Smart proteins and animal welfare: Next-gen ESG norms

When we think of sustainability, we picture solar panels, electric vehicles and tree plantations. Rarely do we think of the food on our plate.

- Ravi Venkatesan is the former chairman of Microsoft India and Cummins India, and a member of the Infosys board, and Rituj Sahu leads work on sustainable food systems at Asia Research & Engagement.

Yet the way we produce animal proteins—milk, meat, fish, or eggs — may be one of the most decisive factors shaping India’s climate resilience, public health, and global competitiveness, The country is ata “protein crossroads”. Rising incomes and urbanisation are shifting dietary protein choices from pulses to animal sources, Atthe same time, agriculture already contributes around 14% of India’s greenhouse gas emissions, with livestock responsible for more than half. Add to this the widespread use of antibiotics in animal farming, growing animal-welfare scrutiny, and trade rules that increasingly demand traceability, and we have arecipe for systemic risk.

The stakes are not abstract. By 2030, declining crop yields and reduced protein content in staples could leave nearly 91 million Indians at risk of hunger. Unless we act, our protein system could undermine both nutrition security and our net-zero ambitions.

To put the long-term challenge in perspective, India’s livestock emis-sionsare projected to reach 515 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually by 2050 — more than twice the levels in the 1960s. Left unchecked, this would strain our climate commitments, nutrition security, and trade competitiveness.

India has been a global pioneer in sustainability. Yet, Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) frameworks today largely overlook protein’srolein our food system. There are no consistent corporate disclosures on animal welfare, antibiotic use, water use, or the share of smart proteins — plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation-derived alternatives—in corporate portfolios.