Climate concerns gaining traction in boardrooms

Study finds 81% of 320 firms analysed has integrated climate change into core biz strategy

As the world grapples with the threats from climate change, the business community has been called on to play a greater role. The hope is that more firms from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector will take the lead as ICT occupies a unique position.

Despite being a sector that has an increasing carbon footprint, it can also help other sectors reduce their impact.

"The ICT sector, while not the largest, is still a significant contributor to carbon emissions. ICT firms can create significant competitive advantages for themselves by fashioning a comprehensive sustainability strategy. In turn, ICT's cascading effect on other sectors by virtue of its value chain linkages cannot be underestimated," said P D Jose, Professor of Corporate Strategy and Policy Area, IIM Bangalore.

"A more sustainable ICT sector would drive its adjacent sectors onto a more sustainable growth trajectory. Policy makers could leverage this linkage to reduce an economy's overall emissions," he added.

"Saying yes to videoconferencing, incentivising energy-efficient practices of employees, consolidating operations in energy-efficient locations are some of the many things that the ICT firms are doing to reduce carbon emissions," said Damandeep Singh, Director, CDP India, at the release of the report 'ICT Sector's Role in Climate Change Mitigation' at IIM Bangalore on Thursday.

CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project India), in association with IIM Bangalore, has analysed responses from top ICT companies from across 35 countries, which include Infosys, TCS and Wipro along with global majors like Accenture, BT, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Vodafone among others.

The report, released by IIMB Director Sushil Vachani, has an encouraging highlight - concern for climate change is establishing itself in the corporate boardroom conversations.

The report notes that 81% of the 320 global ICT companies analysed have integrated climate change into their core business strategy and over 40% them have managed to reduce their carbon footprint.

While Wipro has consolidated operations in energy-efficient locations, Infosys has set voluntary goals to reduce energy and water consumption in its daily operations.

The report covers the state of preparedness of the ICT sector in addressing the intensifying climate change, major risks and opportunities presented by climate change for the sector, carbon emissions trends in the Indian ICT sector, best practices examples of how leading companies in the sector are managing these threats and exploiting the emerging opportunities.

"Climate concerns are increasingly influencing corporate strategy and finding greater traction at the board level. Reducing carbon emissions continues to dominate corporate agendas with a majority of firms setting emission reduction targets and focusing on quantifying impacts and financial implications of climate change on their businesses," added Singh.

"Even though over 40% of companies report a decrease in absolute emissions there still is a sizeable group which is not geared up yet to manage risks arising from climate change and could get left behind by their proactive peers. This report emphasises the need for more concerted efforts to monitor and facilitate corporate disclosures of climate change related information," he said.