Jio gets highest 'A-' rating on CDP's 2021 Global Environment Impact

Reliance Jio, India's youngest but largest telecom company, has received the highest 'A-' rating, denoting the highest leadership level, in non-profit CDP's 2021 global rating of companies on the way they manage their environmental impacts.

Jio is the only telecom/digital services firm in India to receive a leadership rating on CDP's Global Environment Impact.

"272 companies worldwide - worth USD 12 trillion in market cap - have today been highlighted for their environmental leadership, based on their level of transparency and performance on climate change, forests and water security," CDP said in a statement on its website.

With this, Jio joins only a handful of Indian companies to receive A or A- rating in this global system and is part of only about a few hundred such companies in the world that are considered as leaders in terms of disclosures, awareness and management of environmental risks as well as best practices associated with environmental leadership, such as setting ambitious and meaningful targets.

Bharti Airtel is rated at C.

CDP is a global non-profit headquartered in London that runs the world's environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states, and regions.

Founded in 2000 and working with more than 590 investors with over USD 110 trillion in assets and over 200 purchasers with USD 5.5 trillion in buying power, CDP has pioneered using capital markets and corporate procurement to motivate companies to disclose their environmental impacts, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests.

CDP scores companies from D- to A, denoting a journey through disclosure to awareness, management and finally to leadership.

Those rated A or A- are leadership level, while ones with B or B- are management level. C and C- firms are at the awareness level, and D and D- at disclosure level, according to CDP.

CDP said that only 2 per cent of companies worldwide worth USD 12 trillion were named on its A-List of environmental leaders in its 2021 ratings.

In India, Jio was the only A-rated company in the telecom sector, improving its rating from B last year.

Bharti Airtel's rating improved to C in 2021 from D- in 2020.

Jio had in September 2019 committed to Voluntary Climate Change Targets. The metrics being monitored and reported include Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions, and the progress made year-on-year on emission reduction to achieve net carbon zero by 2035.