Majority of Indian companies voluntarily reduce emissions : Report

A majority of Indian firms have voluntarily set up emission reduction targets prodded by growing benefits from reduced carbon emissions. Of the 69 Indian firms examined by the carbon disclosure project, a global non-profit firm assessing the work of companies worldwide in the area of climate change, over 80 per cent are in the process of implementing emission reduction targets, a report

released on Tuesday showed. Among major Indian firms, information technology major Wipro saw a 24 per cent drop in emissions, while maintaining a growth of 15 per cent over a five-year period. Overall emissions intensity for the firm fell by 33 per cent.

Respondents reported a 57 per cent jump in estimated monetary savings year-on-year from emission reduction initiatives. The developments follow new emissions control measures announced for thermal power plants by the government as well as advanced the tightening of vehicular emission standards. Also, the Coal cess has steadily increased and now stands at Rs. 400 per ton, the report said.

With these gradual changes in regulatory measures, nearly 94 per cent of all responding companies saw risks due to regulations related to climate change.

Along with emission reduction targets, companies have also reported on setting renewable energy targets. On the supply side, there is ramping up of renewable power with the prices of solar power continuing to drop and new capacity being added. Purchasing or generating renewable energy for consumers is easier now than it has been historically. This is in line with data available for the national grid as of March 2015 which shows a 22.5 per cent increase in installed renewable power capacity within a one year period.

Globally, 85 per cent of all assessed companies already have at least one target in place to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, CDP said. However, these targets are lacking in long-term ambition, with just 14 per cent of companies having set goals for 2030 or beyond. A fair number of companies also risk being left behind through lack of long-term planning and inertia, the report said.