Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Vedanta Resources engages on climate policy with a mix of positive and negative positions. Whilst the company has positive top-line messaging on climate change, Vedanta Resources appears unsupportive of the energy transition and has actively advocated a sustained role for fossil fuels, including coal, in India’s energy mix.

Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Vedanta Resources has broadly positive top-line communications on climate change. In the company's 2023 TCFD report, published in July 2023, Chairman Anil Agardwal supported urgent action to address climate change. Further, in its 2021-22 Sustainability Report, published in July 2022, the company supported climate action in line with the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement, including reference to the more ambitious 1.5°C goal. In the same report, Vedanta Resources appeared to support government regulation to respond to climate change, stating that climate mitigation and the transition to a low-carbon economy will require “extensive changes” to policies and regulations.

Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: Vedanta Resources appears to have limited but positive transparent engagement with specific climate-related policies. In its 2022 TCFD Report, the company appeared to support India’s target of reducing the country’s emissions intensity by 33-35% between 2005 and 2030. In its 2022 CDP response, Vedanta Resources supported energy efficiency and renewable energy legislation in India, including a framework for power purchase agreements.

Positioning on Energy Transition: Vedanta Resources appears to be actively engaged on the energy transition, consistently supporting a sustained role for oil and gas in India’s energy mix. According to an August 2023 OCCR Report, Vedanta Resources covertly advocated to weaken key environmental regulations in India during the COVID-19 pandemic, successfully engendering a scrapping of various safeguards which protected citizens in the face of expansionary oil exploration projects. The report’s findings are backed up by respective letters to Indian government ministers from both, the company’s chairman, Anil Agarwal, and the company’s CEO, Sunil Duggal, from January and June 2021.

Further, according to a March 2023 article from the Hindu Business Line, Chairman Anil Agarwal supported an expanded role for oil and gas in the Indian energy mix, citing lack of renewable capacity and energy security concerns. CEO of Vedanta Resources, Sunil Duggal, also supported a relaxation of regulation on the sale of crude oil in India in a June 2022 tweet. Further, in a January 2022 letter to India's Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, Vedanta Resources directly advocated for the authorization of a new fossil gas pipeline in India.

Industry Association Governance: Vedanta Resources has disclosed a complete list of its industry association memberships in its 2022 Sustainability Report, published in July 2022, but gave no further details of the organizations’ climate policy positions or Vedanta Resources’ role within them. Vedanta Resources has not published a review of alignment with its industry associations. Vedanta Resources retains membership to Minerals Council South Africa which has engaged negatively on climate policy in South Africa.

InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q3 2023.