ANNOUNCEMENTS
The climate and environmental crisis has been a global concern for some time now with nations coming together in hopes of finding solutions for the same. The world is identifying the relevance of sustainable solutions and sustainable development to find methods of utilising resources without over-exhausting present reserves in order to not compromise the needs of the future generations. This mission has led to governments, public and private enterprises, people and organisations taking initiatives at every level possible in order to reduce their burden on the environment and strike the balance between environment, people and economy, something encompassed by the 17 goals of the Sustainable Development Goals. Industries and the commercial sector have a major stake in this matter and hence play a crucial part in this dynamic relationship between environment, people and the economy. Being a bridge between the three pillars of sustainable development, the commercial industries make big contributions to all three through their activities. The recent development in corporate sustainability is ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance), a form of reporting carried out by companies disclosing its various ESG related data to show its contribution to improving their sustainability performance and attract investors for a long term financial backing. ESG performances and scores have become popular in the west and is now finding its footing in eastern parts of the world, though there is inadequate literature available on the correlation between ESG ratings and the actual on sustainable development in developing countries. This project aims to assess the perception of ESG ratings among Indian start-ups/small businesses to understand their understanding of its relevance in the future and their stance on sustainability from a commercial perspective. The study shows many start-ups willing to become Earth conscious from the beginning and making changes in their practices to contribute towards the SDGs.
Keywords- ESG, sustainable finance, investment, SDG, sustainable development.
