THE ESG IMPERATIVE

From building a strong reputation to managing risks, navigating regulatory changes to attracting capital, and identifying innovation and market opportunities, embracing ESG can help businesses become future-ready

- NIDHI SINGAL

WHAT DOES IT take to make a business future-ready? Cloud, digital, artificial intelligence, machine learning, reskilling—these are some of the buzzwords being bandied about in corporate boardrooms. Now, add ESG to the list. And it isn’t just because markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), has mandated the top 1,000 companies by market capitalisation to disclose their ESG activities under its Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) framework.

“ESG plays a pivotal role in ensuring the long-term sustainability of businesses as it encompasses all the non-financial aspects that either directly or indirectly impact the bottom line of the business,” explains Rathin Kukreja, Practice Leader & Associate Director-Consulting at CRISIL Market Intelligence and Analytics. While companies have been dealing with ESG (environmental, social and governance) for a while, it is only in recent years that organisations have cottoned on to the fact that these principles are good for business. Kukreja says ESG-centric organisations will be able to build resilient, viable and impactful businesses in future years. ESG integration, he adds, can have multiple benefits, including better operational efficiency, tapping unexplored opportunities, sustainable profitability, better risk management and strong governance—all of which help increase shareholder value.