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India’s New ESG Rules To Address Corporate Green Washing

Under India's new ESG rules, corporates will have to provide data on more than 120 metrics, including from the past two years.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>Photovoltaic panels at a solar farm in Pavagada, Karnataka. (Photo: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)</p></div>
Photovoltaic panels at a solar farm in Pavagada, Karnataka. (Photo: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

India’s new environmental rules will help eliminate green washing by requiring companies to submit detailed emissions data starting next fiscal year, according to KPMG India’s ESG head.

Under the rules, corporates will have to provide data on more than 120 metrics, including from the past two years. The new norms are expected to improve transparency with investors and the government, said Shivananda Shetty, partner and lead at KPMG India’s ESG and Climate Change practice. 

Collecting more data “would definitely help address green washing,” Shetty told Bloomberg Television in an interview on Friday.  

KPMG Partner and Head of ESG Practice Shivananda Shetty discusses India new ESG reporting requirements that will come into play next fiscal year and impact the country’s top 1,000 listed companies. He speaks to Rishaad Salamat and Haslinda Amin on “Bloomberg Markets Asia”.Source: Bloomberg
KPMG Partner and Head of ESG Practice Shivananda Shetty discusses India new ESG reporting requirements that will come into play next fiscal year and impact the country’s top 1,000 listed companies. He speaks to Rishaad Salamat and Haslinda Amin on “Bloomberg Markets Asia”.Source: Bloomberg

India’s stock markets regulator mandated the roll-out of new reporting standards for companies in May 2022. The government plans to compile information from the country’s top 1,000 companies starting April 1, 2023. The rules are intended to help India, the world’s third-largest polluter, cut emissions and meet a target of net zero emissions by 2070.

The new norms track with a global widening of disclosures sought by investors who want insight into how companies manage risks and improve governance and diversity in their workforces and value chains. India, which is expected to be among the hardest hit by climate change, ranked the lowest among 180 countries in the World Economic Forum’s latest Environmental Performance Index.

Shetty said the rules, which may extend to unlisted companies in the future, will push smaller firms to report on how they plan to mitigate or adapt to climate risks, along with describing the costs of those steps.

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