Panel discussion featured Sustainability experts from organizations like Wipro, PwC India, The Coca-Cola Company and Moody’s RMS
24 July, 2023, Bengaluru: The Centre for Corporate Governance and Sustainability (CCGS) at IIM Bangalore hosted a virtual session on: ‘Amplifying the S in ESG: Net Zero to Net Impact’ on 13th July 2023.
The session included a panel discussion featuring Narayan P S, Global Head – Sustainability and Social Initiatives, Wipro Ltd; Madhura Mitra, Executive Director – Sustainability & Climate Change, PwC India; Rajesh Ayapilla, Director – CSR & Sustainability for India and Southwest Asia, The Coca-Cola Company, and Alok Kumar, Managing Director & Head – Global Analytical Services, Moody’s RMS.
Prof. Padmini Srinivasan, Chairperson, Centre for Corporate Governance and Sustainability and faculty from the Finance & Accounting area of IIM Bangalore, chaired the session and introduced the speakers. Greeta Verghese, Chief Operating Officer of the Centre for Corporate Governance and Sustainability, delivered the welcome address. Prof. Vasanthi Srinivasan, faculty of the Organizational Behavior & Human Resources Management area and Chairperson, Digital Learning, IIM Bangalore, moderated the session. She set the context of the session saying, “Today’s session would discuss some of the key points on how organizations currently perceive the ‘Social’ aspect in their Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) approach. Also, how organizations should look at the Social aspect – associating with multi-stakeholders, rather than with just employees, will also be looked into. Finally, the session will discuss how to move from Net Zero to Net Impact on the Social index and the way forward for ‘S’ in ESG.” She also referred to the global ESG survey conducted by BNP Paribas in which 51% of the participants were of the view that the ‘S’ in ESG is critical to be analyzed and should be embedded in investment strategies.
In his address, Narayan P S highlighted the importance of the ‘People’ aspect in the ‘3 Ps’ – People, Planet and Profit, of Sustainability. “The ‘S’ in ESG is not only related to people in an organization, but also covers its multi-stakeholders, that is, customers, suppliers and communities. It is also important that the ‘S’ is connected to the Environmental and the Governance policies, such as, the land acquisition process, codes of ethics, values and culture of an organization. Organizations across the country have started focusing on converting their energy footprint from thermal to renewable in their journey to reduce carbon emissions. Although the company can achieve Net Zero through this initiative, its contribution to society would be minimal and will have very little Net Impact on society”. He also pointed out that the way forward for ‘S’ would be to have a strong focus on the ‘People’ aspect across the ESG factors and involve them through meaningful and impactful programs, both inside and outside the organizations, to solve many of the complex problems of society.
Rajesh Ayapilla spoke about the increasing significance of ESG in the recent years among investors. “While the focus is predominantly on the ‘Environment’ part, particularly achieving Net Zero emissions, it is also equally significant to move from a Net Zero approach to a broader Net Impact perspective. This can help companies address social challenges and make a lasting positive impact on society and the community within which it operates. Coca-Cola India takes its entire supply chain and customers through a process called ‘Supplier Guiding Principles’, a protocol to audit suppliers, and puts them through the highest ethical and social standards as well as responsible business practices.” He also spoke about various social programs that his company has initiated relating to water conservation and enhancing water resilience, particularly in areas facing water-stress. “To be more effective in the ‘Social’ aspect of ESG, a company should play to its strength and engage in activities the company is comfortable with”, he added.
Madhura Mitra, sharing her practical experiences, observed that: “Balancing emissions by 2050 or 2070 as per the country’s target, means essentially the country has to come out of the coal value chain. However, we need to look at the future of millions of workers and society depending on the coal value chain and see if they are ready for the transition. We must carve out a road map for moving away from the coal-based economy to a net-zero economy. It has to be done by taking everyone together – corporates, NGOs, advisory agencies and the government”. She added that many of the companies focus more on the environment and less on society, and that even their CSR programs are not aligned to the overall environmental or climate change goals of their own organization or of the country. “It would be difficult to achieve the environmental goal without involving society and fulfilling the social goal of the organization”, she remarked.
Alok Kumar listed three key steps that a company can adopt to be socially responsible. “One is to constantly work to build a better business through embedding principled and sustainable decision-making in their corporate behavior and its operations across the value chain. Second, building better lives by fostering and nurturing an inclusive environment, not only for their employees but for communities. Thirdly, building better risk management solutions that address the current quantification need of the organization and also of society. Net Zero and Net Impact approach should go hand-in-hand in an organization. Net Zero is a good starting point; and it needs people’s involvement and a strong mindset and behavioral change to achieve Net Impact.”
The session held on 13th July was attended by more than 140 delegates covering industry, academia and NGO sectors.
