Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) is arguably the best tool to measure an organization’s sustainability efforts. Their ratings are data driven and involve deep analytics. Many organizations including Microsoft and Google are known to have benchmarked their progress on sustainability initiatives against these ranking to improve their sustainability programs.
So why are the majority of the Indian invitees to DJSI not responding to the questionnaire?
I spoke with a number of these invitees and realized that many were unaware about the index, some did not know that they were part of the invitee list and a few others who were aware of being a part of list seemed to believe that the index would not add value.
According to a study conducted by PwC last year, an increasing number of investors are using sustainability ratings to enhance investment value and mitigate risks. This study is based on evidence in the US market. However, with Indian organizations looking to attract global investors; I would think that it is imperative that they understand trends amongst international investors. This means being open to a global rating and ranking process. And DJSI would be a good place to start.
Ratings such as DJSI allow for transparency and give organizations an opportunity to talk about issues that people truly care about. This helps better embed sustainability efforts while also serving as an excellent benchmark.
Would you agree?