COP 27 AND ITS IMPACT ON ESG OF INDIAN COMPANIES

1. Legal status of ESG in India

SEBI Regulation 34(2)f laid down the BRSR framework which made it optional for the
top 1000 listed companies to submit their ESG report in 2021 and compulsory for them in
2022-2023
Requirements of ESG majorly influenced by COP 27 are enshrined in Principles 2 (
Businesses should provide goods and services in a manner that is sustainable and safe)
and Principle 6 ( Businesses should respect and make efforts to protect and restore the
environment )

2. Formally stated goals of COP 27

The formally defined goals of this edition are
 Mitigation - This year should witness the implementation of the Glasgow pact call to
review ambition in NDCs, secondly will deal with the Paris agreements goal to reduce
emissions (below 2 degrees Celsius to reach 1.5 degrees Celsius)
 Adaptation- To enhance adaptation and resilience with extreme weather events and help
the most vulnerable communities under the frameworks of the Paris and Glasglow
agreements
 Finance- need for enhanced transparency of finance flows and facilitated access to meet
the needs of developing countries specially Africa, LDCs, and SIDS. Progress on the
annual delivery of 100 billion from developed to developing countries
 Consensus – Between governments, private sector and civil society as well as the
relevant stakeholders which includes vunerable and African communities

Also Find the Targets set by the Presidency for the High Level Summit here

3. How might COP 27 influence the ESG scene of Indian listed companies
 As a primary point, Indian minister of Environment, forest and climate change ( not to
mention the Presidential address of this COP and several international leaders) christened
COP 27 as the “COP of implementation” and emphasized how it would implement the
pledges and promises made in Glasgow with the COP 26 based on the Paris agreement .
This is relevant since COP 26 was the first instance where countries had to submit their
Nationally determined contributions for climate change and on the 3rd of August 2022 the
parliament approved India’s Nationally Determined Contribution based on COP 26 which
includes -

India’s NDC has two rather broad quantifiable goals

- to reduce emissions intensity of its GDP by 45% by 2030, from 2005 level
- to achieve about 50% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil
fuel-based energy resources by 2030..
- The updated NDC also represents the framework for India’s transition to cleaner
energy for the period 2021-2030. ( attached for reference)

Since the primary aim of this COP is the implementation of NDS’s agreed upon in COP
26,this will be more relevant for Indian companies than anything in COP 27

 Both the US and the EU has emphasized that COP 27 will specially deal with G20
Countries and emissions w.r.t greenhouse gases goal of limiting global warming well
below 2.C to 1.5 degrees. This will definitely influence Indian companies to have to
reduce emissions as part of broader programme in pursuance of this goal

 The Sharm El Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit and the High Level Segment of
COP 27 will involve 6 roundtable conferences on 6 of the most pressing issues namely
that of – Just Transition, Food Security, Innovative Finance for Climate and
Development, Investing in the Future of Energy, Water Security and Climate Change
And The Sustainability of Vulnerable Communities. ESG responsibilities under
Principles 2 and 6 can focus on these areas for best result.
 Private parties and their obligations are referred to reasonably in the documents of COP
27. For instance the Session Details of the round table conference on just transition asks
private parties - What partnerships can you put in place (with workers’ unions, public
sector, academia, NGOs, supply chain actors or companies from adjacent sectors) to
facilitate a just transition for your employees?

 The Indian ambitions towards COP 27 ( which is relevant for Listed companies as per the
Paris Agreement follows a bottom-up approach with countries determining their
response) which can be inferred from the Union Ministers statements at the n Ministerial
Meeting of Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) which emphasized upon – “he
Work Programme on Enhanced Ambition in Mitigation and Implementation, cannot be
allowed to change the goals of the Paris Agreement. Instead, under the Work Programme
best practices, new technologies and new modes of collaboration for technology transfer
and the capacity building may be discussed. He referred to the implementation
mechanisms under the Paris Agreement such as the global stocktake, the second periodic
review, the provision of updating Parties nationally determined contributions and
submission of Parties’ long-term low emissions development strategies, must be allowed
to play their due role. He stated that these are important agenda, with a futuristic
perspective and must be dealt with in a balanced way, based in Equity and CBDR-RC,
and these founding principles of climate change need to be elaborated more clearly, in the
decisions of COP 27.