Back to resources

WestBridge Capital and Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies in research centre tie-up

Climate & Biodiversity | Oct 1, 2019

Private equity firm WestBridge Capital and Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies have jointly committed Rs 5.5 crore to set up two new centres at the Bengaluru-based research institution, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE).

The two will engage with policy leaders on issues such as climate change and look at using the research grant to offer sustainable business opportunities for local communities.

The Centre for Policy Design and Centre for Social and Environmental Innovation — to be set up at ATREE’s campus — will focus on research and formulation of sustainable and scalable policies to address socio-environmental problems. They are expected to tackle critical problems such as invasive species, climate management, and food systems.

“We need to do more research and also create an environment where the research leads to better policy making,” Rohini Nilekani, who is also a board member of ATREE, said. ATREE is among India’s few environmental organisations that do research over long periods to understand the impact of shifts in environment, which is valuable when faced with climate change, she said. Sandeep Singhal, MD of WestBridge Capital, said the growing conversation about climate change triggered the grant to promote environment related issues.

“The situation is like everyone’s house is on fire,” Singhal said. “(Influencing) policies take time, it requires investment”. ATREE, besides providing policy inputs to tackle environmental degradation, is also looking to provide sustainable income for local communities living near forests. It also has set up programmes to commercially exploit invading species such as Lantana in Biligiriranga hills in Karnataka.

“With biodiversity, water and climate change being our focus areas, we intend to look at issues from an interdisciplinary standpoint and to put the research to use to address real world problems. In fact, the Westbridge and Rohini’s initiative to fund the project has triggered interest among other funders too, with whom we are seeing potential participation in future,” Nitin Pandit, director of ATREE, said.

PDF

More like this

Climate & Biodiversity

Stop the waste from burying us: State or society is usually blamed, but let’s look upstream at producers of waste

You cannot walk or drive more than a few metres in any Indian city without encountering mounds of rubbish. Even in our villages, you will find garbage billowing around fields, piling up along roads or even lining the forest floor. At many beaches, you are as likely to find your toes tickled by strands of […]
Feb 6, 2018 | Article

Climate & Biodiversity  |  Strategic Philanthropy

Climate Action and Impact: A Decade of Insights

This is an edited version of Rohini Nilekani in conversation with Prashanth Prakash at the launch of ACT for Environment at the ACT Summit. The ACT Summit brings together India’s leading startup founders, venture capitalists and changemakers to talk about how we can leverage inventive startup assets and ideas to enable social change. In 2021, […]
Mar 4, 2021 |

Climate & Biodiversity  |  COVID-19

Closing Event at Contagion - Science Gallery Bengaluru

Phase one of Science Gallery Bengaluru’s exhibition-season CONTAGION phase came to a close Sunday 13 June, 2021, with closing remarks by Rohini Nilekani. The COVID-19 pandemic has sent alarm bells ringing throughout the world. While we have witnessed great socio-political and economic turbulence since the start of this pandemic, we’ve also seen a renewal of […]
Jun 13, 2021 |

Climate & Biodiversity  |  Strategic Philanthropy

A Conversation With Philanthropist Rohini Nilekani

This is an edited version of Rohini Nilekani’s conversation with NatureinFocus Founder Rohit Varma and Kalyan Varma about her thoughts on the importance of conservation, how to reach younger generations, and her love for the environment and a certain black panther in Kabini. I was born in Mumbai in ‘59 and my childhood was spent […]
Jan 9, 2021 |