Bharti Airtel forms ESG committee for sharper focus on environmental, sustainability agenda

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Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has formed a committee of board of directors with a view to sharpen focus towards its environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) agenda, the company said on Monday.

Manish Kejriwal, lead independent director on the board, will be chairman of the ESG committee.

Other board members on the committee are D K Mittal (independent director); Nisaba Godrej (independent director); Rakesh Bharti Mittal (non-executive director) and Gopal Vittal (managing director and CEO- India and South Asia).

The newly-formed committee will provide strategic guidance and oversight to the company’s progress on ESG targets, initiatives and best practices, Airtel said in a statement.

This will also include initiatives to respond to challenges posed by climate change through sustainable business practices.

Commenting on the move, Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal said businesses have the responsibility to sharpen their ESG agendas to contribute to the global efforts to combat climate change and ensure inclusive growth.

"Airtel has always set high standards of corporate governance, transparency and has proactively laid out a comprehensive ESG road map. This empowered committee ensures that ESG is a priority for the board in order to create long-term value for all stakeholders through sustainable business practices,” Mittal said.

Elaborating on ESG initiatives, the company said it has already joined the science-based targets initiative’s (SBTi) 'Business Ambition for 1.5C' campaign and adopted targets to significantly lower its carbon footprint and emissions from its network operations.

"With this, Airtel has joined the league of leading global corporations who have committed to the 1.5C pathway outlined by the SBTi a partnership between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF),” the statement explained.

Airtel pledged its commitment to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 green house gas (GHG) emissions 50.2 per cent by FY2031, as also other targets.

It added that it will achieve this through "multiple interventions including accelerated green energy adoption across its network operations, energy efficient infrastructure and processes as well as implementing sustainable business practices at its workplaces”.