ESG Governance
ICICI Bank’s ESG philosophy is to adopt sustainable business practices that ensure the long-term success of the organisation and have a positive impact on the environment and society. The Bank endeavours to promote long-term sustainable growth in the economy through business initiatives and responsible corporate citizenship.
Keeping in mind the above philosophy, the Board has decided that the Risk Committee will have oversight on ESG in the Bank. In addition to areas relating to risk management that are directly within the remit of the Risk Committee, the Committee reviews the Bank’s action plan on various aspects of ESG, external reporting and stakeholder feedback. The areas that are within the purview of other Board Committees continue to be overseen by the respective Committees. Any updates relevant to ESG in these areas will be presented to the Risk Committee.
The Bank’s efforts in ESG were further strengthened with setting up of a dedicated team to lead the Bank's ESG-related actions and initiatives.
A management-level ESG Steering Committee provides regular oversight and guidance to the ESG team.
ESG GOVERNANCE
Overarching Environmental, Social and Governance Policy
- Broad focus areas
- Responsible Financing
- Environmental sensitivity in the Bank’s operations
- Customers
- Employees
- Society
- Corporate Governance
- Cybersecurity and data privacy
- Stakeholder engagement and accountability
- Policy available on the Bank’s website
During fiscal 2023, the Risk Committee and the Board reviewed material ESG matters, and were provided updates on progress made on various ESG-related initiatives at the Bank. The Board-approved ESG Policy was reviewed and updated largely to reflect the progress on ESG made by the Bank during fiscal 2023 and the requirements under the SEBI mandated Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR).
ESG Ratings and Performance
During fiscal 2023, there was an improvement in the Bank’s ESG ratings. Although we continue to focus on improving certain underlying activities in accordance with the Risk Committee approved action plan, the improvement in ratings is testimony to the progress being made across various areas.
Further, the improvement in performance was also a result of enhancements in the granularity of our disclosures. In addition to providing key rating agencies with relevant data and information when requested, we recognise markets and stakeholders need clear and consistent information, and we fully support this objective.
Regulators and other market participants are looking to introduce principles to support the consistency, clarity and robustness of ESG ratings. We strongly support these initiatives and are contributing to efforts to develop a framework suitable to the Indian context and also acceptable globally.
Snapshot of ICICI Bank’s ESG ratings:
| Agency and Nature of Rating | Scale (Best to Worst) | ICICI Bank’s Rating/Score | Change | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSCI ESG Rating | AAA to CCC (7-point scale) | A | Improved | |||
| Sustainalytics ESG Rating | 0 to 100 | 24.0 (Medium Risk) | Improved | |||
| S&P Global CSA | 100 to 0 | 36 | Improved | |||
| CDP Climate Change | A to D - (8-point scale) | C | First time score; same as Asia regional average | |||
| Moody’s ESG Solutions | CIS-1 (Positive) to CIS-5 (Very highly negative) | CIS-2 (Neutral-to-low) | No change |
ESG-related Key Actions in Fiscal 2023
- Continuous engagement with internal stakeholders to build awareness through customised sessions and regular emailers.
- Facilitate training sessions for Board members and senior management to create capabilities within relevant teams with focus on ESG.
- Track key developments in India and global markets with the objective to understand approaches to target setting; develop internal targets for reduction in carbon footprint in the Bank’s own operations.
- A Framework for Sustainable Financing was developed aimed at providing guidance on Green/Social (Sustainable)/Sustainability-linked lending.
- Infrastructure Management & Services Group (IMSG) strengthened engagement with its vendors on ESG and sustainability, developed a Suppliers’ Code of Conduct, set out guidelines for green procurement and took steps to align vendors' action plan with that of the Bank.
- Adoption of green power, wherever available and feasible, is enabling the Bank to manage its Scope 2 emissions. This is part of the internal two-year roadmap for bringing down the overall Scope 1 and Scope 2 emission intensity.
- Initiated evaluation of Scope 3 emissions in Bank’s own operations and took up various pilot projects to assess key data and information requirements for calculating carbon and GHG emissions in accordance with established protocols.
- Improved water and waste management, and initiated monitoring and measurement of these aspects.
The Bank is committed to minimising the environmental impact of its operations and business. It is working towards setting a time bound target for calibrating its emissions/reduction in emissions intensity/achieving carbon neutrality.
Risk Governance and Management Framework
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