Mint Primer: Climate targets: How do Nifty-50 companies fare?

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Out of the Nifty-50 constituents, an alarming 19 companies are yet to publicly state a target year for becoming net-zero emitters or carbon neutral. Another 20 companies have publicly announced a net-zero target and 11 have committed to a carbon neutral target year.

Adani Ports & SEZ, Infosys, Tata Consumer Products and Tech Mahindra have stated both net-zero and carbon neutral timelines. For the companies having a net-zero target, the median year is 2040. The median target year for carbon neutrality is 2032.

Of the 19 with no target, a few have articulated some strategies, IiAS noted. Net zero means balancing the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted and the amount removed from the atmosphere. Net-zero includes all GHGs like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides.

To reach net-zero, companies must significantly cut their GHG emissions and may use methods like carbon capture or afforestation to offset residual emissions. Carbon neutrality is focussed mainly on offsetting carbon dioxide emissions. A company may do so through purchasing carbon credits or through investing in emission avoidance technologies without direct reductions in emissions.

Also read: Climate Change and the New Green Economy: The big questions for 2025 Infosys has been carbon neutral since 2020, the first Nifty-50 firm to achieve the status. It plans to be net-zero by 2040. Among companies setting carbon neutral targets, the earliest is for Cipla (2025) and the last is Maruti Suzuki (2070).

For net- zero, the earliest target is for Tata Consultancy Services (2030), while NTPC states it will achieve this by 2070. IT companies are the best performers, given their lower emission intensity. All six IT firms in