Vedanta Resources

No leading practices were identified for this company.

No leading practices were identified for this company.

No leading practices were identified for this company.

No leading practices were identified for this company.

Vedanta Resources has established a long-term decarbonisation goal along with just one intermediate target. The company should set further intermediate targets at gaps of no more than five years to incentivise near-term action on its longer-term goal. Furthermore, the company saw only a moderate decline in its emissions intensity – roughly 2.5% a year between 2019 and 2022. The company would benefit from providing more data on emissions related to its different supply chain stages.

While Vedanta Resources has board-level oversight of climate-related issues, there is no evidence that any of its board members have adequate expertise in climate change. The company also does not disclose its revenue from low-carbon products, and there is no evidence to suggest that it is creating or expanding low-carbon business models or implementing actions to decarbonise activities within its existing business models. The company is recommended to establish further decarbonisation targets and to develop both short- and long-term action plans.

Vedanta Resources does not disclose its research and development (R&D) expenditure, investment in low-carbon technologies and its operational measures to reduce its environmental impact. This lack of transparency can lead to missed opportunities in leveraging emerging technologies and may impede the company’s transition to a low-carbon economy.

Vedanta Resources engages suppliers to reduce emissions but can broaden its approach. It advocates for environmental compliance but needs clearer procedures for addressing non-compliance. The company should also implement a comprehensive client engagement strategy to promote emissions reduction targets. Further, the company should disclose a policy for engaging with trade and industry associations and its process to ensure alignment with climate goals. While the company supports climate policies and the Paris Agreement, it should clarify the climate positions of the associations it is a member of.

The company aims to reduce the scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity for its aluminium operations by 14% by 2025 and by 28% by 2030. Furthermore, the company aims to reduce the scope 3 emissions intensity for its aluminium operations by 10% by 2025 and by 25% by 2030 from the 2021 baseline. Moreover, the company wants to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Although Vedanta Resources discloses a detailed low-carbon transition plan, it has not set out a strategy for carbon reduction in its supply chain. Moreover, the company’s current business model relies on carbon-intensive fuels.

The company has decreased its emissions intensity by 2.4% annually for 2019-2022. However, this is below the sectoral-level expectations to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Vedanta Resources does not provide information regarding its low-carbon capital expenditure and low-carbon mitigation R&D. The company also does not disclose whether it is creating or expanding low-carbon business models or implementing actions to decarbonise activities within its existing business models.

Although Vedanta Resources shows strong governance regarding its climate strategy, the company can strengthen its roadmap for achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 by including financial details related to the low-carbon technologies and solutions it plans to rely on. Further, it can provide a breakdown of the expected emissions reduction for each of its activities to make its net-zero roadmap more credible.

The company publicly discloses a commitment to engaging in social dialogue with workers and unions. However, no relevant disclosure was found regarding the categories of stakeholders it engages with on a just transition. The company discloses that it engages with its internal and external stakeholders through extensive consultation on its closure plans, recognising the importance of community involvement in plan development.
No evidence was found of the company undertaking low-carbon transition planning to mitigate the social impacts of the transition on workers, affected stakeholders and its business relationships. Additionally, no evidence was found to demonstrate the company’s engagement in social dialogue and with stakeholders in its just transition planning.

The company discloses the measures it takes to ensure that the jobs it creates embed equality of opportunity for women and vulnerable groups. In particular, it has inducted more than 1,000 young professionals through campus hiring in India with a focus on gender diversity, upliftment of minority communities and adequate representation of all regions and demographics. However, no evidence was found of the company committing to create and support access to green and decent jobs as part of the low-carbon transition.
No relevant disclosure was found of the company’s assessment of employment dislocation risks. The company discloses its actions to provide training opportunities for workers and affected stakeholders. For instance, it offers skill development training to 261 families that have been displaced due to its project-related activities. Furthermore, the company discloses the measures it takes to embed equality of opportunity for women and vulnerable groups in these actions. For example, it provides structured safety training, shop floor training and technical training, tailored to the needs of transgender employees. However, no evidence was found of the company having a process for identifying skills gaps for workers and stakeholders affected by the low-carbon transition or a public commitment to help workers displaced by the transition to reskill or upskill.

No relevant disclosure was found to show if the company identifies the impacts of the low-carbon transition on social protection for workers and affected stakeholders, nor how it contributes to their social protection. Additionally, no evidence was found that the company expects its business relationships to contribute to the social protection of their workers and affected stakeholders.
No relevant disclosure was found to show how the company identifies any misalignment of its lobbying activities with policies and regulations that support the just transition, nor of the measures it takes to address misalignment. Furthermore, no evidence was found that the company lobbies for policies and regulations for green and decent job creation; retention, education and reskilling; and social protection for workers.

The company commits to respecting human rights and the ILO fundamental rights at work, and it expects its business relationships to respect the ILO fundamental rights at work. No evidence was found of the company’s process to identify, assess and mitigate salient human rights risks in its operations and supply chain, or of the company disclosing the stakeholders whose human rights have been affected by its activities. The company does, however, have a grievance mechanism available to workers and external stakeholders.

The company commits to respecting the health and safety of its workers and expects the same commitment from its business relationships. No evidence was found of the company having a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage. While the company discloses the proportion of its direct workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements, no relevant disclosure was found of the company’s required working hours. The company discloses some indicators of workforce diversity, such as the gender of its workforce by employee category. However, no relevant disclosure was found of additional indicators of workforce diversity. The company commits to gender equality and women’s empowerment.

No evidence was found that the company commits to protecting personal data and has a privacy statement regarding the collection, sharing and access to personal data. While the company discloses its global tax strategy, no relevant disclosure was found of the corporate income tax it pays in each relevant jurisdiction. The company has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption, but no evidence was found that it includes corresponding clauses in its business relationship contracts. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the company has a lobbying and political engagement policy, or that it specifies that it does not make political contributions. No relevant disclosure was found of the company’s expenditure on lobbying activities.