68 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.
Stewardship codes ask mutual funds, insurers and pension funds to act as responsible owners of the companies they invest in. SEBI's six principles, the other Indian codes, and how to read a fund's voting record.
The SASB Standards list the sustainability topics most likely to matter financially in each of 77 industries. How they are built, how analysts use them, and the updates under way at the ISSB.
ESG raters often disagree about the same company. The research on how much and why, the three sources of disagreement (scope, measurement and weight), the problem of rewritten history, SEBI's attempt to narrow the gap, and how to use ratings that disagree.
The ESG indices that Indian ESG funds and index funds track: Nifty100 ESG, Nifty100 Enhanced ESG, Nifty100 ESG Sector Leaders, BSE 100 ESG, and the global Dow Jones Best-in-Class (formerly DJSI) indices. Their rules, exclusions and weighting, and the checks to run before using one.
The greenium is the small yield discount that investors may accept on a green bond. The ways to measure it, the forces that drive it, the evidence from India's sovereign and municipal green bonds, and its real effect on a company's cost of capital.
Blended finance uses public or philanthropic money to take extra risk so that private investors will fund projects they would otherwise avoid. The main tools, the size of the market, India's viability gap funding schemes, and the questions to ask about a blended deal.
"Responsible investing" covers very different approaches, from simply avoiding tobacco to funding projects for measurable social change. The full spectrum, what each approach can and cannot do, and how SEBI's six ESG fund strategies fit onto it.
A six-step process for building ESG into a stock analysis: pick the material issues, gather evidence, link each issue to a line in the model, test it, ask management the right questions and keep monitoring. With an ESG factor log and a worked example.
ESG-integrated valuation is not a separate method. It means building material ESG factors into the cash flows, discount rate and terminal value of a normal DCF or multiples analysis.
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.
ESG investing uses ESG information to manage risk and return. Impact investing sets out to cause a measurable positive change. The definitions, the key differences, investor contribution versus company impact, the size of the market and the signs of impact-washing.
The main tools for measuring social and environmental impact: the theory of change, the five dimensions of impact, the GIIN's IRIS+ metrics and the Operating Principles for Impact Management, with a worked example that adjusts results for what would have happened anyway.
SEBI's 2023 rules for ESG mutual fund schemes: the six strategies, the 65% BRSR Core test, naming, voting and assurance duties, the history of flows into Indian ESG funds, and a seven-point test for checking whether a fund lives up to its label.
The three tools investors have for changing company behaviour: talking, voting and selling. The research on which ones work, collaborative engagement through Climate Action 100+, the retreat of the net zero alliances since 2025, and Indian examples.
The Social Stock Exchange segments of NSE and BSE let non-profits raise donations through listed zero coupon zero principal instruments. The eligibility rules, how a ZCZP issue works, the 2026 changes including the new CSR route, the market's size so far and what donors should check.
The ESG issues that matter most differ by industry. A one-page summary of nine Indian sectors, with links to a short map for each: the material issues, how they reach the financials, where to find the data and the Indian rules to know.
For lenders, the big ESG issues sit in the loan book and in customer data: climate credit risk and financed emissions, data privacy and cyber risk, fair lending and governance. The issues, the data and the RBI and DPDP rules to know.
For IT services companies, people and data are the core ESG issues: attracting and keeping talent, protecting client and personal data, and powering offices and data centres with clean energy. The issues, the data and the rules to know.
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 consumer goods companies, most ESG issues sit in the supply chain and in packaging: plastic EPR, farm sourcing, water and product health. The issues, the data and the rules to know.
For drug makers, the biggest ESG risks are about product quality and trust: manufacturing compliance, ethical marketing, effluents and access to medicines. The issues, the data and the Indian rules to know, including revised Schedule M and UCPMP 2024.
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.
The result is in tCO2e per ₹ crore of revenue. A lower WACI means the portfolio leans towards less carbon-intensive businesses. It is useful for...
The result shows how much of today's EBITDA a carbon cost would take. As a rough guide, under 2% is usually minor and above 10% is a major valuation...
A higher share means more of the business already serves low-carbon or sustainable demand. The figure is only as good as the definition behind it:...
Claiming measurable social or environmental impact without evidence, or for results that would have happened anyway.
A set of principles asking institutional investors to act as responsible owners of the companies they invest in.
Shareholders using their rights to push a company to change its strategy, governance or management.
The EU rules on sustainability disclosures by fund managers and other financial market participants.
The use of concessional public or philanthropic money to lower the risk or raise the return of a project so that private investors will also fund it.
An NSE index of Nifty 100 companies, weighted by free-float market capitalisation tilted by ESG score, after excluding certain businesses and severe controversies.
A stricter version of the Nifty100 ESG Index that also removes companies with weak ESG scores.
An NSE index that picks the companies in each Nifty 100 sector that manage ESG risk best and have no major controversies.
An ESG version of the BSE 100, first launched as the S&P BSE 100 ESG Index, that excludes certain businesses and UN Global Compact violators.
A global family of best-in-class sustainability indices launched in 1999, based on S&P Global's Corporate Sustainability Assessment and renamed the Dow Jones Best-in-Class Indices from 10 February 2025.
The change in a company's ESG rating or score over time, used by some investors to favour companies that are improving.
Leaving companies or sectors out of a portfolio because of what they do, such as making tobacco, weapons or thermal coal.
An investment strategy built mainly on negative screening, which avoids named sectors, activities or companies.
Choosing companies for a portfolio because they score well on ESG criteria, rather than leaving out poor performers.
Selecting the companies with the best ESG performance within each sector, so that every sector stays in the portfolio.
Excluding companies that seriously breach widely accepted international norms, such as the UN Global Compact principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.
Building material ESG factors into normal investment analysis, forecasts and valuation, alongside financial factors.
Investing in companies whose business serves a sustainability theme, such as clean energy, water, electric mobility or healthcare access.
Investing with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.
Dialogue between investors and company management or boards to improve ESG practices, disclosure or performance.
Voting on shareholder resolutions, usually by an institution on behalf of its clients, without attending the meeting in person.
A map of how an activity is expected to lead to a desired change, from inputs and activities to outputs, outcomes and long-term impact.
A framework from the Impact Management Project that describes any impact by what outcome occurs, who experiences it, how much change there is, the contribution of the activity and the risk that it differs from expectations.
The GIIN's free system of standard impact metrics, including a catalogue of metrics and core metric sets for common impact themes.
The extent to which an investment causes impact that would not have happened without it.
A SEBI-regulated segment of NSE and BSE where non-profits and social enterprises raise funds for social projects, with standard disclosure and assessed impact reports.
A listed security issued by a non-profit on a Social Stock Exchange that pays no interest and returns no principal, so it works as a donation.
A qualified professional who independently assesses the impact reports of non-profits that raise money on a Social Stock Exchange.
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.
A mutual fund or ETF that selects investments using environmental, social and governance criteria under a stated strategy.
A UN-supported global network of investors, launched in 2006, whose signatories commit to six principles of responsible investment.
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.
The return shareholders require for holding a company's shares, usually estimated as the risk-free rate plus beta times the equity risk premium, plus any company-specific premium.
Related topics: Valuation, DCF, Relative valuation, Cost of capital, Financial statements, Cash flow, Earnings quality, Red flags
