Environment, Social & Governance

Reporting that can be substantiated

An ESG disclosure is now a statement management is accountable for. Our approach treats it the way any other reported number is treated — traceable to a source, computed on a stated basis, and capable of withstanding examination.

BRSR and sustainability reporting

Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting applies to listed entities within the thresholds prescribed by SEBI, and increasingly reaches unlisted companies through their position in a listed company’s value chain.

• Assessment of applicability, including exposure arising as a supplier to a reporting entity
• Establishing the data collection required for each attribute, and who owns it
• Preparation of the report, including the BRSR Core attributes
• Alignment with GRI and other frameworks where a group already reports under them

Assurance on ESG disclosures

Reasonable assurance on BRSR Core attributes is a requirement for entities within the prescribed thresholds. We advise on the evidence a disclosure must be able to produce, and on closing the gaps before the assurance engagement rather than during it.

Greenhouse gas and resource accounting

• Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions inventory, and the basis of measurement
• Scope 3 assessment where the value chain brings it into scope
• Energy, water and waste measurement, and the controls over the underlying data
• Documentation of methodology, emission factors and assumptions

CSR compliance

Corporate social responsibility under Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 is a distinct statutory obligation, with its own computation, committee, spending timeline and reporting requirements. It is dealt with separately under Corporate Social Responsibility.

Governance

The G in ESG is the part a chartered accountancy firm is closest to. Board composition and functioning, delegation of authority, related party transactions, whistle-blower mechanisms and internal control frameworks are all assessed by investors and lenders as part of an ESG review.

ESG due diligence

For entities raising capital or entering a transaction, we assess ESG exposure alongside the financial and statutory review — identifying the obligations that will attach post-transaction and the disclosures a counterparty will expect to be substantiated.