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.

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: