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For long considered a 'non-financial' segment, of late environment has fast moved up the ladders in the corporate set up of India Inc. Industry players across segments have realised the business implications and benefits the word 'environment' has for them and bottom line. While the debate between developing and developed nations rages on to cut down their emissions and for a sustainable planet to become a reality, India Inc doesn't really need to be told how they can become environmentally sustainable. Having incorporated sustainability as a part of their mission, increasing number of companies are creating departments within the management structure that take care of sustainability practices that are lucrative both for environment and business. To head these departments, they are looking for sustainability officers, energy managers, whose profile includes making money out of environment, positively.

Look up the organisational structure of all reputed business groups today, and you'd see that the role of a sustainability chief is assuming equal emphasis vis a vis marketing, sales and even finance guys. One of the leading business conglomerates of the country, ITC Ltd has been at the forefront of all environment friendly initiatives ever since environment caught the fancy of India Inc. With a number of accolades to its credit including being the only company in the world of comparable size to be carbon positive (for 6 years now), water positive (9 years consecutively) and solid waste recycling positive (for past 4 years), having the greenest luxury hotel chain in the world among several others, it has set benchmarks to be emulated by the rest. Nazeeb Arif, Vice President, Corporate Communications, ITC Ltd, shares, "Given that ITC's sustainability initiatives, both in terms of environmental contribution and creation of sustainable livelihoods, are a core and integral part of its vision and business strategy, an effective organisational structure has been put in place to provide distributed leadership and enable efficient implementation of the company's objectives. A board level Sustainability Committee reviews, monitors and provides strategic direction to the company's sustainability practices towards fulfilling its triple bottom line objectives. A member of the senior management team of ITC, who is also the Group Head of ITC's Environment, Health and Safety function is represented on the Corporate Management Committee that is entrusted with the task of strategic management of the company's businesses." Explaining how this structure trickles right down in the hierarchy structure as well, Arif describes the thought behind bringing in changes within the organisational structure to look after environment initiatives, "Sustainability is an integral strategy of the company's business operations. Therefore, sustainability practices including environment, health and safety as well as social investments are implemented through an organisational structure similar to other functions such as production, finance, marketing and distribution."

The fact that a number of companies are resorting to this practice makes it clear that the monetary returns are coming in. So it is helping the environment get better as well as earn some profits too. Dr Avinash Patkar, Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), Tata Power agrees, "Tata Power was the first company to have a Chief Sustainability Officer in 2008 in India. Now, many Indian companies are now appointing such officers. Since all natural resources are limited, and demand for them is rising, it is important to have a high level person to handle sustainability issues and to ensure that sustainability goals are woven into operational targets."

Commenting on how corporates in India have started realising that for good corporate governance, they need "to demonstrate their improved performance across the parameters of economic, environmental and social dimensions", Rajib Debnath, Director, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited, providing management consulting and business solutions to the corporate world, explains, "A separate team is needed to improve the non-financial parameters of the company, which if not addressed adequately, could hit the brand. Moreover, such workforce, by virtue of their expertise on nonfinancial parameters are able to contribute in terms of reducing risks and convert intangible indicators into tangible performance indicators, thereby demonstrating improvement of social performance, but also in terms of monetary savings."

Like any other business vertical, this segment too is coming up as a viable way to earn some profits, by getting in eco-friendly technology that saves money. Explaining how it means profits, Arif says, "Creating a low carbon footprint, ITC has consciously invested in renewable energy. Today more than 35 % of energy consumed in ITC is from renewable sources. Besides, all ITC's premium luxury hotels have been accorded the LEED Platinum certification, indeed an exemplary contribution to pioneering the green building movement in India."