Mumbai, Apr 13 (PTI) Of the top 300 listed companies, only 78 disclosed their commitments towards achieving net-zero carbon emission status under their environmental, social, and governance provisions in the last three financial years, a report said on Wednesday.
A study by Care Advisory Research and Training covered the corporate sustainability disclosures of these 300 companies across 11 key sectors over the last three fiscals. These companies have a combined market capitalisation of Rs 221 lakh crore or 90 per cent of the market cap of the top 1,000 listed firms.
In FY21, the number of companies making net-zero commitments was only 26 per cent of these top 300 but the number has doubled over FY20 and is at four times the number in FY19.
This trend is heartening as it gives a fillip to the country’s commitments towards becoming carbon-neutral and achieve net-zero emissions by 2070, the report said.
About 20 per cent of these companies are in the services sector, comprising largely IT and financial sector entities, and have committed to net-zero status compared to 30 per cent in the manufacturing sector led by materials, industrials and utilities.
However, the targets set by the service sector entities are steeper given their intrinsic low emission levels, and most of them aim at achieving net-zero status in the next 10-15 years compared to an average of 30 years for manufacturing entities, it said.
Markets regulator Sebi’s push towards increased sustainability disclosures through business reporting and sustainability report, which is mandatory for the top 1,000 listed companies from FY23, is expected to increase corporates’ focus on their emission intensity and alignment with the country’s goals on net-zero status over the next few years, the report added. PTI BEN HVA HVA HVA
