India's Journey of Sustainability

World Environment Day is led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and held annually on 5 June, since 1973. This event brings together millions of people from across the globe, engaging them in the effort to protect, replenish and restore the Earth. However, the climate clock is ticking, and the world needs more than an event to preserve the environment for posterity. Lofty ambitions, execution and calibration is needed at a global scale.

India, being the most populous country in the world and starkly the third largest greenhouse gases (GHG) emitter, has an additional responsibility of making long strides in the realm of sustainability. Reflective from its initiatives through various development programmes, India has taken pro-active approach in confronting climate challenges and meeting sustainable goals. India, standing on a precipice of massive economic growth, has indeed come a long way but has more ground to cover to achieve net zero by 2070.

Being a developing nation, India cannot divert all its resources to enable sustainable transition; rather the country needs to strike a balance between sustainable economic growth comprising meeting the demands of growing population with increasing marginal propensity to consume, energy security and affordability, and transition towards decarbonization, net zero and overall sustainability.

Initiatives taken by India, to name a few, in this metamorphosis:

1. Securities & Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI’s) push for corporates to report environment, social & governance (ESG) data via BRSR (Business Responsibility & Sustainability Reporting) standardised format encourages companies towards data disclosure transparency and propels them to limit the adverse consequences of their actions on the environment
2. SEBI’s license for ERP’s (ESG Ratings Providers) is another feather in the cap to enable standardization in the field of ESG ratings thereby instilling confidence in the stakeholders
3. National green hydrogen mission has been announced by India to make the country a global hub for the production, usage, and export of green hydrogen
4. Initiatives like Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, generation of Green Credits etc. are transpiring
5. India’s renewable energy capacity (5th largest solar market), currently standing at ~200GW including hydropower, is set to increase to 500GW targeted by 2030 (a significant annual addition of ~50GW). Renewable energy is expected to contribute around 30% by 2040
6. RBI’s proposed Disclosure framework on Climate-related Financial Risks will prod the banking sector to embed climate risks into their lending policy besides keeping a tab on their financed emissions
7. Introduction of and increased deployment of green finance products like sovereign green bonds, green deposits, sustainability liked loans etc.
8. The National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture encourages sustainable farming practices to enhance farmers' income, ensure food security, and promote eco-friendly farming practices

India is indeed on the path to achieve its sustainability targets; however, obstacles are galore including rising inflation, supply chain bottlenecks, lack of transition finance accessibility, MSME upskilling, energy affordability etc. All these can be overcome only if the government makes concentrated efforts to execute the ambitious targets along with partaking from the corporate world.

Hope the environment day invokes a sense of pride of how far the country has come in terms of its sustainable pathways and encourage the varies stakeholders to not be complacent and preserve the environment for future generations.

“On this World Environment Day, let us all commit to a sustainable planet for a habitable tomorrow. I urge all change makers to continue their collaborated efforts to protect and replenish our environment.” - CareEdge-ESG Chief Rating Officer, Deepak Prajapati