SEBI’s Measures to facilitate ease of doing business with respect to framework for ESG assurance or assessment
SEBI recently released a circular to utilise the Green Credit Program (GCP) by listed entities as a benchmark for measuring environmental activities under the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) framework which is expected to enhance transparency and accountability in ESG reporting. As per SEBI, ‘green credits’ generated by the listed company and their top 10 value chain partners can be added as a leadership indicator, ensuring that businesses respect and make efforts to protect and restore the environment.
Inclusion of the Green Credit Program under BRSR (Principle 6) is a significant step towards encouraging environmentally sustainable practices by companies. There are seven notified activities under the green credit program: Water management (Draft methodology already available), Sustainable Agriculture, Waste Management, Air Pollution Reduction, Mangrove Conservation, Ecomark Label Development, and Sustainable Building and Infrastructure
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This new requirement will be applicable for BRSR disclosures starting from FY24-25 and onwards. The disclosure is also in line with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notification issued in February 2024.
