According to the study, of the 110 companies contacted, including 51 from high-impact industries such as chemicals and mining firms, 35% responded to a questionnaire which sought information on direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, emission reduction strategies, company-level climate change management and governance, and opportunities and risks the company perceived in climate change. The 35% response rate was the lowest in the 12 countries where CDP conducted the study.

According to Jamshed Godrej, Chairman of CII Mission for Sustainable Growth & Climate Change and Chairman & Managing Director of Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Ltd, the first phase of study proved to be a good shot and he felt the awareness generated in this round was important and all efforts were required to raise the awareness level. Although the response rate from high impact sectors was similar across the entire sample, there were wide variations in response across sectors ranging from 25% among diversified chemicals companies to 56% for electrical utilities.

Ravi Singh, secretary general and CEO of environmental group and CDP partner WWF-India, said that he would like to see more participation from the diversified chemicals, pharmaceutical and automotive sectors. Singh said he planned to speak to the Reserve Bank of India, the Bombay Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Board of India about their potential involvement, but was not looking for any intervention at this point.

According to the report, 79% of Indian companies surveyed saw several commercial risks arising from climate change. These included following emission-reduction norms, dealing with shrinking resources such as water, and those related to changing consumer preferences for environmentally responsible companies and products. The report said that 85% of the Indian companies saw an opportunity in the global move to combat global warming. India has hogged the major share in carbon projects under the Kyoto Protocol.

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, India accounts for more than one-third of the 844 registered carbon reduction projects and has twice as many projects as China. Almost half the companies surveyed said they were looking at emission trading (carbon credit trading) opportunities and 21% already have CDM projects in the pipeline. Paul Simpson, chief operating officer of CDP, said that this trend of companies looking at climate change as an opportunity was fairly consistent throughout the world.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd the automobile company would be participating in the survey next year and the company has hired a team to be able to complete the survey next year, according to Kavi Arya, Technical Adviser. Purumedh Gupta, Deputy Supply Chain of Bharti Airtel Ltd, India's largest cell phone provider, said the company participated in the study as carbon emissions was turning out to be a big issue. He added that the report would encourage voluntary efforts in reducing carbon emissions, as companies see benefits such as carbon credits. He said that companies also saw the report as something that would boost government support for companies working to reduce emissions.

Next year, the CDP questionnaire will be sent to 200 companies in India, said Simpson.

Indian Firms taking to Voluntary Offsets in Anticipation of Emission Reduction Commitments say Experts

Acknowledging the growing risk of adverse climate change, several Indian companies, including Infosys Technologies Ltd, are taking cues from their counterparts in North America and buying voluntary offsets. These carbon credits are purchased by companies that want to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions even though they are not mandated to do so. They are unlike credits that companies in certain developed economies, such as those in the European Union, have to mandatorily buy under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) developed under the Kyoto Protocol. While some experts say Indian companies are doing this to improve their image, others maintain that it could be in anticipation of emission reduction commitments that India may agree to accept.

Developing nations are coming under pressure from several international institutions, including the United Nations Development Programme, to accept emission cuts. According to Ashutosh Pandey of Emergent Ventures Pvt Ltd, there was a lot of movement in voluntary markets globally, mainly for companies who want to showcase their corporate social responsibility. Though still at a nascent stage in India, it would definitely pick up. Emergent Ventures Pvt Ltd helps companies figure out their carbon footprints, or calculation of emissions.

It has been observed that in case the top 500 companies in India agree to go carbon neutral, then one would witness seeing these companies buying something around 50-100 million VERs (voluntary emission reductions). According to Jubilant Organosys Ltd, the company has plans of going carbon neutral. Also, according to a carbon market consultant ACC Ltd and Ambuja Cements (Ltd) are interested in the voluntary market.

Meanwhile, Infosys has told the Carbon Disclosure Project, a seven-year effort to ask companies around the world about climate change issues, that it would be looking to buy voluntary offsets in the near future.

According to Geetika Dayal, Executive Director, The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), a 1,500- people conference would be held this November, which will be zero carbon. Efforts were on in calculating the number of offsets the company needed to buy. Preparations for the Commonwealth Games in India are already underway and efforts were being made to make it a (carbon) neutral event. So also would be the case with the Beijing Olympics and the next Fifa World Cup.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, India does not have any reduction target for emissions. Therefore, Indian companies that agree to contain their emissions, do so voluntarily.

