Adani Green Energy Ltd, Adani Transmission and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone have been removed from the UN-backed Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). The decision comes in response to a formal request from environmental groups Ekō (formerly SumOfUs) and Market Forces. Two other Adani owned companies, Ambuja Cement and ACC Limited, remain listed by the initiative but will be “closely monitored.”
The Science Based Targets Initiative is the leading provider of independent assessment and validation of corporate C02 reduction targets. The three Adani companies will be removed from the SBTi website in accordance with the SBTi’s now updated Fossil Fuels Policy.
The decision is a particular blow for Adani Green Energy which posts its quarterly results today and, according to reports last week, is preparing to raise up to $800m in new debt in the coming months. This would be the biggest fund raising by the Adani Group since its value was decimated by shortsellers earlier this year. According to Ekō, the Group’s comeback rests strongly on the gamble that Adani Green Energy is the most salvageable Adani brand to international investors – an assumption now called into question by its delisting from the SBTi.
“Adani’s comeback relies on persuading investors that the eco performance of subsidiaries like Adani Green Energy outweighs the wider group’s extensive and growing record of scandals. Inclusion in schemes like the SBTi help bolster that claim, when in reality the evidence shows that with Adani all roads lead back to coal. We commend SBTi for taking this swift and decisive action and hope investors approached to take part in Adani’s upcoming bond issuances take note of this decision and deny debt to all Adani Group companies.”
– Nick Haines, campaign manager at Ekō and member of the Toxic Bonds network
“It’s critical that companies are not allowed to greenwash climate-wrecking fossil fuel expansion plans through initiatives like SBTi. Adani’s practice of shuffling money around the group to fund projects like the disastrous Carmichael coal mine is a long-held concern exacerbated by explosive allegations that have rocked the company and its investors. No Adani Group company can be considered aligned with the Paris Agreement while it’s expanding the scale of the fossil fuel sector.”
– Will van de Pol, Acting Executive Director, Market Forces