Page 6 - ABG ESG Report

GROUP CSO

MESSAGE

SUSTAIN-ABILITY
OF ABG BUSINESSES

Since our Chairman, Mr. Kumar production processes with lower While sustainability was earlier linked
Mangalam Birla, called on Aditya Birla ecological footprints that also make for more closely with environment, the
Group (ABG) to become the leading safer workplaces, sustainability-oriented pandemic has heightened the focus on
Indian conglomerate for sustainable consumer preferences, and investment social performance. Governance is the
business practices across its global criteria. This has signi cantly accelerated pathway through which we are
operations in Dec 2012, we have made the need and search for sustainable delivering performance across all key
great strides to equip our businesses alternatives to processes, products and areas in our businesses. Thus, ESG is the
with tools, provide access to business models. new currency with which a company's
information, put systems and processes ability to sustain itself is being
in place and develop strategies to help The corporates that integrate transacted.
sustainability deep into their business
us achieve the vision.
will be the winners of tomorrow. The We look at our “ability to sustain
From the time we embarked on the measure of success will be to create Approach 2.0” through –4 Dimensions
Group sustainability journey in 2013, we surplus not only for the organisation but (4D) lens of the (i) business sector of
have always been cognizant of the also all around and the key to success is operation; (ii) geography of operation;
expectations that all the different the ability to strike the right balance. In
(iii) position in the value chain to get
stakeholders have from ABG businesses environment, it will be to balance holistic perspective; and (iv) time
on aspects of Environment, Social and between our needs and the ability of horizon/ maturity of practices in a
Governance (ESG). This has led to nature to provide for them; in social, it business. This allows us to get an in-
consistent advancement in our ways of will be a balance between the use of depth understanding of the ESG aspects
working, our processes, our products, man and machine in the coming that are relevant for our businesses, in
our people capability and, above all, our decades; and in governance, it will be keeping with what different
all-encompassing de nition of what a about balancing the expectations of
stakeholders' are expecting over a
sustain-able ABG business is. As we shareholders and stakeholders. I am period of time. The approach lends us
enter this 'decade of action', we are con dent that it is this balance that will both the internal context - our strengths
strengthening our products, processes take us ahead. and weaknesses as well as the external
and people to be more sustainable. context - risks & opportunities on all
The theme of this year's Group level
Sustainability is the top global trend report is Accelerating ESGbility, relevant ESG topics.
right now - both in terms of the impact it Strengthening Sustainability, every In keeping with the ABG vision,
is causing and the way the world is word of which re ects our approach and missions, purpose and the ve Aditya
taking note of it. The impacts are both ambition. 'The ability to sustain' is the Birla Group values – integrity,
positive and negative. While on one way we de ne sustainability at ABG, commitment, passion, seamlessness and
hand, we are seeing climate change similarly, ESGbility is our ability to speed, the contextual information is
come to life through extreme weather continuously raise the performance bar used to develop/ update Group business
events like unseasonal rains, storms, on parameters across the 3 dimensions strategies. An effective business strategy
droughts, forest res; on the other hand, of E, S and G. We are now accelerating is one that will stand the test of time,
there has been a surge in the use of ESGbility at both – the Group level affirm our targets and plan actions to
renewable energy, newer advanced and within individual businesses. achieve them.

03