AndPurpose Impact Forum 2025 Drives Climate and Social Change

The AndPurpose Impact Forum, a carbon-neutral event held recently in New Delhi, convened a diverse group of social entrepreneurs, sustainability experts, and thought leaders to address some of India’s most urgent social and environmental challenges.

Organised by AndPurpose, a prominent social impact organisation, the forum focused on climate action, impact-driven finance, sustainable urban and rural development, and the critical role of education in nurturing environmental awareness.

The forum began with a welcome address from Kamna Hazrati, founder of AndPurpose, who outlined the need to identify systemic challenges and co-create long-term solutions. The tone was set for collaborative action and purpose-driven dialogue.

Delivering the keynote address, Sudarshan Suchi, Chief Development Officer at Reliance Foundation, underlined the importance of staying connected to grassroots realities. “Titles will come and go, but when you keep your feet on the ground and live the reality, you find your real purpose,” he said. He emphasised that active community participation is key to solving complex social problems like poverty and inequality.

One of the forum’s standout aspects was its status as a carbon-neutral event, a rarity in India’s event landscape. All emissions generated through travel, logistics, and operations were offset in partnership with sustainability champions ENEN Green and Grow Billion Trees. This move aligns with AndPurpose’s commitment to environmental stewardship and serves as a model for eco-conscious event planning in India.

Shenoy Mathew, Chief Sustainability Officer at Arya.ag, called for a mindset shift in agri-supply chains. He urged industry players to move from project-based thinking to people-first approaches aligned with actual needs on the ground.

Subhadeep Sanyal, Partner at Omnivore VC, echoed these sentiments, highlighting critical gaps in agri-waste management, rural innovation, and R&D deployment. He stressed the importance of taking innovation out of labs and into farmers’ hands, while also flagging funding limitations as a major challenge to scaling rural impact.

The session on impact financing sparked dynamic discussions on the future of funding social ventures. Snehal Verma, Co-Founder of NatureDots, raised concerns about the drift in the sector’s mission. “The impact investment space has lost sight of its core objective. We need to rewire it to deliver actual impact and operational support,” she noted.

Shiva Shanker, Partner at Ankur Capital, provided a comprehensive breakdown of financing mechanisms—from grants to impact bonds—and stressed the importance of creative financial instruments to ensure the viability of purpose-driven enterprises.

Shalini Singh, Co-Founder of the People’s Archive of Rural India, focused on the disproportionate impact of urbanisation. Referring to the Yamuna River’s pollution, she noted, “Only 1.6 percent of the river flows through Delhi, but it contributes to 76 percent of the pollution. That tells you everything about poor city planning.” Her remarks served as a wake-up call on India’s unsustainable urban growth trajectory.

A key theme at the forum was clean energy access and climate education. Shalu Agrawal, Director of Programmes at CEEW, welcomed the government’s PM Surya Ghar Scheme, aimed at solarising 10 million homes. However, she warned that financial hurdles remain the biggest barrier to mass rooftop solar adoption.

Agrawal also called for climate education to be integrated into school curricula, arguing that teaching sustainability from a young age is crucial to creating an environmentally literate society.

Representing the corporate sector, Byju Kurian, CSR Head at Bisleri, outlined the company’s “Bisleri Greener Promise”, which focuses on plastic recycling, water conservation, and circular economy practices. He urged companies to approach CSR not as a tick-box activity but as an opportunity to bring transformational value to business and society.

Closing the event, Kamna Hazrati reflected on the urgent need for collaboration across sectors. “India is at a unique crossroads, economically thriving but facing deep social and environmental challenges. We need changemakers, policymakers, and businesses to act together. The time is now,” she declared.

The AndPurpose Impact Forum 2025 succeeded not only in sparking dialogue but also in laying the groundwork for collective, sustainable action in a rapidly changing world.