We caught up with Srini, CEO and Founder of Agvesto, a platform to mobilise parametric insurance and climate investments worldwide.
What is your ethnic and professional background?
I was born in India and have lived in the UK since the early 2000s. I hold a doctorate in Electrical Engineering.
What inspired you to act as a catalyst for sustainable practice? Is there a particular story you can share?
I am passionate about natural resources and how we as a community are using them. With climate change posing challenges to the communities worldwide, sustainability is a topic that dominates every country’s policy, objectives and implementation programmes.
For me personally, an ability to transform a community using a business idea is fascinating and most of my startup businesses have had strong focus in micro-finance, poverty alleviation and sustainability.
When I grew up, I noticed how monsoon season cyclones can destroy communities who have very little protection for their livelihood. As a result, the children especially face huge disruption in their education and it is something that struck me about the need to create resilience for everyone.
Can you tell me a bit about your work in the agricultural/ insurance industry via Agvesto?
Agvesto started with a mission to transform the way capital markets and insurance markets interact with Agriculture as a sector. We have mobilised alternative insurance protection products to farmers worldwide, to protect their crops and build resilience against climate related threats.
The biggest learning till date has been the ability for our business to be able to differentiate different parts of the agricultural value chain and crops, to create bespoke parametric insurance offerings.
Being South Asian, did you face any backlash about your career choice from family, friends or society at large?
Agvesto was born by blending the skills I have learnt with engineering, science, finance and technology towards sustainability and environment.
South Asians are known for their affinity towards food. So we had nothing but positive feedback from the family, friends and society to ensure that businesses enable farmers and food producers to achieve sustainability and longevity.
How have you actively changed your daily practice to be more sustainable?
Sustainability starts with the general recognition that the consumption of resources needs to be optimal and should come at a win-win basis. The resources we consume from the planet do have natural support systems and when they are under distress, our lives will change for the worse.
In order to ensure that we promote sustainability, we have not only adopted good business practice, but on a personal level I’ve made changes by:
- Sourcing renewable energy supplies for my home
- Practice recycling
- Purchasing sustainable focussed food products and clothing.
Do you feel there is a stigma or lack of understanding of the climate crisis amongst South Asian communities? What do you believe the blockers to be and how would you go about solving the issues?
South Asian communities very much appreciate the need for climate resilience especially with recent floods in 2015 and 2017 in southern India and increased heatwaves and droughts. The priorities at a micro level still focus heavily on social sustainability i.e. communities.
With climate change at the forefront in recent years, the interlink between environmental and social sustainability has become stronger. At the consumer level, this awareness needs to be increased with policies that are SDG (sustainable development goal) focussed and also in long term resilience building.
You touched on change needing to be inclusive and relevant to each group of the population. How would you practically implement this?
I’d implement this by reaching lower socio-economic groups for example and empowering their lives by bringing capital and insurance to them, providing the protection everyone deserves. This is what drives Agvesto and my journey as an entrepreneur.
Implementation of ideas targeted towards rural and marginal group empowerment requires patience and business ability, to create simple minded innovations that work for them and are truly effective.
We spoke about your thoughts about the carbon-intensive nature of the Bollywood/Tollywood film industry – what are the solutions? Who needs to be engaged?
The movie and entertainment industry has been laggard in embracing sustainable practices compared to the other industries.
However, they have the potential to transform millions of lives with their messaging and appeal. There are opportunities to assist the entertainment industry with sustainable instruments, so that their overall contribution to the green economy in India can be increased. For this change to happen, active engagement needs to happen at an industry level.
What advice would you give to younger generations in relation to sustainability and the environment?
The younger generations have the advantage of learning various new trends and technological developments via the internet, faster than previous generations.
Their ability to appreciate the needs towards a sustainable planet for everyone will continue to be the most important theme in the coming years. If they are able to inspire the community around them with their talent, we as a nation will undoubtedly achieve our sustainable development goals.
Connect with Srini on LinkedIn
South Asians for Sustainability 