Carbon disclosure project in India: reasons for low response rates & possible mitigation options
The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) has become the standard forum for carbon footprint disclosures for corporate organizations around the world – with over 3000 respondents from over 60 countries in 2011. CDP has completed five years of operation in India – but has as yet failed to register a strong impact – with response rates being low and slow to grow over the years (28% response rate in 2011, improvement of only 10% over 2007). The disparity in response rate for CDP India therefore presents an interesting case, as the low response rate to CDP in India not only affects Corporate India’s image (of being sensitive towards the problem of climate change), but also dilutes CDP’s claim as the world’s largest carbon footprint inventory. This paper tries to analyze the problems behind the low response rate and disclosure scores of Indian corporations and discusses possible mitigation options for the same.