Unparalleled growth potential for ESG and impact reporting in India, says report; can we capitalise?
Jun 28, 2023, 10:41 IST
Whether profitable or not, there is not a single business whose functions do not influence the environmental and socio-economic realities of its surroundings. But for too long, assessing these impacts was treated as optional, meaning organisations rarely examined and published their footprint. And when these 'good samaritans' did so, many of them turned out to be a marketing gimmick.
Whether through responsibility or legislation, companies have serendipitously begun to turn more climate conscious over the past two decades. Currently, about 95% of S&P 500 companies publicly disclose their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data — certainly an instrumental first step in holding key players accountable.
While this massive jump in participation from last year is already a welcome move, there is another effect that butterflies from this much-needed mainstreaming: growth in the ESG impact measurement market.
As with many other sectors, India has been a leader in the impact measurement and management (IMM) market in the Asia-Pacific region. And it looks like we're only going to be thrust further into the stratosphere in the coming years, claims a new ESG study on 550 major organisations by Aspire Circle and Aspire Impact.
Within a mere decade, the report projects that the IMM global market is set to jump to $32 billion by 2030, spiking fourfold from nearly $8 billion in 2020.
This monumental growth will be mirrored by India, who, along with Singapore, is slated to become a major player in the ESG IMM sphere. Our country already boasts a significant market in the Asia-Pacific region, reporting $137 million in revenue in 2020. The report projects that this will likely quadruple to $531 million within this decade.
On an overall, India Inc.'s IMM share will likely account for around 2% of the world's market. This is quite substantial for one country, and will no doubt, afford us weighty influence in shaping the next generation of ESG reporting. As businesses inevitably turn greener, India is well poised to become a leader in setting sustainable standards, eventually determining what core business workflows look like in the future.
Despite accelerated efforts to meet our national climate determined contributions, we will still need a mountain of action to contribute significantly enough towards mitigating impacts of climate change. This uptick in responsible IMM will undoubtedly streamline climate legislation towards that goal.
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Whether through responsibility or legislation, companies have serendipitously begun to turn more climate conscious over the past two decades. Currently, about 95% of S&P 500 companies publicly disclose their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data — certainly an instrumental first step in holding key players accountable.
While this massive jump in participation from last year is already a welcome move, there is another effect that butterflies from this much-needed mainstreaming: growth in the ESG impact measurement market.
As with many other sectors, India has been a leader in the impact measurement and management (IMM) market in the Asia-Pacific region. And it looks like we're only going to be thrust further into the stratosphere in the coming years, claims a new ESG study on 550 major organisations by Aspire Circle and Aspire Impact.
Within a mere decade, the report projects that the IMM global market is set to jump to $32 billion by 2030, spiking fourfold from nearly $8 billion in 2020.
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On an overall, India Inc.'s IMM share will likely account for around 2% of the world's market. This is quite substantial for one country, and will no doubt, afford us weighty influence in shaping the next generation of ESG reporting. As businesses inevitably turn greener, India is well poised to become a leader in setting sustainable standards, eventually determining what core business workflows look like in the future.
Despite accelerated efforts to meet our national climate determined contributions, we will still need a mountain of action to contribute significantly enough towards mitigating impacts of climate change. This uptick in responsible IMM will undoubtedly streamline climate legislation towards that goal.