Esg

Sustainable business practices: Navigating India's ESG, energy transition

Mandatory ESG norms mark a shift towards stakeholder capitalism, reflecting global trends in climate governance and moving beyond shareholder- and state-driven business models

Sebi tweaks framework for ESG rating providers using subscriber-pays model

Markets regulator Sebi has tweaked the framework for ESG Rating Providers (ERPs), especially for those using a subscriber-pays model, requiring them to share ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) rating reports with both subscribers and the rated issuer simultaneously. This policy needs to be publicly disclosed. To give this effect, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has amended rules governing credit rating agencies in a bid to enhance clarity and transparency. "An ESG rating provider following a subscriber-pays business model shall share the ESG rating report with its subscribers and the rated entity or the issuer whose securities have been rated at the same time and provide two working days to such rated entity or the issuer to provide its comments," Sebi said in its notification issued on Tuesday. Further, all comments or clarifications received from the rated entity within the specified timeline will be included in the addendum to the ESG rating report by

Sebi to review ESG disclosures for listed firms, says Tuhin Kanta Pandey

India has fared poorly on ESG scores, with Moody's Ratings classifying the country in the high risk category on environment and social factors

Sebi includes Green Credit Program under BRSR framework

Capital markets regulator Sebi on Friday decided to include disclosure pertaining to the 'Green Credit Program' by listed companies under the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) framework. The Green Credits can be generated by a listed company and its value chain partners through plantations of trees on waste or degraded lands and river catchment areas. In its circular, Sebi said that 'green credits' generated by the listed company and their top 10 value chain partners can be added as a leadership indicator under Principle 6 of BRSR, which states that businesses should respect and make efforts to protect and restore the environment. This new requirement will be applicable for BRSR disclosures starting from FY 2024-25 and onwards. The disclosure is also in line with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notification issued in February 2024. In addition, Sebi has redefined 'value chain partners', which now encompass the upstream and downstrea

$1.8 trillion ESG market thrives as US govt agencies drive demand

Sales of so-called social bonds, which direct proceeds to areas like health, housing and education, jumped about 130 per cent to $657 billion globally last year

M&M ranks in top 1% of S&P Global's corporate sustainability assessment

Mahindra & Mahindra is the only global carmaker in the top 1% of S&P Global's 2025 Sustainability Yearbook, achieving a perfect 100 percentile in business ethics, risk management, and transparency

Sebi proposes rules to beef up ERP framework; aims to enhance transparency

Key areas include withdrawal of ESG ratings, disclosure of rating rationale

Sebi WTM Amarjeet Singh raises concerns of greenwashing by India Inc

Says some manufacturing, automotive, and energy cos making misleading disclosures

Sebi relaxes on timeline for review of ESG rating on BRSR publication

To promote ease of doing business, markets regulator Sebi on Friday provided relaxation in the timeline for review of ESG rating following the publication of Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR). ESG Rating Providers (ERPs) will carry out a review of the ESG ratings upon the occurrence of or announcement/ news of such material developments immediately, but not later than 10 days of occurrence of the said event. However, review of the ESG rating following the publication of BRSR by the rated entity will be carried out immediately, but not later than 45 days after the publication of the BRSR, Sebi said in its circular. This came after ERPs made a representation to Sebi highlighting the operational challenges faced in undertaking review of ESG ratings for a large pool of listed companies following publication of BRSR by such companies, within the specified timeline of 10 days. ERPs have made a representation to Sebi, highlighting the operational challenges faced

Experts call for systemic change in accounting, ESG to reflect true value

Income statements in the US haven't changed since maybe 1920

Syngenta signs $ 4.5 bn sustainability-linked loan, Asia's largest in 2024

Borrowers in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan have raised $57 billion-equivalent of such facilities so far this year, a 19% jump from the same period in 2023, Bloomberg-compiled data shows

Sebi defers ESG disclosure deadline under BRSR framework by 1 yr to FY26

Markets regulator Sebi has decided to defer the ESG disclosure deadline for value chain partners of listed companies by one year until FY26, giving more time to them to comply with the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) requirements. Until then, environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting will remain voluntary instead of the current "comply-and-explain" approach. The proposal, approved by Sebi's board on Wednesday, is aimed at enhancing ease of doing business for listed companies and their value chain partners in meeting BRSR requirement. The Sebi's board approved several relaxations and updates for ESG disclosures. These include "deferring ESG disclosures for value chain", as well as "assessment or assurance" thereof, by one year. Hence, ESG disclosures for value chain shall apply from FY26 (as against the current requirement of FY 2024-25) and "assessment or assurance" thereof shall be applicable from FY 2026-27 (as against the current requiremen

Lack of regulatory clarity could drive away private ESG finance for India

Political shift is affecting ESG investing

CareEdge group to scale up share for its non-rating business to 20%

The plan is to establish regional hubs to enhance local connections in the countries rated by CARE

Sebi looks to iron out new ERP framework for ease of doing business

Revision to allow ERPs to rate unlisted securities and exempt them from disclosing ESG ratings to stock exchanges

NFOs galore: WhiteOak Capital launches ESG fund, but is it worth it?

The fund will utilize its proprietary framework to assess companies on their corporate governance practices.

ICRA ESG Ratings gives its first rating to InCred Financial Services

ICRA ESG Ratings Limited has assigned its first Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) rating to InCred Financial Services, a non-banking financial company. ICRA ESG received registration as a Category-I ESG Rating Provider (ERP) from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) earlier this fiscal. ICRA ESG was formerly known as Pragati Development Consulting Services Limited (PDCSL). "InCred Financial Services Limited, a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) focused on personal loans, student loans, and business loans, has been assigned a rating of [ICRA ESG] Impact 57, Moderate," said ICRA ESG Ratings Limited (ICRA ESG), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICRA, in a release. It further said the ICRA ESG-assigned ratings help investors assess the non-financial risks and opportunities associated with entities and facilitate making better investment decisions, paving the way for a more sustainable and responsible investment landscape. These ratings also help the rated entity gai

E-gaming, cryptos add little in terms of social value: CEA Nageswaran

The CEA said that imposing these costs on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) before they can stand on their own feet would be counterproductive

Sebi to expand scope of ESG finance framework to more products: Report

The Securities and Exchange Board of India will consult on introducing social bonds, along with sustainable and sustainability-linked bonds

Need enabling framework to help cos issue ESG bonds locally: RBI official

There is a need to create an "enabling framework" to help Indian companies issue environmental, social and governance (ESG) bonds locally, a senior RBI official said on Friday. Underlining that capital markets regulator Sebi which looks after the regulations for the bond markets has done significant work, Dimple Bhandia, the chief general manager in RBI, also rued that the development in the repo for corporate bonds has not been satisfactory. "...we find that lot of our companies are going overseas and issuing ESG bonds. This is an area where we need to look at an enabling framework," Bhandia said, speaking at an event organized by industry lobby grouping Assocham here. Another disappointment has been the "non-starter" credit derivatives market, she said, recalling that very limited number of trades have taken place in it. She, however, said that the overall secondary market activity in corporate bonds is not as bad as one would think. Bhandia said even though its base is lower,