- An analysis of 20 large corporates in India finds there is potential for more strategic engagement on climate policies.
- Corporates in India are broadly aligned with high level targets and goals, but show less engagement with smaller regulations around emissions.
- Unlike in other parts of the world, Indian corporates are not obstructing ambitious climate policy.
The largest corporations in India driving automobile growth, infrastructure, telecommunications, and renewable energy broadly align themselves with national climate targets, but this support “is not translating into strategic engagement with the policymaking process to drive forward the energy transition,” a new analysis says.
Corporates in India have “a real opportunity” to become global leaders in climate action because unlike their counterparts in the United States and Australia, they aren’t obstructing ambitious climate action, the preliminary analysis by InfluenceMap, an organisation that tracks corporate climate policy engagement all over the world, says.
In the U.S., fossil fuel supporters spend $500 million a year on lobbying, mostly to block low-carbon policy, according to the Network on Business Sustainability. Another InfluenceMap analysis found that a large proportion of fossil fuel lobbyists in Australia held oppositional views to introducing progressive climate policy.
By contrast, corporations in India — including those in the metals, mining, and energy sectors — are largely supportive of science-aligned climate policy, with the exception of Coal India, which is “clearly misaligned with this goal,” the InfluenceMap report says.
Seema Arora, deputy director general at the Confederation of Indian Industry, said corporates recognise the risks of not taking climate action and see it as a business opportunity. “Corporates understand that if they don’t take these actions, they could lose market access or be outcompeted globally. There’s real investment in understanding the risks and addressing them so this doesn’t happen.”
How corporates are engaging with climate policy
InfluenceMap analysed the policy engagement patterns of the top 20 Indian companies it considers to be “climate relevant,” as well as eight industry associations. The companies include Infosys (information technology), Bharti Airtel (telecommunications), Mahindra and Mahindra (automobiles), and UltraTech Cement (construction materials), among others.
“Initially, we looked at the highest emitting companies listed under the Climate Action 100+ initiative, which is an investor-led platform that ensures corporate emitters are taking climate action. To broaden the list, we also looked at climate-significant corporations from other lists, like the Forbes 2000 and S&P 100 company rankings,” said Vivek Parekh, a programme manager at InfluenceMap.
Of the 20 companies analysed, clean energy producer ReNew emerged as a “clear corporate climate policy leader,” because its advocacy was most aligned with keeping global warming within the 1.5°C threshold. Advocacy in this case includes public statements, disclosures, and stakeholder submissions about issues such as carbon tax and trading, regulation, energy efficiency, the energy transition, communication of climate science, and seven other criteria.
“Our strategic engagement with climate policy is driven by three key imperatives: supporting India’s net-zero pathway, enabling a stable and forward-looking regulatory environment, and contributing to global solutions that shape a resilient and inclusive transition,” Vaishali Nigam Sinha, co-founder and Chairperson, Sustainability, ReNew, told Mongabay India over email. “We work actively through global platforms like the (climate) COP and the G20/B20, collaborate with leading think tanks and research institutions, and help shape frameworks for climate finance, carbon markets, and just transition.”
Most companies showed support for high level targets, such as the national target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070, but very few engaged with specific climate regulatory matters, like greenhouse gas emissions regulation, according to the analysis. Of the 20 companies, nine showed explicit support for the target to install 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity and engaged positively with schemes such as the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana that aims to increase solar rooftop capacity. Another nine companies were supportive of circular economy policies and pushed the government to tackle plastic pollution. However, only five companies assessed engaged with the upcoming carbon credit and trading system.
Apart from ReNew, automobile manufacturer Mahindra and Mahindra and steel maker Tata Steel also showed strategic levels of engagement with science-aligned policy measures. The rest, however, showed mixed levels of alignment. Among the worst performers were Coal India, PowerGrid Corporation of India, and Bharati Airtel.
Arora disagreed that companies weren’t engaging on issues like the upcoming carbon market. “Corporates may not make disclosures immediately, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t policy engagement on these issues. For regulations like the carbon market and green taxonomy that are still at the pilot stage, the policy landscape needs to become more clear before corporates start sharing their plans. It will take time.”
Among the eight industry associations, the Indian Chemical Council and Confederation of Indian Industry performed best, while the Society for Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) engaged the least with climate policy.
The SIAM, while supportive of EV policies, has lobbied against stricter fuel standards and pushed to keep internal combustion engine vehicles on the road. Among its members, Mahindra and Mahindra has been an exception, but “misalignment of this kind is a key concern for investors,” the analysis says.
The importance of corporate climate action
The InfluenceMap analysis isn’t the only one to indicate the need for greater corporate climate action. In 2024, research organisation Climate Risk Horizons found that the leading corporations in the cement, steel, and textile industries were still sourcing most of their electricity needs from fossil fuel sources. Sourcing non-fossil electricity for non-industrial operations is a “low hanging fruit” in the journey to decarbonisation, Climate Risk Horizons said, but heavy industries only sourced 6% of such electricity needs through renewable energy, the analysis found.
As powerful non-state actors, corporations have the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enact the energy transition. Voluntary targets set by the top 50 companies in India have the potential to reduce their own emissions by 13.04% by 2030, if followed through. Heavy industries such as metals, pulp and paper, and cement stand to contribute the most, according to the WRI India working paper.
State owned enterprises, too, are “in a unique position to inform the government about risks and innovation potential related to climate change,” according to InfluenceMap, since they often lend their technical expertise and research capabilities to produce studies on emissions and standards.
“We’re hoping to broaden our analysis to more companies and more sectors, such as aviation, to get a fuller picture of how corporates in India are engaging with climate policy,” said Parekh.
Read more: Coal’s inclusion in India’s draft climate finance taxonomy raises questions
Banner image: A foundry in Hyderabad. Corporations in India are largely supportive of science-aligned climate policy, including those in the metals, mining, and energy sectors. Image by Rajesh Pamnani via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
Credits