Canada - Its commitment on climate change and energy

1. Prime Minister Harper has agreed to enhance Canada's cooperation on climate change and energy with the aim of contributing to effective global solutions that ensure secure, affordable supplies of energy and support economic growth.

2. As a major energy producer, Canada has a significant stake in developing a comprehensive global approach to the climate change challenge. To be effective, the post-2012 international climate change framework must provide for contributions from all major greenhouse gas-emitting and energy-consuming nations.

3. The complexity of the climate change challenge means that the global solution needs to be multifaceted. It must provide for complementary national, regional and multilateral policy frameworks that are mutually reinforcing and which address the linked challenges of energy security and sustainable development in an integrated approach.

4. The APEC Leaders' Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development is a significant step forward in efforts to forge a new international framework. Canada supports the launch of negotiations on a comprehensive post-2012 agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference in Indonesia which was held in December 2007 and would work with other like-minded countries including the members of the 'Umbrella Group' coalition to pursue shared interests.

5. Canada has confirmed its intention to promote cooperation on a new international climate change framework in all relevant fora, including the initiative by the United States to launch a dialogue among major economies. Canada had participated in the first meeting of the process as well as other gatherings such as the ongoing G8 dialogue and the United Nations High-level Event. These processes would contribute towards a new climate change framework under the UNFCCC.

6. Canada had pledged to work with other countries in achieving an international consensus on a long-term global emissions reduction goal. Such a goal would provide a basis for accelerated and concerted action at the national level over the coming years and promote a smooth transition to a low carbon society. In that context, Canada has noted its contribution to long term reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, nationally and internationally in 2007 at the G8 and APEC meetings, and its intent is to continue making progress at the forthcoming major economies and UNFCCC meetings.

7. Canada has been cooperating in a number of regional and plurilateral partnerships which aim to reduce emissions and promote energy security and diversification through practical action. These activities are making a tangible contribution to addressing climate change through the development and deployment of zero- and low-emission technologies.

8. Canada has always expressed its interest in the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP). Such partnerships have already made substantial progress in developing a large number of collaborative projects aimed at developing new technologies. Canada's status as a major producer and exporter of energy and clean energy technologies makes it a natural candidate for membership of the Partnership.

9. Canada agrees that reducing emissions from deforestation is a key component of global action on climate change and welcomed the prospect of forestry issues being discussed at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties. Canada agrees on the need for effective international action to enhance the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests. Canada has participated in the High-Level Meeting of 63 countries under the Global Initiative on Forests and Climate. Canada highlighted its interest in achieving agreement of like-minded countries on a Legally-binding Instrument on Sustainable Forest Management.

10. Other partnerships involved participation at the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, the Methane to Markets partnership, the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership and the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy.

11. At the domestic level, Canada has been moving forward with domestic greenhouse gas regulatory regimes that include emissions trading systems and are currently engaged in work on the design features of the schemes. Emission trading is a potentially important policy instrument for using market forces to drive low-cost greenhouse gas abatement.

12. Canada has a diverse range of climates, ecosystems and socio-economic conditions which present the country with particular challenges in adapting to the impacts of climate change. Canada agrees that differing national circumstances, stages of development, economic growth rates, demography and natural resource endowment should all be accommodated in any future agreement on climate change at the international level. Canada is committed to further action on adapting both domestically, and as an important element of future international climate change action.

13. Canada is one of the countries having around half the world's uranium reserves and production, and so it recognizes that nuclear power can make a significant contribution to meeting global energy needs and addressing the challenge of climate change.

14. In recognition of the importance of global action on climate change and energy, Canada has agreed on the following actions:

• Would initially focus on information exchange on legal and regulatory issues relevant to carbon capture and storage, and would explore the scope for ongoing collaboration on issues of mutual interest with other countries. Canada would also exchange views on regulatory regime issues including emissions trading.

• Energy technologies: Pursue cooperation to promote the development and deployment of clean, secure and affordable energy technologies, including carbon capture and storage and low emissions coal.

• Forestry management: Promote enhanced implementation of sustainable forest management including the link between sustainable management of forests and climate change. In line with the outcome in the APEC Leaders' Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Sustainable Development, Canada would coordinate efforts under the UNFCCC to address emissions from deforestation. It would explore actively working together on the Global Initiative on Forest and Climate, and on a legally-binding instrument among like-minded countries on sustainable forest management.

• Uranium: Atomic Energy of Canada Limited would establish a Collaboration Program which would cover interactions on research in advanced nuclear technologies.