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The resonance

  • 30/07/1999

The resonance Company that had an environment policy before GRP started
J K Corp

Companies that adopted an environment policy after receiving CSE's questionnaire
Century Pulp & Paper
Star Paper Mills
Pudumjee Pulp & Paper Mills Ltd
Andhra Pradesh Pulp & Paper Mills Ltd
Sinar Mas Pulp & Paper Ltd
ITC-Bhadrachalam Paperboards Ltd
South India Viscose Ltd
Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd

The three key objectives of grp are:

l To monitor the environmental performance of Indian companies and create a transparent rating system that acts as an incentive for them to improve;

l To make environmental management an issue for ceo s; and

l To make the top management realise that good environmental management involves being proactive.

These objectives are slowly being met. At the outset of grp , only one pulp and paper company had a formal environmental policy, namely J K Corp, which has iso 14000 certification. By the time the ratings were being finalised, nine companies had an environment policy statement. The project has pushed eight companies to adopt an environment policy statement between September 1998 and May 1999 after receiving the cse questionnaire (see graph: Waking up ).

What this clearly shows is that the civil society can impress upon industry to get serious about the environment. How do you do that? By making companies realise that their reputations are at stake and that the only way of having a sound image is by sharing information (see p27: Opening the account ).

All companies want a good rating and a clean public image in an economy that is moving towards globalisation. Concern about environmental issues among investors and regulatory authorities is increasing. There is a clear incentive for companies to improve environmental performance and share information, which can be the most powerful force in a democratic country.

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