On May 10, 2021, SEBI issued a Circular containing the format of the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (“BRSR”).
The BRSR is a notable departure from the existing Business Responsibility Report(“BRR”) and a significant step towards bringing sustainability reporting at par with financial reporting.
A few of the key disclosures sought in the BRSR are highlighted below:
-
An overview of the entity’s material ESG risks and opportunities, approach to mitigate or adapt to the risks along with financial implications of the same.
-
Sustainability related goals & targets and performance against the same.
-
Environment related disclosures covering aspects such as resource usage (energy and water), air pollutant emissions, green-house (GHG) emissions, transitioning to circular economy, waste generated and waste management practices, bio-diversity etc.
-
Social related disclosures covering the workforce, value chain, communities and consumers, as given below:
i. Employees / workers: Gender and social diversity including measures for differently abled employees and work ers, turnover rates, median wages, welfare benefits to permanent and contractual employees / workers, occupational health and safety, trainings etc.
ii. Communities: disclosures on Social Impact Assessments (SIA), Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Corporate Social Responsibility etc.
iii. Consumers: disclosures on product labelling, product recall, consumer complaints in respect of data privacy, cyber security etc.