Business and ecology are not quite step-sisters and the former can no longer afford to ignore the latter, said R Mukundan, Managing Director of Tata Chemicals.

Mukundan, who is also taking charge as the Chairman of the India Business and Biodiversity Initiative (IBBI), told Business Line in an interview: “We want to impact the entire Indian industry in such a way that biodiversity becomes the central theme of the agenda.” The IBBI, being hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry, is an initiative by the Government and businesses following the Presidency of the conference of parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) coming to India. It already has 12 signatories such as Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals, Dabur, Volkswagen and Rio Tinto. Edited excerpts:

Are there any plans for an objective analysis of the ecological impact of corporate operations?

The areas of impact of each of the companies are going to be very different, for example, Rio Tinto. The mines they are going to operate (in Madhya Pradesh) are probably one of the most pristine areas for Indian vultures. So, they are going to work on conservation of vultures because their operations should not come in the way of the species.

One of the issues we are faced with is rising ocean levels. We have large salt pans; it’s a resource we use. If they get flooded, we lose our ability to continue our business. For some companies, the ecological impact will be immediate, for some others, it will be a little bit distant. The issue is, in some form or another, removal of species from the chain, impacts the entire ecological process. It’s really what we are focused on, to make sure the companies are conscious and when they do their operations and investments.

What about projects where there are conflicts between profit aims and ecological objectives?

In my view, there is no choice for companies not to do biodiversity impact studies. Once done, mitigation and adaptation measures can be put in place. Of course, the best solution for all this is not to put up any industries, but if you have to create jobs and development, you need to do so. At the same time, we need to be conscious of the impact and reduce it. That’s the issue we need to grapple with when we talk about the development agenda versus the ecological agenda. And now, there are tools available which help you achieve the balance.

Some of your signatories, for example Rio Tinto, have a poor history in terms of conserving ecological and human rights, don’t they?

I think most companies today are very conscious. The companies which are part of the modern ecosystem care about their brand, and how they are viewed, because public perception is a big issue in the way their products will be consumed. That perception is built not just on your ability to make world-class products, but also how you produce them. Most of us today are very open about our issues, we are transparent, we publish our documents for public scrutiny.

Is it time to include the cost of natural resources in financial results?

Companies are trying to do this. Most good companies do publish their Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) report, which tries to capture this. But if you say companies do proper costing of their natural resources use, the capital cost, I think it’s in process. We are hopeful that three or four guidelines, which are coming out, will take this into account and allow a company to also reveal the data in its balance sheet publicly to shareholders. But today, the mechanism to transmit this data is participation in carbon disclosure projects, publishing GRI reports.

The Government has already started to move. SEBI has already mandated the top 100 listed companies last year and top 500 listed companies this year to publish what is known as business responsibility report.

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