Punit Renjen, CEO Emeritus of Deloitte Global and the incoming Chairman of SAP, believes that India can lead the conversation around climate, which according to him is the top concern of the youth.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18 at the B20 Summit 2023, Renjen hailed India's distinctive strategies in addressing climate challenges, citing a remarkable case of success: "I'll give you an example, stubble burning. The response that we've had on stubble burning and trying to abate led to a 69 percent reduction in fires in the state of Haryana, a 2.25 metric tons reduction in CO2 emissions, and Rs 30 crores of income back to the farmers. That is a uniquely Indian way to address some of the climate challenges that we all face."

Renjen talked about the necessity of scaling up effective approaches, stating, "I think it has to be right scale up to Punjab, where the bulk of the stubble is burned and in Uttar Pradesh, this year, we will try and get it all across Haryana and we will get it into Uttar Pradesh as a pilot."

He acknowledged that such endeavours require substantial financial support: "Equipment doesn't come cheap. And then getting the government and the private sector to collaborate and create an ecosystem of partners that believe that something tangible can be done."

Speaking about the notable increase in climate financing, Renjen remarked, "Financing has gone up to 1.7 trillion from 500 billion; that is a material change." He stressed the urgency of rapid investment in cutting-edge technologies, saying, "We need to invest in a rapid fashion, on the new technologies and abate what we're doing to planet earth, but at the same time, invest in the current technology, so that needs to happen."

Renjen noted the critical role of business in this process, emphasising that climate action is not only a matter of ethical responsibility but also good business practice, "This is not something that we're doing this from the goodness of our heart, it is good business."

Renjen underscored the importance of collaboration between the public and private sectors in climate financing, asserting, "Climate financing has to be a private sector and public sector collaboration. This issue cannot be addressed by government alone by NGOs, the business community in the private sector has to play a critical role."

He also called for standardised measurements to ensure consistency in evaluating climate efforts globally, stating, "I think we need to have a set of measurements so that we can have consistency across the globe."