Greenpeace outside Airtel headquarters to 'Switch off diesel'

The activists displayed the sign "Switch off Diesel" at the company headquarters as a reminder of the demand made on the leader to shift. Close to 50, 000 supporters have already signed a petition asking Airtel to go clean.

Greenpeace representative had a meeting with Bharti Airtel's representative on the above demand after the demonstration on Wednesday. Though the telecom giant has agreed to meet and discuss the issue, they are still non-committal on the demand.

"Bharti Airtel has a real opportunity to set an example for telecom operators in India by extending their spirit of leadership and showing that businesses can flourish being powered by renewable energy sources" said Mrinmoy Chattaraj, Campaigner, Climate and Energy, Greenpeace India.

"The company's failure to respond specifically to key issues on their carbon and energy management has left us with no choice but be here and ask them to act on their professed commitments" he added.

Earlier, on May 18, Greenpeace released its report "Dirty Talking- Case for telecom to shift to renewable", which exposed how the subsidy on diesel has been aggressively exploited by the telecom sector, resulting in an annual loss of around Rs 2600 crore to the state exchequer.

However, the report also shows how the sector can become a transformative force by adopting renewable energy for their business operations and advocating for economy wide climate and energy solutions.

In conclusion, Chattaraj said: "This is also a tremendous opportunity for Bharti Airtel to act on its professed commitments and differentiate itself from other corporations and the lip service that is routinely paid to the issues of sustainability and sustainable growth."

Greenpeace has been demanding Airtel to-

. Publicly disclosing the carbon emissions of its entire business operation and establish progressive emission reduction targets

. Commit to shift the sourcing of 50% of its energy requirements towards renewable energy sources and phase out diesel use in its business operations by 2015

. Catalyse a low-carbon economy wide growth, by using its brand power to advocate for strong policies that promote renewable energy