Watch here: https://youtu.be/kY6TwPPEFj8
Panel discussion featured Sustainability experts from organizations like Wipro, PwC India, The Coca-Cola Company and Moody’s RMS
24 July, 2023, Bengaluru: The Centre for Corporate Governance and Sustainability (CCGS) at IIM Bangalore hosted a virtual session on: ‘Amplifying the S in ESG: Net Zero to Net Impact’ on 13th July 2023.
The session included a panel discussion featuring Narayan P S, Global Head – Sustainability and Social Initiatives, Wipro Ltd; Madhura Mitra, Executive Director – Sustainability & Climate Change, PwC India; Rajesh Ayapilla, Director – CSR & Sustainability for India and Southwest Asia, The Coca-Cola Company, and Alok Kumar, Managing Director & Head – Global Analytical Services, Moody’s RMS.
Prof. Padmini Srinivasan, Chairperson, Centre for Corporate Governance and Sustainability and faculty from the Finance & Accounting area of IIM Bangalore, chaired the session and introduced the speakers. Greeta Verghese, Chief Operating Officer of the Centre for Corporate Governance and Sustainability, delivered the welcome address. Prof. Vasanthi Srinivasan, faculty of the Organizational Behavior & Human Resources Management area and Chairperson, Digital Learning, IIM Bangalore, moderated the session. She set the context of the session saying, “Today’s session would discuss some of the key points on how organizations currently perceive the ‘Social’ aspect in their Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) approach. Also, how organizations should look at the Social aspect – associating with multi-stakeholders, rather than with just employees, will also be looked into. Finally, the session will discuss how to move from Net Zero to Net Impact on the Social index and the way forward for ‘S’ in ESG.” She also referred to the global ESG survey conducted by BNP Paribas in which 51% of the participants were of the view that the ‘S’ in ESG is critical to be analyzed and should be embedded in investment strategies.
In his address, Narayan P S highlighted the importance of the ‘People’ aspect in the ‘3 Ps’ – People, Planet and Profit, of Sustainability. “The ‘S’ in ESG is not only related to people in an organization, but also covers its multi-stakeholders, that is, customers, suppliers and communities. It is also important that the ‘S’ is connected to the Environmental and the Governance policies, such as, the land acquisition process, codes of ethics, values and culture of an organization. Organizations across the country have started focusing on converting their energy footprint from thermal to renewable in their journey to reduce carbon emissions. Although the company can achieve Net Zero through this initiative, its contribution to society would be minimal and will have very little Net Impact on society”. He also pointed out that the way forward for ‘S’ would be to have a strong focus on the ‘People’ aspect across the ESG factors and involve them through meaningful and impactful programs, both inside and outside the organizations, to solve many of the complex problems of society.
Rajesh Ayapilla spoke about the increasing significance of ESG in the recent years among investors. “While the focus is predominantly on the ‘Environment’ part, particularly achieving Net Zero emissions, it is also equally significant to move from a Net Zero approach to a broader Net Impact perspective. This can help companies address social challenges and make a lasting positive impact on society and the community within which it operates. Coca-Cola India takes its entire supply chain and customers through a process called ‘Supplier Guiding Principles’, a protocol to audit suppliers, and puts them through the highest ethical and social standards as well as responsible business practices.” He also spoke about various social programs that his company has initiated relating to water conservation and enhancing water resilience, particularly in areas facing water-stress. “To be more effective in the ‘Social’ aspect of ESG, a company should play to its strength and engage in activities the company is comfortable with”, he added.
Madhura Mitra, sharing her practical experiences, observed that: “Balancing emissions by 2050 or 2070 as per the country’s target, means essentially the country has to come out of the coal value chain. However, we need to look at the future of millions of workers and society depending on the coal value chain and see if they are ready for the transition. We must carve out a road map for moving away from the coal-based economy to a net-zero economy. It has to be done by taking everyone together – corporates, NGOs, advisory agencies and the government”. She added that many of the companies focus more on the environment and less on society, and that even their CSR programs are not aligned to the overall environmental or climate change goals of their own organization or of the country. “It would be difficult to achieve the environmental goal without involving society and fulfilling the social goal of the organization”, she remarked.
Alok Kumar listed three key steps that a company can adopt to be socially responsible. “One is to constantly work to build a better business through embedding principled and sustainable decision-making in their corporate behavior and its operations across the value chain. Second, building better lives by fostering and nurturing an inclusive environment, not only for their employees but for communities. Thirdly, building better risk management solutions that address the current quantification need of the organization and also of society. Net Zero and Net Impact approach should go hand-in-hand in an organization. Net Zero is a good starting point; and it needs people’s involvement and a strong mindset and behavioral change to achieve Net Impact.”
The session held on 13th July was attended by more than 140 delegates covering industry, academia and NGO sectors.
Watch here: https://youtu.be/kY6TwPPEFj8