Indian companies set bold emission reduction targets

This was the observation of Carbon Disclosure Project-India’s (CDP) annual report of 2018, titled “Corporates #StepUp Climate Action”. The CDP is an international non-profit that drives companies and governments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

In India, 25 companies committed to science-based targets in alignment with the Paris Agreement by December 2018, propelling the country to the fifth position after the US, Japan, Britain and France in corporate climate action. Of these, Wipro, Hindustan Zinc Ltd and Mahindra Sanyo have approved targets.

In 2018, 52 Indian companies responded to CDP’s climate change questionnaire, of which eight companies came forward on their own volition to disclose their climate impact to the CDP.

Their responses were analysed through the fresh lens of governance and strategy, including scenario analysis, risks and opportunities, emissions and targets, engagement with value chain and verification and assurance, said the CDP. Fifty companies have board-level oversight of climate-related issues of their operations and 44 of them provide incentives to the management for achieving targets.

To guide their climate oversight, 40 per cent of the Indian companies either used the two degrees scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or India’s Nationally Determined Contributions for their climate-related scenario analysis.