INTRODUCTION
The topic of Environmental, Social and Governance (‘ESG’) aspects of a business has been extensively covered across the global media in the past couple of years. The focus on ESG has been particularly expedited by the Covid-19 pandemic. There is mounting pressure on businesses from all stakeholders – shareholders, investors, regulators, suppliers, customers and communities – to start thinking about their sustainability and wider ESG journey.

ESG – DEVELOPMENTS IN INDIA
The business landscape in India is catching up on the ESG agenda. There is a significant growth in ESG-linked capital markets in India, with assets under management of the top 10 ESG mutual funds growing to INR 12,000 crore during 2019-2021 – representing almost a 5x increase in just two years1 . From F.Y. 022-23, SEBI has mandated the top 1,000 listed companies by market capitalisation to disclose ESG data through Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR). At the COP26 summit in November 2021, India announced its goal to be net-zero by 2070. It will be businesses – large and small – which will eventually have to work towards achieving the net-zero goal and key targets around the country’s energy mix and carbon emissions intensity. In addition to this business and regulatory imperative, environmental factors are also at play. According to Germanwatch, India is one of the top countries which will be impacted by climate change2 . Chennai almost ran out of water in 2019. The year 2021 saw droughts, floods, and landslides in various states in India. The start of the year 2022 was one of the coldest winters in India. The frequency and scale of such events are predicted to only increase in the future. Combining the impacts of such natural disasters with India’s goal to be net-zero by 2070 means that businesses across industry sectors will have to start considering sustainability and ESG parameters to make their operations more resilient for a climateinformed landscape of the future. So, what does this ESG agenda mean for Indian companies? I have identified three key themes and focus areas for the C-suite to consider while trying to embed ESG parameters into business operations:
a) Sustainable/ ESG financing,
b) Operating model, and
c) Stakeholder engagement.