IIMA in collaboration with PwC India, announced the establishment of the ‘PwC ESG Research and Innovation Forum’ on December 19, 2022. This ESG Forum has been set up for an initial period of five years, facilitated by the efforts of IIMA Endowment Fund (IIMAEF).

PwC ESG Forum at IIMA is envisaged to be an avenue for knowledge sharing and exchange among the ESG stakeholders; driven by a marquee event or series of events that the Forum will host at IIMA. This initiative comes as a step towards contributing to India’s commitment to the net zero agenda and upcoming BRSR regulations by widening and deepening the sustainability impact in the Indian industry.

Emphasizing the need for more ESG-focused collaborations and conversations, Professor Errol D’Souza, Director, IIMA said, “ESG has become a mainstay in every boardroom discussion and is being looked at as a quality standard that determines capital allocation, investor valuation, capacity building and the overall sustainability quotient of the company. Although ESG incorporation in India is in a nascent stage, the room for growth is tremendous. This scenario makes the need for a forum – a common platform for stakeholders across the spectrum – compelling. We are happy to partner with PwC to launch this Forum and are confident that it will provide the much-needed action space for academia, industry, think tanks and policymakers to come together, deliberate on best practices and devise a roadmap that is aligned with ESG goals, globally.”

Sanjeev Krishan, Chairperson, PwC in India said, “ESG is gaining prominence in terms of the Government’s agenda be it achieving the Net Zero target by 2070, the NDC commitments for 2030, the extended product responsibility regulations and SEBI’s BRSR regulations around reporting and disclosures. Achieving this requires a platform approach that brings together relevant stakeholders to ideate, align initiatives and develop roadmaps for achieving interlinked goals. Moving beyond strategy and expediting actions will be key to making an impact. We are proud to join hands with IIMA to provide a forum to foster meaningful conversations, empower stakeholders with adequate research, enable thought leadership to build alliance ecosystems, and raise resources to plan and execute ESG-led transformation. We believe partnerships of this nature will play a significant role in bolstering the nation’s ESG agenda and help in meeting the climate goals.”

On facilitating the setting up of the ESG Forum at IIMA, Ms Chhavi Moodgal, CEO, IIMA EF said, “IIMA Endowment Fund focuses on continuously identifying opportunities in which IIMA wants to build academic and research capabilities – particularly topical themes like sustainability which will be relevant from a public policy and industry perspective over many years. Accordingly, we have also been instrumental in identifying corporate collaborations for the Institute. We are pleased to announce another concrete step towards shaping the ESG ecosystem in India through the PwC ESG Forum. This Forum will be an important platform to support dialogue and dissemination of cutting-edge research to improve ESG performance of Indian organizations and enterprises. We hope that the industry-academia collaborative effort of this Forum will help in spreading the word on ESG themes and research globally.”

The MoU signing was followed by a lively interaction where students got a chance to engage with Mr Sanjeev Krishan, discussing on mainstreaming of ESG frameworks and reporting, ESG opportunities for Indian corporates and the role of private businesses in ESG adoption in India.