Harsha Saxena says Net Zero is shifting from ambition to execution

Industry leaders meeting in Bengaluru said the biggest Net Zero barrier is no longer awareness, but the hard work of turning climate goals into procurement, financing, technology and workforce decisions. The discussion, led by Harsha Saxena at the IICSR–NAB-MEPSC CSO Roundtable 2026, pointed to AI, supply chains, green finance and talent gaps as the next pressure points.

Why it matters: - Net Zero is moving from a communications and reporting exercise to an operational test. - Companies now face pressure to turn climate commitments into action across procurement, finance, technology and supply chains. - The gap between sustainability goals and execution is emerging as a key barrier to scaling climate solutions beyond pilots.

What happened: - Industry leaders gathered at the IICSR–NAB-MEPSC CSO Roundtable 2026 in Bengaluru. - Participants came from SAP, IBM, HSBC, Brigade Group, Flipkart Group, Amadeus Software Labs, climate-tech firms, sustainability consultancies and social-sector organisations. - Harsha Saxena, founder and CEO of IICSR Group and convenor of the dialogue, said the climate transition now needs implementation systems, not more debate about why sustainability matters. - The roundtable focused on how Net Zero is increasingly becoming an execution challenge rather than an awareness challenge.

The details: - Participants said sustainability is still too often confined to ESG or CSR teams, even though results are shaped by procurement, engineering, manufacturing, finance, IT and supply-chain decisions. - Prof. Abhishek Ranjan said organisational culture matters because sustainability must show up in everyday employee behaviour and operational choices. - Leadership alignment also came up as a deciding factor, with board and CEO priorities shaping whether sustainability becomes operationally actionable. - Procurement was identified as one of the biggest bottlenecks for green innovation. - Climate-tech entrepreneurs said procurement systems often prioritise cost, reliability, scale and contract performance over sustainability. - Participants said vendor evaluation frameworks should include sustainability criteria and lifecycle value, not just upfront cost. - The discussion also turned to AI and digital infrastructure. - Participants warned that wider use of generative AI is increasing energy demand from data centres and computing systems. - Topics included green software engineering, carbon-aware computing and energy-efficient AI design. - Abhishek Ranjan said the carbon cost of enterprise AI is often hidden because everyday inefficiencies are not measured. - He argued that AI sustainability will depend on both cleaner infrastructure and lower unnecessary computation. - Brigade Group’s Dr. Pradeep Kumar Rao said Net Zero buildings require integrated systems for materials, energy, water and lifecycle management, which can raise costs. - He cited one case where sustainability features added about ₹200 per square foot. - Rao said green buildings need lower operating costs and better efficiency to win market acceptance. - Brigade Citrine was cited as an example of a project with emissions well below benchmark levels. - Climate-tech entrepreneurs described a “pilot trap,” where companies support demonstrations but fail to move solutions into large-scale procurement. - The roundtable said commercialisation is essential for climate impact because innovations still must compete on price, performance, reliability and supply capacity. - Green hydrogen was discussed as another area facing infrastructure and financing barriers. - Participants said large-scale adoption depends on renewable energy, financing, industrial pilots, logistics infrastructure and policy certainty. - SMEs and supply chains were flagged as a risk area for Scope 3 emissions management. - Smaller suppliers often lack the resources, expertise and data systems to meet sustainability expectations. - The talent gap was described as broader than a shortage of ESG specialists. - Future demand will also include procurement teams, engineers, finance professionals, operations managers and technology leaders with sustainability skills. - Dr. Sangeeta Mansur said sustainability must move from compliance to strategy to purpose. - She said the climate transition requires systems thinking and integrated decision-making across the organisation. - Participants also said sustainability must include water security, biodiversity, ecological restoration and inclusion, not carbon alone. - Dr. Rajesh M. S. of the National Association for the Blind, Karnataka, stressed the need for inclusive design so sustainability solutions remain accessible to all communities.

Between the lines: - The discussion suggests corporate sustainability is entering a harder phase, where commitments alone are no longer enough. - Many of the barriers are structural, not technical. - Procurement systems, financing models, internal skills and leadership priorities can all determine whether climate ideas scale or stall. - The emphasis on AI, green buildings and supply-chain emissions shows how Net Zero is spreading beyond traditional ESG reporting into core business operations.

What's next: - Further CSO Roundtables are planned in Goa, Pune, Mumbai and Delhi. - Outcomes from those sessions are expected to feed into the International Net Zero Summit 2027. - Participants also discussed a Green Business Corridor to link sustainability problems with climate-tech solutions, procurement, financing and training pathways. - Harsha Saxena said the aim is to build implementation infrastructure, not another networking platform.

The bottom line: - Net Zero now looks less like an ambition problem and more like an execution test for companies, supply chains and the systems that support them.