{"id":230837,"date":"2023-03-13T20:15:35","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T14:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=230837"},"modified":"2023-03-13T20:15:35","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T14:45:35","slug":"the-rise-of-the-esg-regulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/the-rise-of-the-esg-regulations\/","title":{"rendered":"The rise of the ESG regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Source-<\/strong> The post is based on the article \u201cThe rise of the ESG regulations\u201d published in \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 13th March 2023.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Syllabus: <\/strong>GS3- Indian economy<\/p>\n<p><strong>Relevance<\/strong>&#8211; Issues related to corporates<\/p>\n<p><strong>News<\/strong>&#8211; Regulators and corporations around the world have embraced the idea that businesses should be measured by their environmental impact, commitment to social issues and the soundness of their corporate governance.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is the main driver behind this development?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It is the realisation that <strong>environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations<\/strong> need to be included by investors in a<strong> company\u2019s risk profile <\/strong>in order to accurately assess the enterprise.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How ESG differs from CSR?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/csr-corporate-social-responsibility-in-india-provisions-status-and-challenges\/\">Corporate Social Responsibility<\/a> policy in India mandates corporations to engage in initiatives that contribute to the<strong> welfare of society<\/strong>. This mandate has been <strong>codified into law.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The list of qualifying CSR activities is <strong>intentionally broad.<\/strong> It ranges from supporting the protection of historically important sites to promoting safe drinking water.<\/p>\n<p>ESG regulations, on the other hand,differ in process and impact. The <strong>U.K. Modern Slavery Act, <\/strong>for example, requires companies to publish the efforts they have taken to identify and analyse the risks of human trafficking, child labour and debt bondage.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How is ESG evolving in India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>India has long had a number of laws and bodies regarding<strong> environmental, social and governance issues. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It includes the <strong>Environment Protection Act of 1986, quasi\u00adjudicial organisations such as the NGT.Also, a range of labour codes and laws<\/strong> governing employee engagement and<strong> corporate governance practices. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>New initiatives in India go further. It establishes guidelines that <strong>emphasise monitoring, quantification, and disclosure, <\/strong>like ESG requirements found in other parts of the world.<\/p>\n<p>SEBI substantially revised the <strong>annual Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) <\/strong>required by the 1,000 largest listed companies in India.<\/p>\n<p>As per SEBI, it is aligned with <strong>evolving global standards<\/strong>. It places <strong>considerable emphasis on quantifiable metrics<\/strong> to allow companies to engage meaningfully with stakeholders and to enhance <strong>investor decision making. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Disclosures range from <strong>greenhouse gas emissions to the company\u2019s gender and social diversity.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Further legislations regarding ESG are likely to come, given the increased emphasis by the Indian government on ESG issues.<\/p>\n<p>It can be seen in India\u2019s more active role in <strong>global climate forums as well as in specific policy developments.<\/strong>Such as the announcement in January by the Reserve Bank of India that it would be auctioning \u20b980 billion in green bonds.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What are the implications for Indian companies?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Compliance with ESG regulations both originating in India and elsewhere around the world have significantly different challenges than India\u2019s CSR regulations.<\/p>\n<p>Compliance by Indian companies with the ESG regulations of the U.S., the U.K., the European Union and elsewhere will be critical.If India is to take full advantage of the <strong>growing decouplingfrom China and play a more prominent role in global supply chains.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As Indian companies look to expand their ESG risk management, thorough<strong> due diligence<\/strong> will play a key role.<\/p>\n<p>It includes looking at company records, interviewing former employees and making discreet visits to observe operations to ensure that they are complying with<strong>international ESG standards<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Companies that wish to maximise their opportunities in the global economy need to<strong> embrace these new requirements<\/strong> and adjust them accordingly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source- The post is based on the article \u201cThe rise of the ESG regulations\u201d published in \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 13th March 2023. Syllabus: GS3- Indian economy Relevance&#8211; Issues related to corporates News&#8211; Regulators and corporations around the world have embraced the idea that businesses should be measured by their environmental impact, commitment to social issues&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/the-rise-of-the-esg-regulations\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The rise of the ESG regulations<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[216,10498],"class_list":["post-230837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-3","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704814320},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230837\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}