Green Index: Grading Companies on Sustainability Initiatives

Background: Commercial entities are adopting sustainable business practices to show-case their ‘Green Quotient’ in form of ‘Business Sustainability Reports’. However, these reports are difficult to comprehend and do not provide the overall socio-environmental impact of the business operations of a company. Methods: In this regard, a comprehensive ‘GREEN-INDEX’ has been developed to grade the sustainability initiatives of a company. The index captures 30 performance parameters, categorized into six vertical heads, namely Green Leadership, Resource Intensity, Externalities, Green Measures, Business Value Chain and Compliance & Reporting.Three types of scoring options are employed to accommodate heterogeneous mix of variables and data-types. Rationalization has been carried out by benchmarking a particular industry against the average sectorial values. Findings: As per the scoring methodology developed, a company would be rated into four grades: ‘A’- Environmentally Compliant, ‘B’- Environmentally Conscious, ‘C’- Environmentally Sensitive and ‘D’- Environmentally Inert. Application/Improvements: The ‘Green Index’ is meant to facilitate stakeholders make an informed opinion about a company in terms of its ‘Green Quotient’ and encourage sharing of best ‘green’ practices across the industries.