"Sustainability is an emerging mega trend in India and is a measure of good Corporate Governance." Comment and explain role of the Government for improving sustainable reporting.

Sustainability is an emerging megatrend and is a measure of good corporate governance. Over the years, environmental issues have steadily encroached on businesses' capacity to create value for the customers, shareholders, and other stakeholders. Globalized workforces and supply chains have created environmental pressures and attendant business liabilities. The rise of new world powers has intensified competition for natural resources (especially oil) and added a geopolitical dimension to sustainability. "Externalities", such as carbon dioxide emissions and water use are fast becoming materials-meaning that investors consider them central to a firm's performance and stakeholders expect companies to share information about them. These forces are magnified by escalating public and Governmental concern about climate change, industrial pollution, food safety, and natural resource depletion, among other issues. Consumers in many countries are seeking out sustainable products and services or leaning on companies to improve the sustainability of traditional ones. Further, thousands of companies are placing strategic bets on innovation in energy efficiency, renewable power, resource productivity, and pollution control. In the end, it can be concluded that the top management of an organisation can no longer afford to ignore sustainability as a central factor in their companies' long-term competitiveness. Government's Role in improving sustainable reporting Considering the importance of sustainability in businesses, MCA launched Corporate Social Responsibility Voluntary Guidelines in 2009. This voluntary CSR Policy addresses six core elements - Care for all Stakeholders, Ethical functioning, Respect for Workers' Rights and Welfare, Respect for Human Rights, Respect for Environment and Activities for Social and Inclusive Development. To take this further, in 2011 MCA issued 'National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economical Responsibilities of Business' which encourages reporting on environment, social and governance issues. In line with the National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economic Responsibilities of Business and considering the larger interest of public disclosure regarding steps taken by listed entities from an Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") perspective, SEBI decided to mandate inclusion of Business Responsibility Reports ("BRR reports") as part of the Annual Reports for listed entities. SEBI in its (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 has mandated the requirement of submission of BRR for top 1000 listed entities describing initiative taken by them from an environmental, social and governance perspective in the prescribed format [Regulation 34(2)(f)]. Further, in order to align the NVGs with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 'Respect' pillar of the United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGP) the process of revision of NVGs was started in 2015. In March 2019, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has revised the National Voluntary Guidelines on the Social, Environmental and Economic Responsibilities of Business (NVGs) and has released the National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBC). These principles urge businesses to actualize the principles in letter and spirit. (Note: In terms of amendment to regulation 34 (2) (f) of SEBI LODR Regulations vide Gazette notification no. SEBI/LAD-NRO/GN/2021/22 dated May 05, 2021, it has now been decided to introduce new reporting requirements on ESG parameters called the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR). W.e.f. the financial year 2022-2023, whereby filing of BRSR shall be mandatory for the top 1000 listed companies (by market capitalization) and shall replace the existing BRR. Filing of BRSR is voluntary for the financial year 2021-22.)