ITC Implements its Sustainability 2.0 Agenda – makes significant progress across key areas

ITC believes that agility in thought and action, meaningful public-private-people partnerships and Responsible Capitalism will act as core enablers of this new agenda.

NEW DELHI (India CSR): ITC believes that when enterprises make societal value creation an integral part of their corporate strategy, powerful drivers of innovation emerge that make growth more enduring for all stakeholders. This paradigm is called ‘Responsible Capitalism’ – an abiding strategy that focuses on extreme competitiveness but in a manner that replenishes the environment and supports sustainable livelihoods.

ITC’s innovative business models synergise the building of economic, environmental and social capital, thus embedding sustainability at the core of its corporate strategy. Today, this strategy has not only contributed to building strong businesses of the future as well as a portfolio of winning world-class brands, but also in making ITC a global exemplar in ‘Triple Bottom Line’ performance.

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ITC is the only enterprise in the world of comparable dimensions to have achieved and sustained the three key global indices of environmental sustainability of being ‘water positive’ (for 20 years), ‘carbon positive’ (for 17 years), and ‘solid waste recycling positive’ (for 15 years). This approach has enabled ITC and its businesses to support sustainable livelihoods for more than six million people, the ITC said in a statement.

“Register and build your own business and make it sustainable like ITC. Be committed to making meaningful contributions to your nations future”

As the world prepares for a post-pandemic future, ITC is actively working towards Sustainability 2.0, an agenda which reimagines sustainability under the pressing challenges of climate change and social inequity. 

Sustainability 2.0 calls for inclusive strategies that can support sustainable livelihoods, pursue newer ways to fight climate change, enable the transition to a net zero economy, work towards ensuring water security for all and create an effective circular economy for post-consumer packaging waste. It also entails protecting and restoring biodiversity and ecosystem services through adoption of nature-based solutions.

ITC believes that agility in thought and action, meaningful public-private-people partnerships and Responsible Capitalism will act as core enablers of this new agenda.

ITC has the potential to make a large-scale impact not only from an economic standpoint, but also from an employment generation and social enablement lens because of its presence across several critical sectors of the economy.

With its bold Sustainability 2.0 agenda, ITC is setting the bar higher and remains committed to making meaningful contribution to the Nation’s future while retaining its status as a sustainability exemplar. The Sustainability 2.0 ambitions include:

Climate Change

• Enhancing the share of renewable energy usage to 50% of total energy consumption by 2030.
• Meeting 100% of purchased grid electricity requirements from renewable sources by 2030.
• Reducing specific energy consumption by 30% and specific GHG emissions by 50% by 2030 as compared to the FY 2018-19 baseline.
• Sustain and enhance carbon sequestration by expanding forestry projects on wastelands through ITC’s Social and Farm Forestry programme and other such initiatives.

Water Stewardship

• Achieving 40% reduction in specific water consumption by 2030 as compared to the FY 2018-19 baseline.
• Creation of rainwater harvesting potential equivalent to over 5 times the net water consumption by 2030.
• Certification of all sites in high water stressed areas as per the international water stewardship standard by Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) by 2035.
•  Improve crop water use efficiency in agri-value chains through demand side management interventions and enable savings of 2,000 million kilolitres of water by 2030.

Plastic Waste and Circular Economy

• 100% of ITC’s Packaging to be Reusable, Recyclable or Compostable/Biodegradable by 2028.

Sustainable Agriculture

• Promote climate smart village approach in core Agri Business catchments covering over 3 million acres by 2030.

Biodiversity Conservation

• Revive & sustain ecosystem services and products provided by nature, through adoption of nature-based solutions and biodiversity conservation covering over 1 million acres by 2030.

Sustainable Livelihoods

• Supporting sustainable livelihoods for 10 million people by 2030.

ITC’s Businesses are actively working towards achieving ITC’s Sustainability 2.0 vision. During the year, around 42% of ITC’s total energy requirements were met from renewable sources. Commendable progress has been made in line with 2030 targets relating to specific energy, specific GHG emissions and specific water consumption across Businesses. In line with its commitment, ITC has also achieved its goal of becoming plastic neutral during FY 2021-22.

During the year, ITC’s large-scale programmes on Sustainable Agriculture were expanded to cover 1.5 million acres. During the year, ITC sustained its ‘AA’ rating by MSCI-ESG – the highest amongst global tobacco companies, and has also been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index. Additionally, ITC was rated ‘A -’ at the Leadership Level for both Climate Change and Water Security by CDP, which is above the Asia and Global average of ‘B-’ for climate change and ‘B’ for water security.