WINDS OF CHANGE

AMIDST GROWING CALLS FOR THE INDIAN ECONOMY TO LOWER ITS CARBON FOOTPRINT, LARGE INDIAN CONGLOMERATES ARE STEPPING UP EFFORTS TO LOWER EMISSIONS AND MEET THEIR NET-ZERO TARGETS WITH SOME URGENCY. BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN

- NIDHI SINGAL

SUSTAINABILITY CORPORATE STRATEGY

IN JANUARY 2020, the World Economic Forum sent out letters urging companies attending the Davos summit to commit to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 or earlier. While most companies started thinking about this, an Indian company—Infosys—was well on its way to turning carbon neutral. In October 2020, it became carbon neutral across its value chain, 30 years ahead of the 2050 timeline set by the Paris Agreement.

How did Infosys do it? First, it built a strategy around energy efficiency, renewable energy (RE), and carbon offsets. Then, it evolved a pathway for Scope 1 (direct emissions from controlled sources), Scope 2 (indirect emissions from purchased electricity sources), and Scope 3 (other indirect emissions), to achieve carbon neutrality. “Over a decade of focussed effort has gone into becoming carbon neutral. We started the journey in 2008. In 2011, we made a voluntary commitment to become carbon neutral by 2020,” says Bose Varghese, Head of Green Initiatives at Infosys. Over this period, the company invested heavily in energy efficiency, RE and community-based carbon offset projects, he adds. In 2020, when Infosys turned carbon neutral, its RE component was 44 per cent, while emissions from the remaining 56 per cent of electricity had to be offset to achieve carbon neutrality. RE usage has grown to 53.8 per cent in FY22.