{"id":13082,"date":"2016-11-04T17:18:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/tata-leading-indias-path-to-sustainability\/"},"modified":"2016-11-04T17:18:00","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:18:00","slug":"tata-leading-indias-path-to-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/tata-leading-indias-path-to-sustainability\/","title":{"rendered":"TATA: Leading India\u2019s Path To Sustainability"},"content":{"rendered":"

India is the world\u2019s fourth largest emitter of CO2<\/sub> and other greenhouse gases (GHG)[i]<\/a>. Historically, the Indian government argued that caps on GHG emissions would stunt economic growth and that global warming was a problem of the industrialized world. However, over the last few years the government has pledged to reduce GHG emissions as the economic damages from climate change are estimated at 1.8% of India\u2019s GDP annually by 2050.[ii]<\/a> India now faces an energy dilemma as the first country trying to build an industrialized economy without substantially increasing carbon emissions. While most Indian companies struggle to understand climate change implications, one leads the discourse globally: the TATA Group of Companies (TATA).<\/p>\n

TATA, one of India\u2019s largest conglomerates (2015 revenues: $104bn[iii]<\/a>), has businesses across power, automobiles, steel, and chemicals, making it highly susceptible to GHG emissions and climate change regulations. TATA\u2019s businesses in the EU were required to comply with international treaties such as the Kyoto protocol, and on realizing the benefits of long-term mitigation strategies TATA expanded its climate change initiatives to its Indian operations. The move was also driven by a growing incidence of extreme weather events with inevitable emotional and business implications for the workforce and operations; and public pressure leading to tightened regulations and stronger action by the government.[iv]<\/a><\/p>\n

TATA measures lifecycle emissions by extending the carbon footprint mapping across the entire value chain from vendors to equipment disposal. Its approach involves: 1) behavior change among its companies by incorporating climate change into their code of conduct; and 2) policies and initiatives designed by a steering committee to institutionalize climate change across TATA companies. TATA trains ‘Climate Change Champions’ within its companies on societal, environmental and economic implications of climate change. TATA policies require companies to 1) measure and project their carbon footprints and benchmark within their industries 2) adopt aggressive abatement actions to reduce lifecycle footprint and drive growth through innovation, and 3) engage in climate advocacy, and build a low-carbon culture through processes and systems.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Select Performance Indicators (to-date)[v]<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n