Climate change presents risks and opportunities for Indian companies: WWF-CII-CDP

“Climate change is expected to reduce GDP by at least 5% of each year; in some cases this could be greater than 20%. It will be cheaper to act now rather than to wait. Climate change presents risks and opportunities for Indian companies in terms of regulatory risks and opportunities, physical risks and opportunities, consumer sentiment risks and opportunities and total composite global growth,” Paul Simpson, Chief Operating Officer, CDP, emphasized today at the launch of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in India, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry’s Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development, in association with the WWF-India.

Revealing that approximately 25% of global emissions are reported through CDP, Mr. Simpson explained that there are several benefits of measuring and disclosing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. “Investors are increasingly requesting this information, there is a greater pressure down the supply chain. Moreover, measurement facilitates management - what you can’t measure you can’t manage - translating into efficiency improvements, cost reduction and ultimately bottom line growth. Acting now is also an opportunity to demonstrate leadership and obviously leaders will have a greater ability to influence government policy. This also opens doors to opportunities like Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).”

Highlighting the fact that growth and development are integral to climate change and developing countries will be the worst hit, Mr. Simpson also pointed out that we are still seeing a gap between awareness and action, even in the developed countries. “If companies don’t act voluntarily, the government will. Not measuring and disclosing GHG emissions will only create pressure to regulate,” he warned.

Banmali Agrawala, Deputy Chairman – CII Western Region and Managing Director, Wartsila India Ltd. - opined that industry in India has an even more important role to play as India has the dubious distinction of being the fourth largest emitter of the GHG emissions.

“The crucial challenge for developing countries like India would be whether one can afford the cost of controlling GHG emissions while there are millions living in abject poverty. And this is where corporate India would have to take responsibility. While the Indian economy is on an upswing, with the GDP having crossed the trillion dollar mark, there is certainly room for Indian companies to act in a responsible manner and demonstrate their commitments to the future. We at CII have often talked about the “triple P” bottom-line approach, namely measuring the performance of a company through its profits, people and its care for the planet. The CDP project is in complete resonance with this approach,” Mr. Agrawala said.

Ravi Singh, Secretary-General and CEO, WWF-India, termed the CDP India launch as the start of an initiative from India that will make inroads into business leaders and bring about changes in the way people look at business in future.

“This is a long journey, research takes time. This is the first attempt of its kind in India and Indian industry can play a pivotal role to try and change the behaviour of industry and make it more sustainable. 40% of our population is below 25 years of age. This group is not going to look at traditional methods of production. They feel we need a more sustainable method and this younger generation should not be ignored. Financial institutions and processes have taken some of these points of climate change as an aggregation of risk in their sector,” Mr. Singh underlined.

Rahul Rai, Manager – Renewable Energy and Carbon Credits - Rabo India, provided an institutional perspective on the benefits of disclosure. “The existing growth model is unsustainable with the situation being worse than what we thought. On the other hand, CDM presents emerging opportunities. The market for low carbon products is estimated at USD 500 billion by 2050 for instance. However, in order to capitalize on these opportunities, as a first step, companies must evaluate where they stand,” Mr. Rai explained.

A presentation was also made on ACC’s experience in GHG Emission Data Monitoring and Disclosure.

Paul Simpson also explained the methodology for CDP and recommended companies to adopt a reduction target, explain reduction programs and discuss climate change responsibility. “Provide as much information as possible, a best guess is better than no response. If a question is not relevant to your company, say that and if you are unable to answer a question, say why,” he advised.

For further information:
Anshuman Atroley, Communications Manager
WWF-India
T: +91 11 4150 4797,
M: +91 9810169262
E-mail: aatroley@wwfindia.net