ISO 9001:2015 CERTIFIED
ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) reporting is the disclosure of a company's performance on sustainability and ethical impact criteria. BRSR (Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report) is India's mandated ESG reporting framework introduced by SEBI, replacing the earlier BRR format.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has made BRSR mandatory for the top 1,000 listed companies by market capitalization, requiring comprehensive disclosure across 9 principles aligned with the National Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBC).
ESG reporting is no longer optional — it is a business imperative. Investors, regulators, customers, and employees demand transparency on climate impact, social responsibility, and governance practices. Companies with strong ESG performance attract better financing terms, higher valuations, and stronger stakeholder trust.
India's ESG regulatory landscape has evolved rapidly. Key regulations include:
BRSR is structured around the National Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBC)
Businesses should conduct themselves with integrity, ethics, transparency, and accountability throughout their operations and stakeholder relationships.
Businesses should provide goods and services that are safe, contribute to sustainability throughout their life cycle, and minimize environmental impact.
Businesses should promote the well-being of all employees, including those in their value chains, ensuring decent work, health, safety, and development opportunities.
Businesses should respect the interests of all stakeholders and respond to their concerns, including investors, communities, customers, and regulators.
Businesses should respect and promote human rights across their operations and value chains, including prevention of child labor, forced labor, and discrimination.
Businesses should protect and restore the environment through sustainable resource management, pollution prevention, climate action, and biodiversity conservation.
Businesses should engage responsibly in public policy advocacy, ensuring transparency in lobbying activities and alignment with sustainable development goals.
Businesses should promote inclusive growth and equitable development, supporting marginalized communities, small businesses, and local economies.
Businesses should provide value to consumers through responsible marketing, product safety, data privacy, grievance redressal, and fair pricing.
Carbon footprint assessment is a core component of ESG reporting. It quantifies the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced directly and indirectly by a company's activities.
Zing Enterprises provides ISO 14064-accredited carbon footprint verification services. Our assessments follow the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, the most widely used international accounting tool for quantifying GHG emissions.
Accredited GHG verification services
Aligned with global standards
The GHG Protocol categorizes emissions into three scopes for comprehensive reporting
Emissions from sources owned or controlled by the company: fuel combustion in boilers and furnaces, company-owned vehicles, process emissions from manufacturing, and fugitive emissions from refrigeration and AC systems.
Example: Natural gas burned in a factory boiler
Emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating, and cooling consumed by the company. Calculated using either location-based or market-based methods with specific emission factors.
Example: Grid electricity used for factory operations
All other indirect emissions in the value chain across 15 categories: purchased goods and services, capital goods, fuel and energy, transportation, business travel, waste, leased assets, investments, and use of sold products.
Example: Raw material extraction and processing by suppliers
GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) is the most widely adopted voluntary sustainability reporting framework globally. GRI Standards provide a modular system covering economic, environmental, and social topics with sector-specific supplements.
TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) focuses specifically on climate risks and opportunities. SEBI has aligned BRSR with TCFD recommendations requiring climate governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics disclosure.
Other relevant frameworks include SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board), CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project), and TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures).
A systematic approach to building your ESG report from scratch
Evaluate current ESG data collection, policies, and reporting capabilities against BRSR requirements. Identify gaps in data availability, system readiness, and resource requirements.
Engage stakeholders to identify and prioritize material ESG issues. Map issues to BRSR principles and determine reporting boundaries including value chain coverage.
Collect quantitative and qualitative data across all 9 principles. Includes environmental metrics (energy, water, waste, emissions), social metrics (workforce, safety, training), and governance metrics (board composition, ethics, compliance).
Calculate Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions using GHG Protocol methodology. Apply appropriate emission factors. Get verification from ISO 14064-accredited verifier like Zing Enterprises.
Prepare BRSR report in SEBI-prescribed format with essential and leadership indicators. Align narrative with GRI or other voluntary frameworks if desired. Include management discussion, performance data, and forward-looking targets.
Get independent assurance on BRSR Core indicators (mandatory for top 1,000). Submit report to stock exchanges within the prescribed timeline. Prepare for investor ESG ratings and questionnaires.
A materiality assessment is the foundation of meaningful ESG reporting. It identifies which ESG issues have the most significant impact on your business and stakeholders.
The process involves: (1) Identifying relevant ESG topics based on industry benchmarks and frameworks; (2) Engaging internal and external stakeholders through surveys and interviews; (3) Mapping issues on a materiality matrix based on business impact and stakeholder concern; (4) Validating results with management and board.
Double materiality considers both financial materiality (how ESG affects the company) and impact materiality (how the company affects society and environment). This approach aligns with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and is increasingly adopted globally.
A structured approach to building robust ESG reporting capabilities
Form an ESG committee with board-level oversight. Define roles and responsibilities for data collection, report preparation, and assurance.
Implement systems for collecting and managing ESG data across energy, emissions, water, waste, workforce, and governance metrics. Automation reduces errors and audit burden.
Identify upstream (suppliers) and downstream (customers, product use) value chain partners for Scope 3 reporting. Value chain BRSR is mandatory from FY 2024-25.
Ensure ESG-related policies cover all 9 BRSR principles: ethics code, environmental policy, human rights, CSR, whistleblower, data privacy, diversity, and supplier code of conduct.
Establish a baseline year for all ESG metrics. Calculate Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. Set science-based reduction targets aligned with Paris Agreement goals.
Work with experienced ESG consultants like Zing Enterprises for gap assessment, data collection, carbon footprint verification, and report preparation.
Common questions about ESG and BRSR reporting
Let our ESG consultants help you achieve BRSR compliance and build stakeholder trust.
