To study the implications of climate control measures adopted by Indian corporate and to ascertain the value generated out of such measures, if any

Abstract

Climate change is being considered as one of the most important issues these days with the world already being aware of the devastating effects it can have, if we continue to neglect it. The rising awareness the world over has been a result of regulatory requirements coupled with the pressure from the stakeholders and the ability of global businesses in realizing commercial benefits out of the climate change initiatives. Firms have not only tried to reduce their own carbon footprint, but they also tried to affect others involved in doing business with them in turn leading to an impact much greater in saving the environmental deterioration in terms of Global warming and climate change. India being a developing country is still struggling with understanding the issue and its implications. The focus of the economy is more on the growth and its drive towards becoming a developed nation and the issue of climate change, though acknowledged by India Inc. as one of the most important issues to deal with, is yet to get its fair share in the strategic planning for the corporate sector. The systems and regulatory norms are not yet well developed so as to take care of the entire sectors on its own and much is left to the initiatives corporate are willing to take on their own. With the signing up of Kyoto Protocol, it now offers a lot of opportunities to a country like India, which was previously only facing the risks of sanctions against it, because the world environmental conservation agencies were even advocating trade sanctions against economies that do not demonstrate significant actions in this direction. Most of the Indian companies are aware of the criticality of the issue, but are yet to measure their carbon footprint which is the first step from where they would be able to turn around and make a difference. So, as mix of risks and opportunities, the issue of climate change started gaining popularity in India and different sectors took it in a different spirit. Our secondary data indicated that on an overall level, it was either regulations driven or was more of a brand building initiative for the companies and had little to do with the real business value it generates. They will get into the climate change initiatives once the regulations compel them to do so. For in depth analysis, we finally selected two sectors which have high perceived risks and also had the ability to make a difference as has been proved in the global scenario. There sectors were power (utilities) and banking (financial services).