With its scale, speed, and ambition, India is uniquely positioned to not just achieve comprehensive decarbonisation but act as a powerful market accelerator for climate accountability.
What became unmistakably clear in 2025 was a decisive shift in mindset. Climate action has moved from a voluntary narrative to a business responsibility, one that demands measurable, verifiable outcomes. Sustainability is no longer about doing “less harm.” It is about net-zero energy, waste, and water performance.
Through first-hand observation, I have seen this transition take hold across factories, offices, retail spaces, campuses, logistics facilities, and institutional buildings. Organisations that once treated sustainability as a reporting exercise are now viewing it as a core business transformation strategy. The reason is simple: Decarbonisation is increasingly recognised as one of the most effective ways to future-proof assets, manage risk, and remain competitive.
As a result, the questions companies are asking have fundamentally changed. How do we accurately measure emissions and establish a credible baseline? How do we verify performance? And how do we demonstrate real progress on our net-zero journey to investors, lenders, and global partners? In 2025, the answers to these questions became clearer than ever before.
Rewriting the rules
Policy and market forces have rewritten the rules of engagement. With SEBI’s BRSR Core framework coming into effect, sustainability reporting in India shifted from narrative-driven disclosures to structured, comparable, and assurance-ready data. For many corporate boards, this marked the first time emissions, energy use, water performance, and material efficiency were treated with the same rigour as financial reporting and compliance.
This year also marked the first compliance period of India’s Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, designed to lower the cost of decarbonisation, attract clean investment, modernise heavy industry, and create new jobs. Globally, carbon pricing mechanisms now cover nearly one-third of emissions. India’s alignment with this trend signals a fundamental shift in how climate action is priced, traded, and evaluated.
At the same time, Indian companies are facing growing pressure from international markets to deliver verifiable emissions data across their global supply chains. Scope 3 emissions—once considered out of bounds or too difficult to measure—are now unavoidable. International disclosure regulations, coupled with real penalties for non-compliance, mean that transparency across logistics, suppliers, tenants, and materials is no longer optional. For many organisations, Scope 3 accounts for 70 to 90 per cent of total emissions. The days of focusing solely on Scope 1 and 2 are over.
Perhaps most importantly, climate accountability has moved away from distant targets without defined pathways. Today, companies are expected to demonstrate achievable action now. Organisations are either investing in our collective future—or risking irrelevance as relics of the past.
Net-zero is achievable today
Across India, real projects are demonstrating what credible climate leadership looks like. In 2025, multiple assessments showed that net-zero pathways are technically achievable and operationally feasible right now, not decades from now.
Examples like Ajeenkya DY Patil University in Pune and the Bharat Diamond Bourse in Mumbai prove that building performance can be measured with precision, and that data-driven operational improvements lead to meaningful emissions reductions. They also demonstrate a deeper cultural shift: Indian enterprises are increasingly choosing transparency, independent verification, and integrity over symbolism.
Notably, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities are emerging as credible, climate-ready markets—challenging the notion that leadership must come only from Tier 1 cities.
What 2026 will demand
If 2025 was about setting the rules of accountability, 2026 will be about execution.
Climate disclosures will become the baseline—the minimum expectation—while real performance becomes the measure of leadership. Energy use must decline. Emissions must show a verifiable downward trajectory. Monitoring systems must lead to measurable efficiency gains. Companies that connect data to action will lead.
Verification will also take centre stage. As sustainability-linked finance grows and carbon markets mature, confidence in climate data will be essential. Independent validation will matter as much as the numbers themselves. Climate performance will be expected to meet the rigour of financial audits, with credibility built on evidence, not declarations.
We will also see buildings judged increasingly on operational performance rather than design intent or certification plaques. While green building standards played a vital role in raising awareness, the market is shifting toward real-world outcomes. Boards and asset owners will demand clarity on energy performance, heat resilience, water stress, grid instability, and life-cycle material impacts.
Finally, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, including Indore, Surat, Jaipur, Coimbatore, Kochi, Nagpur and others, will define India’s next wave of decarbonisation at scale. As these cities drive commercial expansion, they have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to embed performance-driven climate systems from the start. Doing so will require better access to finance, clear benchmarks, and data-backed guidance.
The country’s credibility in the global climate conversation will be shaped by how quickly its commercial sector moves from pledges to proof. The tools exist. The pathways are clear. The moment for meaningful decarbonisation is now.
The author is the president and CEO of Global Network for Zero, an independent net-zero certification body.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.
