Anirban Ghosh

Professor, Mahindra University

Anirban has worked with the USD 20 billion Mahindra Group since 1999 where he heads the Centre for Sustainability at the Mahindra University. Prior to this he was the Group’s Chief Sustainability Officer.

During his work Anirban developed an award-winning sustainability framework, enabled the organization to be the first in the world to commit to doubling energy efficiency, the first in the country to adopt a carbon price and commit to Science Based Targets. He has helped harness more water than is consumed in the Group and has started a program to make Mahindra a zero waste to landfill, carbon neutral, nature positive organization.

Under Anirban’s guidance Mahindra World City, a 1500-acre integrated township, has become a food waste free city and this is being replicated all over India. In partnership with the World Bank, he helped create the “Sustainable Housing Leadership Coalition” to accelerate the spread of green buildings and has been recognized as “Senior Fellow” by the Indian Green Building Council.

Anirban has implemented of a national award-winning rural development project that tripled per capita income for more than 40,000 Indians and has helped create an EHS+ centre, in partnership with the Institute for Sustainable Communities, to spread sustainability in the supply chain.

Anirban has been an invited speaker at international events like the COPs, the Global Climate Action Summit, The Climate Week, World Circular Economy Forum and GRI Global. He has featured in Al Gore’s “Climate Reality Project”, has written opinion pieces for publications like Financial Times, Huffington Post, Green Biz and Eco-business, and has conducted sustainability sessions for students at INSEAD, Nalanda University, Indian School of Business and Indian Institutes of Management. He has been acknowledged as a “Thought Leader”, a “Distinguished Sustainability Officer” and a “Global C-Suite Sustainability Champion”.