World Sustainability Day, not to be confused with World Environment Day, is marked on October 26 each year. In more recent times, events like this are growing in importance and significance as the world battles worsening climate change.

With COP28 on the horizon and the recent UN report that highlighted countries and organizations aren’t on track to meet their 2050 net-zero sustainability objectives, this day serves as a reminder for every individual to embrace environmental and sustainable practices.

At the individual level, there are many things that people can do to drive a sustainable future, such as reduce, reuse and recycle, minimize paper usage and embrace eco-friendly habits, like turning the tap off when brushing your teeth.

At an organizational level, there are also many responsible actions that can be taken to drive sustainable practices.

This World Sustainability Day, HCLTech Trends and Insights examines what HCLTech has been doing to contribute to the green cause.

Sustainability in action

1. From pedestrian-friendly streets to cycling lanes and golfcarts (electric vehicles), HCLTech campuses in India are free from single-use plastics and its paper waste is recycled and reused
2. Abiding by the rules set by the Indian government, it has adopted measures to dispose and has set a goal of ‘zero waste to landfill’ by 2025
3. HCLTech CSR Italy took part in the plastic free day in Rome and Milan, cleaning of plastic and waste in parks, beaches and local areas
4. After supporting India-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for the last eight years, HCLTech launched the HCLTech Grant in the Americas program in September and has committed $5 million over five years for the program. This will provide grants to NGOs combating climate change and restoring ecosystems and biodiversity across the Americas
5. In May 2022, HCLTech announced a partnership with UpLink with a $15 million investment over five years to drive a freshwater conservation and management agenda. Through the Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative, HCLTech is re-committing to accelerate multi-stakeholder collaboration and innovation in the global freshwater conservation space
6. Last year, HCLTech launched the Sustainability School to educate its 220,000+ employees about various aspects of sustainability. It currently hosts courses on climate change, waste management, green software, sustainability reporting, green marketing challenge and UN Global Compact Academy
7. Awarded five-star Garbage Free City rating in Swachh Survekshan in 2021, HCL Foundation’s Clean Noida campaign contributed significantly to making Noida India’s cleanest medium city
8. Winner of Cisco Global Digital Sustainability Challenge, HCLTech Net Zero Intelligent Operations (NIO) solution developed by IoT WoRKS™ is HCLTech’s first comprehensive sustainability focused solution that’s an enterprise-wide energy and GHG emission management solution. The solution helps enterprises become more sustainable, cost and energy efficient in their endeavor to reduce their carbon emissions and contribute to their net zero goals
9. With the green data center methodology and implementations, HCLTech has attained close to 80% virtualization for its enterprise customers. This enabled customers to successfully assess facility, technology and management, focus on green procurement, e-waste recycling programs, new DC design, power and cooling management along with reporting, monitoring and management
10. In May 2019, the HCL Foundation also signed an MoU with National Mission for Clean Ganga and Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage to ramp up afforestation. The green initiative included the plantation of 10,000 saplings of native tree species in five years.