NürnbergMesse India: Sustainable supply chains as a game changer

NürnbergMesse India 2023 kicked off its second decade of existence with a flagship project. The new "Sustainable Supply Chains India" (SSCI) conference in New Delhi is focussing on the supply chains of the future - they should become more sustainable and at the same time promote environmentally and socially responsible business practices.

Written by Reinhold Gebhart

Group posing for a photo in front of the "Sustainable Supply Chains India" banner.

Sustainability is no longer just a buzzword, it is a global imperative. At its premiere, the SSCI focussed on the areas of food, mobility, energy and health. Four key sectors that all play an important role in society and the economy, shape our daily lives and represent powerful levers for sustainable change.

More than 200 leading sustainability experts, industry stakeholders, supply chain managers, researchers and policy makers came together to discuss critical and relevant topics and network with industry leaders.

Catalyst for innovation and positive change

For Sonia Prashar, Managing Director of NürnbergMesse India since its foundation, sustainability is a topic close to her heart: "The challenges of building sustainable supply chains are great, but so are the potential benefits." For her, the new format is "a catalyst for innovation and positive change." This desired change was evident in numerous areas at the first SSCI: Digital sustainability, circular economy, logistics, healthcare, e-mobility and the role of green hydrogen in decarbonising supply chains. The level of interest among the experts was matched by the level of support for the event from prominent institutions and organisations from the fields of science, industry and politics.

Panel discussion on the circular economy in India during a conference. — In the panel discussion, the participants will explain India's initiatives to develop sustainable production and measures to combat climate change.

Prioritising action against climate change

The new event in New Delhi is not taking place in a vacuum. India, which aims to become the third largest economy by the end of this decade, has been focussing on the development of sustainable production for years with initiatives such as "Make in India", "Atmanirbhar Bharat", "Zero Defect & Zero Effect" and the "National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture" and has prioritised measures to combat climate change.

Managers of Indian companies are also showing initiative: 81 per cent have increased their investments in sustainability compared to the previous year and eight out of ten are also stepping up their efforts to make the supply chain more sustainable. NürnbergMesse India closes the circle. Sonia Prashar: "We are contributing to these initiatives with platforms for sustainable offerings and technologies such as BIOFACH INDIA as well as the sustainable organisation of trade fairs and now also the SSCI."

NürnbergMesse leads by example

Sustainability is also always taken into account at the parent company in Nuremberg. In its first sustainability report in 2021, NürnbergMesse documented its more than ten-year commitment to sustainability and social responsibility: The energy offensive to save electricity and heat energy, Halls 3A and 3C as beacons for sustainable construction, the expansion of photovoltaics for its own renewable power plant infrastructure, which began in 2023.

Customers benefit from this when attending the trade fair - through reusable exhibition stand concepts, 100 per cent green electricity on the exhibition grounds and food from regional cultivation in the catering. And this commitment is recognised - with the highest platinum seal of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), inclusion in the German Sustainability Code (DNK) and fairpflichtet, the sustainability code for the event industry, and most recently with the ISO 14001 certificate for the environmental management system from the German TÜV Süd.

"As a company, we are guided by the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) of the United Nations and act accordingly," emphasises NürnbergMesse CEO Peter Ottmann. "This makes it all the more important for us to sensitise national and international partners, customers and employees to the issue of sustainability." The successful première of the SSCI represents a further step along this path.

Find out more about sustainability at NürnbergMesse

Author

Reinhold Gebhart

Online-Redaktion // Editor for Vincentz Network