front of us.”
Industry leaders also highlighted the importance of embedding sustainability into business operations and product innovation. Manisha Dubey, Head of IDEMIA India Foundation, said sustainability should be viewed as a long-term responsibility rather than an annual commitment: “World Environment Day is more than a date on the calendar. It is a call to every industry, including ours, to examine not just what we build, but how we build it, and what we leave behind. At IDEMIA Secure Transactions, sustainability is not a parallel workstream or an annual commitment we revisit in June. It is embedded in the way we innovate. From eco-conscious payment cards to greener connectivity and SIM solutions engineered to reduce environmental impact, to Hardware Security Modules designed to deliver robust cryptographic protection while consuming significantly less power, we are constantly asking how secure digital experiences can be delivered with a lighter footprint on the planet. But responsible business cannot stop at that. We believe companies have a genuine obligation to the communities and ecosystems around them. That belief is what drove the IDEMIA India Foundation to transform 3.8 acres of industrial wasteland in Noida into a living biodiversity park, home to 15,000 trees spanning over 70 species. What was once barren ground is now a functioning urban ecosystem, built for future generations and maintained with the same rigour we bring to our technology. Across everything we do, the cards in people’s wallets, the SIMs connecting their devices, the land we have restored, the question is the same: are we creating something that lasts, and does it leave the world in better shape than we found it? That is the standard we hold ourselves to, and it is one we intend to raise further.”
Technology is also playing an increasingly important role in helping governments and organisations understand and respond to climate risks. Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri India, stressed the value of geospatial intelligence in climate adaptation and resilience planning: “Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity today, driving rising temperatures, extreme weather events, biodiversity loss, and increasing threats to food, water, and public health systems. In India, these risks are amplified by diverse climatic conditions, rapid urbanization, and dependence on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture and water resources. Addressing these challenges requires identifying vulnerable populations, understanding when and how they are affected, and determining where interventions can achieve the greatest impact. GIS provides this critical spatial intelligence by integrating environmental, social, and infrastructure data into a unified decision-making framework. Combined with AI and real-time monitoring, GIS enables proactive risk management, helping governments, businesses, and communities build resilience, optimize resources, and ensure that climate adaptation and mitigation efforts are targeted, effective, and equitable.”
Sustainable transportation also emerged as a key theme, with organisations increasingly focusing on smarter mobility solutions alongside vehicle electrification. Sriram Kannan, Founder and CEO, Routematic, said climate-resilient cities will require a broader rethink of mobility systems: “This year’s World Environment Day theme, ‘Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future,’ is a powerful reminder that meaningful climate action requires us to rethink how we live, work, and move. As India accelerates its transition towards cleaner mobility through the growing adoption of EVs, it is equally important to focus on making transportation more efficient, accessible, and sustainable. The future of mobility will be shaped not only by electrification, but also by smarter utilization of resources through shared and technology-driven transportation models. At Routematic, we have been committed to advancing this vision by helping organizations optimize employee mobility through intelligent route planning, shared commuting, and data-driven fleet management solutions. By reducing the number of vehicles on the road and improving operational efficiency, we are enabling businesses to lower their carbon footprint while creating better commuting experiences. Building climate-resilient cities will require collective action, innovation, and long-term commitment, and we believe sustainable mobility will remain a critical pillar in creating a cleaner, greener future for generations to come.”
The rapid expansion of AI and digital infrastructure is also bringing sustainability considerations to the forefront. Mohan Krishna Pathalapati, Chief Operating Officer, Blue Cloud Softech Solutions Limited, said organisations must rethink how digital infrastructure is built and operated: “World Environment Day is a timely reminder to rethink how we build and operate digital infrastructure. As demand for AI and data processing continues to grow, sustainability must remain a priority. At BCSSL, we are focused on developing energy-efficient AI data centres that incorporate eco-friendly cooling technologies designed to reduce water consumption and improve operational efficiency. By adopting smarter, resource-conscious infrastructure and supporting renewable energy integration through initiatives such as Blue Energy, we aim to minimise environmental impact while building future-ready digital ecosystems that are powerful, resilient, and responsible by design.”
Similarly, Ranga Jagannath, Senior Director – Growth, Agora, highlighted the environmental implications of the growing adoption of artificial intelligence and the need for efficient AI architectures: “AI is often recognized for its ability to drive innovation, but far less attention is given to the resources required to power it. As organizations race to embed AI into products, services and customer experiences, the conversation is beginning to shift from how quickly AI can scale to how sustainably it can scale.
The environmental impact of growing compute requirements, expanding data infrastructure and real-time AI workloads is becoming an important consideration for businesses. This makes efficiency a critical part of the AI agenda. Organizations need to focus on building AI systems that are not only intelligent and scalable, but also designed to use resources more efficiently through optimized workloads, smarter infrastructure choices and streamlined architectures.
At Agora, we see this firsthand as enterprises look to deliver real-time, AI-powered experiences at scale. Efficient, low-latency communication architectures can help businesses balance innovation, performance and operational efficiency. As we observe World Environment Day, it is clear that the future of AI will be defined not just by what it can do, but by how responsibly it is built and deployed.”
