Why is climate on the agenda of more and more companies? Is it because they fear that global warming will endanger the planet? Or is it because they fear it will hurt their business? Or is it because they smell gold in going green?
The proponents of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a non-profit effort to get more and more companies across the globe to report their greenhouse gas emissions, feel that in India, as elsewhere, a mix of the last two factors is goading companies to find greener ways of doing business.
According to the latest CDP report on Indian companies, of the 44 companies which agreed to disclose data on their greenhouse gas emissions, 84 per cent saw opportunities in the climate crisis while only 34 per cent saw risks.
The chief operating officer of the project, Paul Simpson, says this is a positive sign. He admits that the main aim of companies taking action on climate change is to make money. He says this is not a bad thing. If money-making leads to positive actions, why not? And, if positive actions lead to more money, why not?
The number of respondents, however, went down this year. While the number of companies participating in the CDP in 2008 was 51, it went down to 44 in 2009. But the percentage of companies giving an account of their greenhouse gas emissions doubled to 63 per cent (24 companies). In 2008, only 33 per cent (17) respondents had disclosed their greenhouse gas emissions. Better still is the fact that the total greenhouse gas emissions reported stood at 68.9 million metric tonnes, almost double the emissions reported in the last two years.
This, the report says, clearly reflects the better capacity of Indian companies to monitor their greehouse gas footprint. More importantly, the comprehensiveness of monitoring has improved. The introduction of mandatory disclosure of energy consumption by energy-intensive units also made a significant contribution, said the report.
Simpson attributes the decline in the number of respondents to economic recession. Also, he says, the bar for participation is getting higher. The quality of data required needs more details than what many companies are ready to provide.
The one grey area is absence of any verification of the claims made. Simpson says this is taken care of by the fact that the project has 475 investors. These top financial institutions and companies won’t lie to their investors.
Companies are adopting more accurate methodologies for reporting and measurement and even providing break-downs of their greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate is not just window-dressing any more. It is business.
Hence, more Indian companies have put in place plans to reduce emissions. Simpson said 68 per cent of the respondents had reduction plans in place. This is up from 61 per cent last year.
So, does it matter if all is not well with climate?
