Mumbai, Apr 22: About seven in ten domestic companies, mostly the polluting ones spanning ten sectors, are confident of meeting their emission reduction goals, pushed by investors as also committed by the government at the last UN summit on climate change, according to a survey.
At the United Nation’s 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) held in the Scottish city of Glasgow last November, the government had committed to boosting the green goals further by pushing organizations to reduce emissions.
In a report released on the Earth Day (April 22), the Boston Consulting Group said its survey covered ten sectors — auto, cement, consumer goods, financial services, oil & gas, manufacturing, metals, power & utilities, professional services, and technology, including feedback from 143 CXOs.
The survey showed that 71 per cent of them are confident of meeting their green goals.
“When it comes to implementing and achieving the sustainability goals, a significant number of the companies said they face steep challenges in the form of technology in meeting the ESG data-related issues like real-time data integration, regulatory challenges such as want of standard regulations, and financial challenges like high cost of technologies and building a competitive cost,” Anirban Mukherjee, managing director and a partner at BCG India, told PTI.
Only when these roadblocks are resolved through regulatory norms and scalable innovative solutions, can organizations truly implement their sustainability efforts to bring about greater changes in the way they conduct their businesses, he added.
According to the survey, as much as 71 per cent of the respondents are confident of achieving the COP26 goals with an encouraging regulatory framework with aspects such as incentives for low carbon technologies, and carbon-pricing mechanisms.
Most respondents from cement, metals, and power and utilities industries are highly confident of achieving the sustainability goals.
The report notes that organizations are adopting sustainable business practices for select reasons including brand image, growth, and pressure from investors and stakeholders like rating agencies, customers and employees to meet the ESG (environmental, social, and governance) goals.
About 51 per cent of the respondents have ranked pressure from stakeholders as one of their top reasons to invest in sustainability initiatives, especially those focusing on ESG-based considerations, Mukherjee said citing the survey findings.
Companies have considerable understanding of sustainability and climate goals and are increasingly incorporating ESG considerations into their business decisions.
As much as 44 per cent of the respondents aim to comply with regulations and become a leader in sustainability and 45 per cent are clear on their emission reduction targets and are measuring their scope 1 and 2 emissions. Close to two-thirds (60 per cent) cement companies have finalized their net-zero target timeline and have set their periodic emission reduction targets.
The growing trend of shifting towards a sustainable lifestyle is also widening the opportunity window for all businesses as 55 per cent have suggested that their customers are willing to pay a premium for sustainable alternatives.
According to Mukherjee, businesses need to align their operations and production processes with standard sustainability norms and practices and they can begin this process by setting up their sustainability goals on a priority basis and identify their unique key performance indicators (KPIs) for monitoring and assessing the progress. (PTI)
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