ESG Reporting: Environmental Dimension Disclosures by Large Energy Sector Companies in India

Abstract

Reporting about the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) dimensions of the business is fast becoming the norm for corporates the world over. Climate change is seen as the largest threat to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Given the importance of the energy sector and the impact it has on the environment, it was decided to explore the Environmental Dimension Disclosures (EDD) by the large energy sector (comprising of oil and gas; coal and power) companies in India. For this, content analysis of those energy sector companies was performed which have filed their Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reports (BRSR) with the National Stock Exchange of India. Filing of BRSR has been mandated for the largest 1000 companies in India by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) from the Financial Year 2022-2023 but was voluntary for the first year (2021-2022). The study provides a detailed analysis of which questions of the BRSR relating to the environmental dimension are answered and how. The main limitation of the study is that it does not include some of the large energy sector companies since they have not filed their BRSR as it was voluntary this year. However, the detailed analysis of reporting on the environmental issues such as reduction achieved in the energy and water intensity and GHG, other emissions and waste generated with reference to turnover, has implications for policies on these disclosures including sector-specific guidelines. This is the first study based on a detailed qualitative analysis of BRSR.