Estimating the Impact of Corporate Science-based Emissions Targets on India’s Nationally Determined Contribution Goals

The analysis of 22 Indian companies with science-based targets (SBTs) indicates that full implementation could reduce India's total 2030 GHG emissions by 0.51% to 0.62% and industry sector emissions by 1.89% to 2.4%. Between 2021 and 2030, achieving these SBTs would result in cumulative reductions of 165.9 million MtCO2e in Scope 1 and 15.8 million MtCO2e in Scope 2, slowing the average annual emissions growth rate from a business-as-usual 3.89% to 3.07%. The paper also finds that companies with prior sustainability goals, such as energy efficiency or renewable energy targets, are more likely to adopt absolute-emissions-based SBTs.

• The science-based targets (SBTs) of the 22 analyzed Indian companies, if fully achieved, are estimated to reduce India's total GHG emissions in 2030 by between 0.51% and 0.62%, and emissions within the industry sector by between 1.89% and 2.4%.
• Implementing SBTs would slow the average compounded annual emissions growth rate of the study companies from 3.89% (under a business-as-usual scenario) to 3.07% between 2021 and 2030. This would result in cumulative reductions of 165.9 million MtCO2e for Scope 1 and 15.8 million MtCO2e for Scope 2 emissions.
• Prior sustainability goals—including energy productivity, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and supply chain engagement—facilitated the adoption of SBTs. Specifically, companies with existing goals were more likely to set absolute-emissions-based targets; 9 out of 11 companies with absolute-emissions-based SBTs had prior goals, compared to 7 out of 12 companies with intensity-based SBTs.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Estimating the Impact of Corporate Science-based Emissions Targets on India’s Nationally Determined Contribution Goals. https://www.wri.org/research/corporate-science-based-emissions-targets-india-ndc-goals

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Estimating the Impact of Corporate Science-based Emissions Targets on India’s Nationally Determined Contribution Goals. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/corporate-science-based-emissions-targets-india-ndc-goals.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Estimating the Impact of Corporate Science-based Emissions Targets on India’s Nationally Determined Contribution Goals |url=https://www.wri.org/research/corporate-science-based-emissions-targets-india-ndc-goals |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendestimating, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Estimating the Impact of Corporate Science-based Emissions Targets on India’s Nationally Determined Contribution Goals}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/corporate-science-based-emissions-targets-india-ndc-goals}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }