Foundation stone for BRSR
Foundation stone for BRSR
There are various international and local frameworks used by organisations across the globe for their corporate sustainability reporting. In November 2018, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) constituted a Committee on Business Responsibility Reporting for finalising Business Responsibility Reporting formats for listed and unlisted companies, based on the framework of the National Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct’ (NGRBCs) . Note: The existing format of BRR is based on ‘National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economic Responsibilities of Business’ (“NVGs”) issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (“MCA”), Government of India.
In August 2020, the Committee addressed various aspects and issues that could improve the quality and utility of disclosures and recommended Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) as an update on the existing Business Responsibility Reporting (BRR) to incorporate the current global practices in non-financial sustainability reporting based on the NGRBCs.
Through its ‘Report of the Committee on Business Responsibility Reporting’ (the Committee Report), the Committee recommended that BRR be rechristened BRSR, where disclosures are based on ESG parameters, compelling organisations to holistically engage with stakeholders and go beyond regulatory compliances in terms of business measures and their reporting.
As per SEBI’s circular dated 10 May 2021, entities already preparing and disclosing sustainability reports based on internationally accepted reporting frameworks (such as GRI, SASB, Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) or <IR> may cross-refer to disclosures made under these frameworks.
BRSR – the format configuration
In the current reporting under BRR, the reporting sections are five which has been reduced to three in the BRSR requirements. However, additional disclosures have been inserted in each of these sections. In the new format of business responsibility and sustainability reporting, the disclosures relating to key performance indicators (KPI) under the specified principles are categorised under:
(a) essential indicators which are mandatory; and
(b) leadership indicators which are voluntary.
