131 pages carry this tag.
Three large Indian cement makers publish emission intensity figures that look comparable but are not. Their latest reported numbers, the differences in units, boundaries, scopes and assurance, and how to compare them properly. Educational, not investment advice.
A step-by-step reading of a real BRSR: Ambuja Cements' filing for FY 2025-26. What the workforce, safety, energy, emissions, water and related-party data show, the effect of two mergers on the numbers, and the questions an analyst would ask. Educational, not investment advice.
How the world agrees on climate action. The UN Framework Convention, the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, national climate plans (NDCs) and the yearly COP meetings, and why they matter to investors.
India's climate targets, from the Panchamrit goals announced at COP26 to the 2035 NDC submitted in 2026. What India has promised, what it has achieved, and what it means for Indian companies.
Carbon accounting measures a company's greenhouse gas emissions. The three scopes, the intensity metrics, India's new carbon market, and the traps in reading emissions data.
For many companies, Scope 3 is most of their carbon footprint. The 15 categories, which ones matter in which sectors, how companies estimate them, and how to judge the quality of a Scope 3 figure.
Many companies have announced net zero targets. Few are equally credible. How science-based targets work, what changed in the SBTi's 2026 standard, and a checklist for testing any climate target.
Carbon pricing turns emissions into a cost. The three main designs, how each one affects a company's profit and loss, where carbon pricing stands worldwide, and how India's system fits in.
A carbon credit is supposed to stand for one tonne of emissions cut or removed. Many do not. The types of credits, the quality tests, the integrity bodies, and India's own offset and Article 6 routes.
India's first compliance carbon market sets binding emission intensity targets for large plants in energy-intensive sectors. How it works, who runs it, which sectors are in, the timeline to the first trades, and how to model it.
Perform, Achieve and Trade was India's market-based energy efficiency scheme for heavy industry from 2012. How it worked, what it achieved, and how it is giving way to the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme.
The EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism charges importers for the carbon in steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen. How it works from 2026, what it costs, and what it means for Indian exporters.
Climate change creates two kinds of financial risk: physical damage from a changing climate, and the costs of moving to a low-carbon economy. The risk types, stranded asset analysis, and the Indian context.
Scenario analysis tests how a company would fare under different climate futures. The main scenario sets (NGFS, IEA, IPCC), a six-step method, and how to judge the quality of a company's scenario disclosures.
Energy is the largest source of emissions for most companies and a direct cost. How to read energy data, the ways Indian companies buy renewable power, India's renewable consumption obligation, and the coming changes to Scope 2 rules.
Water shortages can stop production, and India's waste rules now make producers pay for what happens to their products. Water metrics, waste metrics, India's EPR regimes for plastic, e-waste, batteries, tyres, oil and vehicles, and what to look for.
Businesses depend on nature for water, raw materials and stable land, and many harm it. Dependencies and impacts, the main drivers of nature loss, India's rules, the global frameworks, and how analysts can assess nature risk.
TCFD created the four-pillar structure now used for climate reporting worldwide. TNFD applies the same idea to nature. Their recommendations, the LEAP approach, and how both now feed into ISSB.
Money that helps high-emitting companies cut their emissions, rather than funding activities that are already green. Transition bonds, SEBI's rules, ICMA's 2025 guidelines, Japan's sovereign transition bonds, India's draft taxonomy, and the tests of a credible transition plan.
How floods, heatwaves and carbon policy reach a lender's balance sheet. Financed emissions and the PCAF standard, RBI's 2022 pilot climate stress test, global rules for banks, and a checklist for analysing an Indian lender.
A step-by-step, made-up cement example that turns an intensity-based carbon scheme like India's CCTS into after-tax cash flows, a present value and a sensitivity table, and then tests whether paying for an emission cut is worth it.
The four standard ways to measure a portfolio's carbon exposure, worked through on a three-stock example: financed emissions, carbon footprint, WACI and forward-looking alignment metrics, plus the EU climate benchmarks and the traps in each number.
Cement is one of the most carbon-intensive industries, and India's carbon market now puts a price on it. Emissions intensity, alternative fuels, dust, mining and safety are the key issues. The data to use and the CCTS and CBAM rules to know.
Steel faces carbon pressure from three directions: the EU's border tax, India's coming carbon targets and the new Green Steel Taxonomy. Emissions intensity, safety, water and community issues, the data to use and the rules to know.
For power companies, the transition from coal to renewables is the central ESG and business question. Coal dependence, air pollution rules, water, ash and land for renewables, with the data to track and the Indian rules to know.
Most of an oil company's emissions come from customers burning its fuels, which makes transition strategy the core ESG issue. Scope 3, methane, process safety, carbon targets for refineries and policy risk, with the data to track.
For carmakers, the biggest emissions come from the vehicles on the road, so fuel efficiency rules and the shift to EVs drive the ESG story. CAFE III, PM E-DRIVE, end-of-life vehicle rules, supply chains and safety, with the data to track.
Lower is better, but only compare companies within the same sector, because intensity varies hugely between, say, cement and software. Revenue...
This is the best measure for comparing plants and companies in the same industry, and it is the basis of India's CCTS targets and of the EU's CBAM...
A high Scope 3 share means most of the company's climate exposure sits in its value chain, so targets and analysis that cover only Scope 1 and 2 miss...
Separate two figures: the renewable share of total energy, and the renewable share of electricity. Many industrial companies use far more energy as...
A falling energy intensity usually means better efficiency. The output-based version is more reliable for comparing companies in the same sector,...
Water intensity matters most for water-heavy sectors such as beverages, textiles, power, paper and chemicals. A company-level figure can hide large...
A higher rate means more waste is kept out of landfill and incineration. Read it alongside the total amount of waste and waste intensity: a company can...
Twelve emission sources at hypothetical Indian companies. Sort each into Scope 1 (direct emissions from sources the company owns or controls), Scope 2 (purchased electricity, steam, heat or cooling) or Scope 3 (everything else in the value chain).
The 2015 international climate treaty that aims to keep warming well below 2°C and to pursue a 1.5°C limit.
A country's own climate plan and targets submitted under the Paris Agreement, updated every five years.
The yearly meeting of countries that are parties to the UN climate convention, where climate rules and targets are negotiated.
The Paris Agreement aim of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
A state where the greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere are balanced by the amount removed from it.
A claim that a company's or product's emissions have been fully balanced, usually by buying carbon offsets.
A claim that a company removes or offsets more greenhouse gases than it emits.
Moving to a low-carbon economy in a way that protects the workers and communities who depend on high-carbon industries.
The 1992 UN treaty that sets the overall framework for international climate negotiations.
A 1997 climate treaty that set binding emission cuts for developed countries only.
The UN body that assesses the science of climate change and publishes major reports for policy makers.
The principle that all countries share responsibility for climate change, but richer, higher-emitting countries should do more.
A task force set up by the Financial Stability Board that created the four-pillar framework for climate disclosure.
A taskforce that developed a framework for disclosing nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities.
A non-profit that runs a global disclosure system on climate, water and forests, and scores companies from A to D-.
The international standard for assurance engagements on greenhouse gas statements.
The most widely used global standards for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions, developed by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Direct greenhouse gas emissions from sources a company owns or controls.
Indirect emissions from the electricity, steam, heat or cooling a company buys.
A way of calculating Scope 2 emissions using the average emission factor of the grid where the electricity is used.
A way of calculating Scope 2 emissions using the emission factors of the specific electricity a company has chosen to buy, including certificates and contracts.
All other indirect emissions in a company's value chain, from suppliers upstream to customers downstream.
A common unit that expresses the warming effect of any greenhouse gas as the amount of carbon dioxide with the same effect.
A measure of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps compared with carbon dioxide over a set period, usually 100 years.
A number that converts an activity, such as fuel burned or electricity used, into greenhouse gas emissions.
The total greenhouse gas emissions caused by a company, product, activity or person, expressed in CO2e.
Greenhouse gas emissions per unit of revenue or output, used to compare companies of different sizes.
Emissions or energy use per unit of physical output, such as tonnes of CO2e per tonne of steel or cement.
Emissions that a product or service helps others avoid, compared with a reference case, such as the emissions saved when a customer replaces a diesel generator with solar power.
An emissions reduction target consistent with what climate science says is needed to meet the Paris Agreement goals.
The total amount of CO2 that can still be emitted while keeping warming below a given level, such as 1.5°C or 2°C.
A price per tonne of emissions that a company uses in its own decisions, even where no external carbon price applies.
A chart that ranks options for cutting emissions by their cost per tonne, from cheapest to most expensive.
A tax set at a fixed price per tonne of greenhouse gas emitted, or on the carbon content of fuels.
An emissions trading system in which the government caps total emissions, issues allowances up to the cap, and lets companies trade them.
A trading system that sets a benchmark for each participant and issues credits to those that beat it, which others can buy to cover a shortfall.
A carbon market created by law, in which covered companies must hold allowances or credits for their emissions.
A market in which companies and individuals buy carbon credits by choice, usually to support climate claims.
A tradable certificate representing one tonne of CO2e reduced, avoided or removed from the atmosphere.
Taking CO2 out of the atmosphere and storing it, through nature (such as forests and soils) or technology (such as direct air capture).
The test of whether an emission reduction would have happened anyway without the money from selling carbon credits.
The test of whether carbon kept out of the atmosphere by a project will stay out over the long term.
An increase in emissions elsewhere caused by a project or policy that cuts emissions in one place.
When the same emission reduction is claimed by more than one party, such as two companies or two countries.
The part of the Paris Agreement that allows countries to cooperate on emission cuts, including by trading carbon credits.
India's compliance carbon market, which sets binding emission intensity targets for large plants in energy-intensive sectors.
The tradable unit of India's CCTS, representing one tonne of CO2 equivalent.
A plant or unit that must meet a legally binding greenhouse gas emission intensity target under India's CCTS.
A plant-specific target for greenhouse gas emissions per unit of output, set under India's CCTS.
India's market-based scheme, from 2012, that set energy efficiency targets for large industrial plants and let them trade energy saving certificates.
A tradable certificate under India's PAT scheme, representing one tonne of oil equivalent of energy saved beyond a plant's target.
A tradable certificate representing one MWh of electricity generated from renewable sources.
An Indian scheme that awards green credits for voluntary environmental actions, such as planting trees on degraded forest land.
The EU's charge on the carbon embedded in imports of cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen.
The risk of financial loss from the physical effects of climate change, such as floods, heatwaves, cyclones and droughts.
Climate risk from sudden extreme events, such as cyclones, floods, heatwaves and wildfires.
Climate risk from long-term shifts, such as rising average temperatures, sea level rise and changing rainfall.
The risk of financial loss from the move to a low-carbon economy, through policy, technology, market or reputation changes.
The risk that companies face legal claims over their contribution to climate change, or over misleading climate disclosures.
An asset that loses value earlier than expected, or must be retired early, because of changes such as climate policy, new technology or falling demand.
A consistent description of a possible future path for emissions, policy, technology and warming, used to test climate risk.
Climate scenarios published by the Network for Greening the Financial System, a group of central banks and supervisors, widely used for financial stress tests.
An estimate of how much a company's or portfolio's value could fall under given climate scenarios.
Legal requirements for large electricity users to get a minimum share of their power from renewable sources.
Energy used per unit of revenue or output, a measure of how efficiently a company uses energy.
The total water a company takes in from all sources, such as rivers, groundwater, third-party supply and the sea.
Water that a company withdraws and does not return, roughly withdrawal minus discharge.
A condition in which demand for water in an area is high compared with the available supply.
A water treatment approach in which a plant recycles all its wastewater and discharges no liquid effluent.
An economic model that keeps products and materials in use for as long as possible through reuse, repair, recycling and better design.
A policy that makes producers responsible for collecting and recycling their products and packaging at the end of their life.
Waste that can harm health or the environment because it is toxic, flammable, corrosive or reactive.
The risk to a business from the loss of plant and animal species and the ecosystems they form.
Risks to a business that come from its dependencies and impacts on nature, including water, land, oceans and biodiversity.
TNFD's four-step method for assessing nature-related issues: Locate, Evaluate, Assess and Prepare.
Air pollutants, mainly sulphur dioxide, released when fuels containing sulphur, such as coal and heavy oil, are burned.
Air pollutants formed when fuels are burned at high temperatures, in vehicles, power plants and industrial furnaces.
Tiny particles in the air, such as PM10 and PM2.5, that can enter the lungs and bloodstream.
A review under the Paris Agreement, held every five years, of collective progress towards its climate goals.
A country's greenhouse gas emissions per unit of economic output, the main form of India's national emissions target.
Installed electricity generating capacity from sources other than fossil fuels: renewables, large hydro and nuclear.
A use-of-proceeds bond that funds projects to cut emissions in high-emitting activities that cannot yet become fully green.
A green bond whose proceeds go to sustainable water management or the marine and ocean economy.
The share of borrowers' and investees' greenhouse gas emissions that is attributed to a bank, insurer or investor that funds them.
An exercise that estimates how a bank's or insurer's losses would change under severe physical or transition climate scenarios.
A portfolio's exposure to carbon-intensive companies, calculated as the portfolio-weighted average of each holding's emissions per unit of revenue.
An estimate, in degrees Celsius, of the global warming that would result if the whole economy emitted like a given company or portfolio.
An EU-defined index type whose carbon intensity is at least 50% below its parent index and falls by at least 7% a year, with fossil fuel exclusions.
An investor-led initiative, launched in 2017, that engages the world's largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters on climate governance, emission cuts and disclosure.
An initiative of asset managers committed to supporting the goal of net zero emissions, relaunched in February 2026 with a looser commitment.
A coalition of financial institutions launched in 2021 to speed the move to a net zero economy, which restructured at the start of 2025.
Related topics: Valuation, DCF, Relative valuation, Cost of capital, Financial statements, Cash flow, Earnings quality, Red flags
