Indian companies seem to have taken the lead in ensuring a greener future, with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd reducing 4 lakh tonne of CO2 emissions annually over the past four years and ONGC going for four clean development mechanism projects to reduce 1.20 lakh tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions annually.
These are just two examples of how companies are taking initiative in measuring, reporting and managing GHG emissions, according to Carbon Disclosure Project 2009: India 200, which was released on Thursday.
The charge to mitigate climate change is led at the board level in 73% companies. While 55% companies engage with policy makers on climate change, 68% companies have emission reduction/ energy reduction plans in place. Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) approached top 200 Indian companies by market capitalisation. Forty-four companies from across 13 sectors responded, including 11 companies that did not want their information to be made public.
Talking to FE, CDP chief operating officer Paul Simpson said, “The reason for lack of response from most companies has been attributed to the facts that they either dont have risk management strategies in place or dont see opportunities in making transition to a low-carbon path.” It’s more than made up by the quality of responses, he emphasised. The quality of information has improved substantially over the last year, highlighting the assessment of perceived risks and measures put in place for adaptation and mitigation to climate change.
Saying that more and more companies have started looking at problems as opportunities, he added, “Regulation is seen as an opportunity to make investment in clean technology, which could lead to enhanced efficiency and development of new products and solutions in the parent company as well as the supply chain.” Its borne out by the figures. While 34% companies see regulatory risks, 84% companies see regulatory opportunities.
The report, brought out in partnership with WWF-India and CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development, is important because Carbon Disclosure Project claims backing of 475 investors, including IDBI, IDFC and Yes Bank, with assets of $55 trillion.
Source: The Financial Express
Published on 5 December 2009