Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) and Dun & Bradstreet collaborate on ESG Data Project

New Delhi, September 09, 2023: The Arun Duggal Centre for ESG Research (CESGR) at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) recently initiated a research project in partnership with Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) aimed at developing a data product for ESG impact assessment in India. The increasing interest in ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing can be attributed to investors acknowledging that elements such as climate change have tangible and lasting effects on the worth of their investments.

As a greater number of investors embrace these approaches, companies will find it necessary to align with ESG criteria to attract investment. CESGR was set up to contribute to the development of the nascent ESG ecosystem in India and help Indian enterprises integrate ESG into their core business and investment decisions.

Furthermore, D&B ESG Intelligence delivers data and analytics built from the Dun & Bradstreet Data Cloud and established sustainability standards to help companies quantify and assess the impact of their business partners' sustainability rankings to their companies' performance. This collaboration combines CESGR's research capabilities with D&B's extensive database to address data gaps and enable accurate ESG efficiency assessment.

Congratulating CESGR and D&B on the association, Professor Bharat Bhasker, Director, IIMA said, "With ESG regulations becoming more stringent, the need for an efficient data infrastructure in the country has become critical. Reliable and accurate data is absolutely essential for the industry in nascent stages trying to adhere to the multiple ESG reporting frameworks in existence today. I congratulate the Centre and D&B for their foresightedness and taking the lead on this front. I believe this initiative is a step in the right direction, and I am confident that this collaboration will come up with outcomes that will offer effective solutions to ESG related challenges and allow all stakeholders to make informed decisions."

Professor Anish Sugathan, Co-Chairperson, Arun Duggal CESGR said, “Two-way materiality requires assessment of the impact of ESG factors on a business as well as externalities caused by the company’s ESG activities. We intend to leverage our research capabilities to develop a framework that aligns with the principle of two-way materiality and help businesses stay ahead of the curve and further fuel the growth of the economy, at large. It can also be used by investors to rebalance their portfolio of investments and in general to understand the evaluation of the ESG ecosystem in the country.”

Avinash Gupta, Managing Director & CEO – India, Dun & Bradstreet said, “Across the globe, ESG has become a mainstay of conversation in corporate boardrooms and, more importantly, in the allocation of capital. According to a recent Dun & Bradstreet survey highlighting top compliance and procurement challenges, 51% respondents said that they need more data to verify entities and 43% said that it is difficult to identify application of ESG guidelines within the due diligence process of the customer. Inefficient data usage and management are at the core of such challenges. As environmental, social and governance metrics are becoming mainstream with the emergence of more and better data, D&B is also contributing by providing meaningful ESG data with comprehensive coverage of sustainability performance data on over 73 million public and private businesses across more than 174 countries and territories. Dun & Bradstreet’s 360-degree ESG intelligence solution can improve the structuring of data, offers a clear view of all business relationships, and enables companies to align their ESG data to meet their ESG goals. Leading organisations such as ONDC, SIDBI, etc. are partnering with D&B for its data capabilities to understand ESG better, and to support their suppliers, partners and customers through solutions including ESG Report and ERS, which is a recognition that signifies that an organisation is committed to disclosing its ESG initiatives.” 

The project's goal is to assist practitioners, investors, and policymakers in creating custom ESG metrics. The project's core principle is to achieve two-way materiality, aligning with the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). As India sets ambitious ESG goals and rolls out initiatives focused on sustainable development and clean energy, the collaboration between CESGR and D&B will contribute to meeting the enhanced ESG data requirements set by SEBI for the top 1,000 listed companies.