Only 29 of the top-50 private companies in the country have a time-bound target to become carbon-neutral as part of the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDG), a report said on Monday. According to the 'Capri Global Capital Hurun India Impact 50', only 14 of the 50 top companies have reported their achievements under all 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) adopted by the global body to tackle the impact of climate change.
Declaring the target to become zero carbon emitting company is considered to be a vital step towards India's commitment towards becoming carbon-neutral by 2070.
The report said only 29 companies on the list of 50 have a time-bound targets to achieve the goal.
ITC and Infosys have already achieved the target in 2006 and 2020, respectively, it said in a statement.
Cipla and
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone were mentioned among the ones having the target to achieve
carbon neutrality by 2025. Besides, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ultratech Cement, Hindustan Zinc and
Tech Mahindra have implemented an internal carbon pricing policy to reduce emissions.
Aditya Birla Group company
Grasim Industries topped the list for its efforts for SDGs like zero hunger, gender equality, climate action, responsible consumption and production. Grasim Industries was followed by Tech Mahindra which has spent on industry, innovation and infrastructure, the statement said.
"Climate action" emerged as the top focus area for the companies on the list with 41 entities from diverse sectors like cement, software and services, metals and mining, and financial services working on the agenda. Responsible consumption and production came second with 31 companies making efforts in those areas.
Hindustan Unilever led the list of companies with the highest number of measurable time-bound targets focusing on eight SDG pillars. HUL was followed by Tech Mahindra and ITC having seven SDGs each.
"The list indicates that India Inc is actively pursuing structural updates to systematically measure and report sustainability goals. We hope that the list will inspire more companies to further align their business operations with UN sustainable development goals," Hurun India's managing director and chief researcher
Anas Rahman Junaid said.
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