Towards A Sustainable Future
– Amit Gossain, Managing Director, KONE Elevator India
‘Sustainability’ is one of the core elements of our strategy and business. Simply put, sustainability is a business approach to creating long-term value by taking into consideration how a given organization operates in the ecological, social and economic environment. Sustainability is built on the assumption that developing such strategies foster company longevity. Organizations across the world have realized the importance of ‘Sustainability’ and started taking huge strides on reducing waste, minimizing carbon footprint and creating a greener supply chain.
Sustainability is the core element of KONE’s new strategy. As a global organization, we commit to a 50% cut in emissions and become carbon neutral by 2030. KONE’s targets are in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, the most ambitious criteria for setting science-based targets. We were also awarded, once again, a place on CDP’s prestigious 2020 ‘A List’. KONE was also awarded the EcoVadis platinum medal for our sustainability performance, placing us among the top 1% of all assessed companies.
We already have the most energy-efficient elevators on the market, and we continue to transition towards a low emissions vehicle fleet, as well as using renewable energy at our facilities around the world.
At KONE, we think about sustainability in a very comprehensive sense, covering not only our offering, operations and culture surrounding the environmental aspect, but also diversity and inclusion, safety, quality and ethics and compliance.
On the occasion of World Environment Day, at KONE in India, we celebrated sustainability movement to emphasize the collective responsibility of embracing sustainable living in daily lives. We hosted several engaging activities for our employees like ‘Make a shopping bag with sustainable material’, ‘Waste segregation’, ‘Selfie with sustainable product’, ‘Sustainability quiz’, which were well received and appreciated. In association with the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), we hosted an informative and interactive session on the topic ‘Green and Sustainable Smart Cities’. We also organized the #KONEIndiaPlants campaign wherein ready-to-plant seed paper was distributed to our 5000+ employees and encouraged to plant the seeds in the garden, parks and open spaces.
We strongly believe that Diversity & Inclusivity is the way forward to creating a holistic workplace. Having said that, we aim to systematically increase diversity, inclusion and equity, right from the grassroot levels. When people are valued as their authentic selves, innovation can flourish, and work communities will thrive. As a global organization, KONE pledges to make a step-change in women at director level to 35% by 2030.
Safety off the job is just as important to us, as it is on the job and it’s a top priority at KONE India. As we strive for a safe environment with the aim of zero incidents and zero accidents, we emphasize the importance of safety to all our stakeholders by observing the National and Global Safety Week every year, where we host various activities and e-learning sessions for our employees, customers and sub-contractors.
KONE has operations in over 60 countries and collaborates with authorized distributors and agents in almost 100 countries around the world. As a global corporate citizen, we are fully committed to the laws and regulations of the countries where we operate, thus adhering to social ethics and compliances.
Having been taking these steps in the right direction, we believe that our collective efforts will contribute to a successful decade of action on ‘Sustainability’ and make the world a better place to live for the generations to come.
