The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
NEW DELHI, JAN 29, 2024
Vedanta Aluminium, India’s leading aluminium producer, on Monday announced its top ranking in the esteemed S&P Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) for the aluminium industry, covering the assessment period of 2023. This distinction reaffirms Vedanta Aluminium’s status as the world’s foremost sustainable aluminium producer, surpassing global peers in Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices.
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The S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) conducts an annual evaluation of companies’ sustainability practices, encompassing over 10,000 companies worldwide. Renowned as the premier external sustainability assessment, the CSA focuses on industry-specific and financially material sustainability criteria. Previously ranked second globally in the 2022 assessment, Vedanta Aluminium has shown significant improvement across all evaluated areas – Environment, Social, and Governance performance – leading to an enhanced overall CSA assessment score and securing the top rank in 2023.
Leading companies across various industries undergo annual evaluations of their sustainability practices, with Vedanta Aluminium excelling notably in criteria such as biodiversity conservation, occupational health & safety, social impact, human rights, talent planning, and water management practices.
Aluminium plays an increasingly significant role in enabling sustainable applications and aiding economies in decarbonizing their value chains, contributing to the global energy transition. Vedanta Aluminium has committed to achieving Net Zero by 2050, adopting a strategy focused on both reducing and offsetting its carbon footprint. The company aims to increase the proportion of renewables in its energy mix, enhance manufacturing excellence for higher operational efficiencies, transition to low-carbon energy sources like biofuels, and create substantial carbon sinks through extensive afforestation efforts. Through these initiatives, Vedanta Aluminium aims to ensure wider global access to responsibly produced, high-quality aluminium, contributing to a greener future.
Commenting on the achievement, Vedanta Aluminium CEO John Slaven said, “We have embarked on a transformative journey where our commitment to sustainability extends beyond business compliance to making a positive impact on the environment. Securing the top rank in the S&P Global CSA recognizes our commitment to embedding sustainability practices across every facet of our value chain, from sourcing to product delivery. We prioritize resource efficiencies, greater use of renewables in our energy mix, ‘converting waste into wealth’, ensuring employee safety and well-being, and forging enduring partnerships with communities for inclusive development. Through these efforts, Vedanta Aluminium is establishing a legacy of environmental stewardship, paving the way for a more sustainable future.”
Key milestones achieved by the company in its sustainability journey include: an 8 per cent reduction in GHG emissions intensity in FY23 compared to the FY21 baseline, alongside a 16 per cent increase in production; an 11 per cent reduction in water withdrawal from freshwater sources; significant freshwater usage savings of 1.5 million cubic meters; doubling waste utilization to 200 per cent in FY23, boosting circular economy avenues; collaboration on over 40 rural community water body restoration projects; induction of India’s largest fleet of electric forklifts, reducing carbon footprint in logistics; positively impacting over 6.3 lakh women and children through focused social interventions; increasing community investments by over 45 per cent in FY23, driving extensive initiatives in education, healthcare, livelihood, community infrastructure, grassroots arts, culture & sports; and diversifying employee hiring to include transgender and differently-abled professionals in core operations, making Vedanta Aluminium a truly inclusive workplace.
Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing over half of the nation’s aluminium output (2.29 million tonnes in FY23). Known for its value-added aluminium products crucial in core industries, Vedanta Aluminium leads the way in sustainable development practices. With world-class aluminium smelters and alumina refinery facilities in India, the company fulfils its mission of advancing aluminium’s emerging applications as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.
