| |NOVEMBER 20229strategic vision, purpose, and/or company goals. The data also demonstrate that sustainability efforts are gaining traction in the area, with regulatory and market forces (92 percent), investor relations (87 percent), and competitive advantage (80 percent).In this article, let's look at how the big Indian corporation's approach to establish sustainability into their organizations by successfully neutralizing the difficulties that are unique to their segment.REAL ESTATE TO DRIVE IMPROVEMENT IN ESG The Indian Real Estate sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in the country. Moreover, over the last few decades the sector has witnessed an exponential growth and is expected to continue the same in the near future. However, the sector remains a significant contributor to environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). And when it comes to compliance and reporting, many companies are still laggards. Today, the real estate sector uses more energy than any other sector and is a growing contributor to CO2 emissions."Integrating appropriate mechanisms such as implementation logs should be the mandate. Sustained investor focus can contribute to driving improvement in ESG performance across the industry. Independent ratings agencies such as the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) have robust comparison frameworks for the sector evaluating ESG policies, their implementation and external disclosure", mentions Anubhav Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, Vikhroli, Chief CSR & Sustainability Officer, Godrej Properties.At Godrej Properties, the firm has taken stringent measures to be on par with the evolving sustainability goals. Today, All of its buildings are mandated to be a minimum of IGBC Silver rated with an aspiration of expanding the portfolio towards IGBC Gold and Platinum rated developments. 90.16 percent of Godrej's development portfolio across India is green certified under credible green rating systems such as IGBC, LEED and GRIHA, among others.OIL AND GAS TRANSITS TO GREENER ALTERNATIVESFor a rapidly developing country like India, energy is of vital importance. India is now the world's third-largest energy consuming country, thanks to rising incomes and improving standards of living. Energy use has doubled since 2000, with 80 percent of demand still being met by coal, oil and solid biomass, India Energy Outlook 2021. While oil and gas firms play an important part in the economy, they also contribute a large amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which contribute to climate change. It is critical to keep track of these emissions in order to combat climate change. However, the Indian oil and gas industry is actively introducing new strategies and leveraging advanced technologies to transit towards a greener future. For example - The R&D sector of a major PSU has done some outstanding work on creating ethanol from refinery fuels, turning spent plastics to bitumen, and so on. In addition to regulating this technique, refineries should begin transitioning to green fuels like renewable energy and green hydrogen during the next decade, while increasing biofuel mixing."The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas advised all the oil marketing companies under its control to set up at least five demonstration units of green hydrogen and use it for various applications including refining", says Dr. SSV Ramakumar, IOC's director of research and development and board member.CIRCULAR ECONOMY & E-COMMERCE With the booming e-Commerce market, the packaging industry is also expected to witness exponential growth. The Indian e-Commerce packaging market was valued at $13.8 million in 2020, and it is expected to reach $1109.26 million by 2026, Mordor Intelligence. This abysmal record indicates that a large portion of these materials will end up clogging our drains and landfills. In addition to increasing the waste generated in India, the growing trend of excessive packaging will certainly lead to considerable loss of forest cover, as wood pulp remains the main raw material for making packaging cardboard.On the flip side, big ecommerce firms of India, like Flipkart are making rapid strides in harnessing the power of a sustainable circular economy. "We have taken various steps in this journey, including analyzing and studying circular economy models, looking at ways for packaging optimization, creating standards on packaging materials to reduce waste in our supply chain, promoting reusable materials, while encouraging green packaging", shares Mahesh Pratap Singh, Head ­ Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Flipkart.The firm has also actively worked to induce sustainable packaging practices at the grassroot level. For example - July this year, more than 75 percent of Flipkart's seller fulfilled shipments have now been processed in sustainable packaging marking a 20x increase over July 2020 and the initiative today covers more than 700 hubs across India.THE WAY TO SUSTAINABILITYClimate change continues to be a threat for the planet and for human lives. Changes at individual level and at larger scales are necessary to reverse the impact of human systems and processes on the environment, to ensure a brighter and healthier planet for the forthcoming generations to see.In the days to come, the private and the public entities have a critical and decisive role to play in unleashing the vision for `net zero'.
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