Systems approach to environment, social and governance (ESG): Case of Reliance industries

Abstract

In the 21st Century, societal welfare has captured global imagination and companies are encouraged to participate in this process. The paper aims to study how professional acculturation and appropriate capital is leading to the advance agenda of sustainability through the actions and initiatives of corporates considering the ESG initiatives and gauge the effectiveness of resulting responsible actions by all social actors through an assessment based on national ranking system for ESG disclosures and sustainability in Indian context. Reliance industries Limited (RIL) has been chosen to study system approach because it has been aligning its initiatives with regulations on ESG and such investments made by the companies attract socially conscious investors and create value within their portfolios. Systems approach has been adopted to highlight environmental and socially responsible initiatives undertaken by Reliance Industries, a large Indian multinational. Considering the ESG structure as a processing framework, we have tried to propose how an initiative (input) can be turned as an outcome (output) to benefit the society at large, through a case study. We propose system input and output methodology through efficient strategies to conquer good health, education, development, safety, energy, environment and climate protection. RIL has undertaken various ESG initiatives such as energy and water conservation, upliftment of community and initializing educational programs, adhering to various legal compliance and health and safety measures. On comparing RIL performance with top ten companies highlights that RIL has to go a long way in terms of environmental performance. Adopting system approach using ESG structures will serve RIL as a potential benchmark to the Indian corporate sector and emerging world towards spreading awareness and achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs).