“Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” comprising of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was adopted by 193 countries of the UN General Assembly at the Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015. SDGs include important elements like ‘no poverty”, ‘zero hunger’, ‘quality education’, ‘clean energy’ etc. India along with other countries signed the declaration on the 2030 Agenda and the NITI Ayog, the apex body of GOI in co-ordination with State Governments is making all out efforts to achieve the targets under the SDGs.

Given the diverse socio-economic scenario of India, holistic achievement of SDGs will require collective efforts and active participation of all business sectors in the country.  The step taken by SEBI for mandatory non-financial disclosure by listed company (ies) in BRSR format w.e.f. FY 2022-23 is a significant step for sustainable business practices. The BRSR format has been designed as per National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBC-2019) which has nine principles (P1 to P9) aligning business module to incorporate all the 17 SDGs.  It is envisaged that such business modules aligned with SDGs will go a long way in transforming the economic development processes in India. The mandatory disclosure will enable companies to review and revisit their business process/practices in order to ensure compliance of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG).  In view of this, company (ies) will have to work upon aligning their business module as per SDGs, management of data bank supported by policy(ies)/guidelines in order to achieve the best output of company as envisaged in BRSR framework. This will empower company to gain better acceptability among investors, stakeholders, local community etc.

Ref: web portal of SEBI and Ministry of Corporate Affairs

Manoj Kumar Singh

SM(Environment), Environment & Diversity Mamagement Division,

NHPC, Faridabad

Pic ref: https://learning.icai.org/committee/sr/business-responsibility-and-sustainability-reporting/