Enhanced Sustainability and Compliance through the CII-EMC CAER Guide (2024)
The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) are championing industry-specific sustainability standards, encouraging the reporting of air pollutants like nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SO2), particulate matter (PM), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg) for sectors such as utilities and power generation. However, Indian companies face challenges in emission reporting due to inconsistencies in reporting practices, with global standards favouring reporting emissions in mass units like tonnes, while Indian companies typically use concentration units such as parts per million (ppm) or micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3).
To address these challenges, the Corporate Air Emissions Reporting Guide (CAER Guide) has been designed to help companies prioritise and report air emissions. The guide, a vital resource for businesses of all sizes and sectors in India, clarifies pollutant categories, provides tools for converting emissions data into relevant units, and establishes clear distinctions between emission loading and ambient air concentrations.
The CAER Guide empowers companies to align with regulatory requirements and adopt global best practices. By improving the quality of air emissions reporting, Indian companies can strengthen their reputational capital and play a pivotal role in achieving clean air goals and fostering a sustainable future.
The guide also aims to enhance the capacity of reporting teams through education and awareness-building initiatives. This is crucial as operational barriers, such as the lack of clarity in pollutant categorization and the struggle to differentiate between "air emissions" and "ambient air monitoring," often lead to inconsistencies in disclosures.
In India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has introduced the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) framework, mandating the top 1,000 listed companies to report their emissions data, including particulate matter (PM), SO2, NOx, and additional pollutants like volatile organic compounds (VOCs), persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Companies must adhere to state-specific Pollution Control Board standards, which can vary significantly across geographies, creating barriers to standardising emissions reporting practices.
Adopting the good practices outlined in the CAER Guide can improve reporting accuracy and transparency, making it easier for companies to comply with environmental regulations, improve sustainability practices, and enhance corporate transparency and accountability in line with global environmental standards.
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