Delhi to host first South Asian Conference on Sustainability in Textile Industry

The First South Asian Conference on Sustainability in Textile and Apparel Industry is set to take place in New Delhi on March 3, 2020 at the C.D. Deshmukh Auditorium, India International Centre, New Delhi.

The conference is being inaugurated by the Hon’ble Minister for Textiles and Women and Child Development Smriti Z Irani.

It is a well-known fact that the textile industry has many sustainability-related issues. In recent years, the industry has come under scrutiny due to the human and environmental impact of its practices. If things do not change, continued growth will cause untold harm to the planet and people.

The garment export industry in South Asia is a prominent industry and a major source of revenue for these countries, especially in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. India is the third largest exporter of textiles in the world and Indian textile and apparel exports are expected to cross US$ 82 billion by 2021. The industry is also one of the biggest polluters. It employs a work force of over 45 million, 60% of whom are estimated to be women. This contributes roughly 15 per cent of India’s current export earnings.

We strongly believe that sustainability, and the working condition inside factories and workers’ well-being are critical issues for the growth of this sector. The First South Asian Conference on Sustainability in Apparel and Textile Industry 2020 is an effort to address the following important concerns of the industry :

1. Sustainable facilities
2. Workers’ well-being
3. Sustainable products and resources

The conference aims to create awareness amongst students and young professionals about the sustainable built environment, safer work places for workers and minimum damage to the environment.

The conference is being organized by the Prem Jain Memorial Trust and Michigan State University, USA in association with School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi, Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi, IDH-the Sustainable Trade Initiative, Indian Green Building Council and Ella Pad Foundation, Bangladesh.

The Mission of Prem Jain Memorial Trust is to create, establish and maintain the sustainability paradigm through education, recognition and nurturing of the present and future generations.

Its vision is to identify future leaders and be a catalyst for global development of sustainability, to create awareness and advocacy on sustainability and environment and to nurture India's young talent by disseminating education on sustainable development ecosystems, built environment, traditions, arts, crafts and related studies across India’s youth and working professionals.

Dr Prem Jain, architect of the modern green building movement in India, is revered as the ‘Father of Green Buildings’. He ushered in a paradigm shift in the way buildings are conceived, designed worldwide and facilitated.

India stands tall in second place after USA in the global green building movement, as he aspired for "Bharat to emerge as Jagat Guru in Sustainable Built Environment”.

The ‘Green Bharat’ story is unparalleled amongst members of the World Green Building Council (WGBC).

He led India to the world’s highest 60 platinum and 40 gold awards from IGBC and USGBC, for the design of services for Green Buildings.

Under his leadership, India reached 1 billion sq ft of registered green footprint with IGBC in 2012, three years ahead of schedule, without any incentives. By 2018, over 4,900 projects, amounting to over 6.4 billion sq ft of green building footprint adopted IGBC standards.

IGBC, under his guidance, launched 25 green building rating systems including affordable housing, net zero, green homes, green cities, green villages and green townships. He was instrumental in launching over 150 IGBC student chapters in colleges.

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