We have identified 4 Strategic Objectives with long term goals and action plans for each of them. Our Strategic Objective #4 is focused on ‘Leadership in Sustainability’ wherein we’ve set specific long-term goals on carbon emissions along with decarbonisation roadmap. Based on global scenarios on technology, government policy, consumer behavior and company’s asset configuration, our decarbonisation strategy is set out in three-time horizons, as mentioned below:

• Entry into Steel Recycling Business to create a formal circular economy for steel in India. A 0.5 MnTPA scrap processing unit (first shredding unit in India) was commissioned in FY2020-21 and multiple units across different regions are in the pipeline. 
• Utilisation of higher scrap charge in the steel making process in India
• Adoption of best available technologies and improvement in existing processes to maximise waste heat recovery, use of by-product cases, and dehumidification of hot blast in blast furnaces.
• Improving quality of Raw Material (Iron ore & Coking coal) to reduce emissions in Blast Furnace in Indian operations (reducing ash in metallurgical coke from domestic coking coal and reducing alumina content in domestic iron ore)
• Increase share of renewable energy generation. 150 MW projects being implemented in a phased manner across our Indian sites, plan to commission 11.8 MW of solar power plants on by FY2022-23 at our Thailand facilities.
• Internal Carbon Pricing: To boost the carbon abatement projects appraisal in India we have increased the internal carbon pricing from $15 to $40/ton CO₂ in FY2021-22, which we plan to review in FY2022-23.
• Tata Steel Nederland: In line with our ambition to produce CO₂ neutral steel by 2050 in Europe, we have announced our ambition to switch to hydrogen-based steelmaking. We plan to gradually phase out our Blast Furnaces by replacing them by a combination of DRI (Direct Reduced Iron) technology and electric furnaces. By 2026, we expect to have completed detailed engineering, placement of orders and commencement of construction on the project. 
• Finalisation of decarbonisation roadmap for Tata Steel UK focusing on utilisation of locally available steel scrap (UK is the second highest producer in the world) in consultation with the UK Government.

• Capacity addition in India using scrap Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) route. Several EAF units will also be set up to convert the collected & processed scrap into steel.
• Shifting from metallurgical coal to cleaner fuel like Natural Gas. 
• Upscaling pilots of Carbon Capture & Utilisation (CCU) and Hydrogen based steelmaking in India. In FY2021-22, a 5 tonnes per day (tpd) pilot plant has been successfully commissioned at Jamshedpur to capture CO₂ from Blast Furnace gas. We have also successfully tried continuous injection of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) gas in one of our blast furnaces.
• Commissioning of new DRI furnaces and scrapping of BF-BOF route in Tata Steel Nederland
• Piloting new technologies in partnership with Academia: We are working with academia on several pilot projects which are at low Technology Readiness Level (TRL) stage. These are focused on development and scale-up of deep decarbonisation technologies such as CCU, hydrogen-based steelmaking, use of biomass and other alternate ironmaking routes. Tata Steel and the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) have signed an MoU to collaborate on CCU. The Government and the industry including Tata Steel UK, have committed co-funding of nearly £40 million to help the transition of the South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC) to net zero emissions. We are collaborating with the University of South Wales on biological fermentation to generate acetates, a high value chemical, from waste carbon. We are also working with Project MESH led by Swansea University is on thermochemical storage of heat from steelmaking operations. 

• Net Zero emissions targets for Tata Steel’s European operations
• HIsarna technology and new smelting technologies
• CCU dovetailing with existing processes
• Sustainable production, storage and use of Hydrogen across the steel value chain
• Research on advanced materials

We engage and support initiatives like ResponsibleSteel^TM certification, development of steel sector guidance for science-based target setting, Net Zero Steel Pathway methodology project, Assessment of low-Carbon Transition (ACT), World Economic Forum’s Mining and Metal Blockchain Initiative, World Steel Association’s CO₂ benchmarking and STEP-UP programs to chart long-term decarbonisation pathway for the sector.

Tata Steel Group has been rated by CDP in Leadership band for Supply Chain disclosure. We have also been recognised as one of the top 25 most innovative Indian Companies by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for ‘First-of-its-kind’ 5 tonnes per day CO₂ capture plant and ‘First-in-World’ Digital Twin in Sinter Making in India.

Tata Steel uses the company wide integrated Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) process for managing climate change risks. The process identifies and assesses business risks through bottom up, top down and outside in perspectives so as to ensure comprehensive risk identification and minimise blind spots. Likelihood, impact, and velocity scores are assigned for each of the risks post a due-diligence process including scenario. Appropriate early warning indicators and mitigation strategies are identified for review including by the Apex Risk Committee and Risk Management Committee (RMC) of Board.

We are congnisant of the fact that both transition and physical risks associated with climate change will have an impact on our organisation’s operations, supply chain and financial planning. Stringent climate laws and regulations for accelerating transition to a low-carbon economy, technology disruptions and shifting customer preferences to alternative materials may adversely impact profit margins, more so if our performance in abatement is inferior to our peers. Also, extreme weather events have become more frequent and severe in the recent years. On the other side, climate change also poses opportunities which includes improved resource efficiency resulting in monetary savings, development of new products & services and access to newer markets, earnings from voluntary carbon markets, access to larger markets / customers requiring steel of low carbon intensity.

In FY 2018-19 we conducted a third-party assessment to arrive at potential climate change risks and opportunities for our India operations and estimate likely impact of the risks on the company’s strategy and financial planning. This assessment involved a holistic approach comprising of internal stakeholder consultation, literature review, peer comparison and scenario analysis. We envisage that the way in which these risks and opportunities will play out in the future will depend on two fundamental factors, viz, ‘Global Policy Response’ and ‘Technology Innovation’. Hence, we developed 4 scenarios based on these two factors considering various global warming temperature ranges to assess impact of these risks on our business strategy and financial planning. The 4 scenarios are – ‘India Role Model’, ‘Late Forced Transition’, ‘Climate Emergency’ and ‘Technology Breakthrough’. Out of the 4 scenarios, we believe ‘India Role Model’ (where there will be strong policy enablement and extensive innovation & technology advancement) is an ambitious scenario that outlines a technologically, industrially & economically possible pathway forward to restrict increase in global average temperature rise to below 1.5°C. It forms our base scenario for financial modeling and strategic considerations.

Extreme weather events like storm, drought, and cyclones due to climate changes have become more frequent in recent years. They not only lead to loss of lives and property but also cause business disruption and financial losses. Mitigation strategies are put in place to avoid significant delays in project execution.

These risks are site specific and are dealt as per site specific “disaster scenario” planning. Our risk register covers climate change induced physical risks in the form of supply chain disruption (potential delays in vessel placements & loading/ unloading at ports/ sites/ stock yards due to adverse weather conditions) as well as capital project delays including unplanned costs and loss of production.

Tata Steel undertook several design-strengthening initiatives during the construction phase after 2013 cyclone during erection of Kalinganagar Plant. The severe cyclonic storm - ‘Yaas’, ravaged the coastal states of Eastern India (where our major operations reside) with peak wind speeds of 140km/h. Our Plants at Kalinganagar, Meramandali and Gopalpur in Odisha remained stable and without production cuts as the cyclone passed. 

To future proof our key assets and proposed future capital projects we have completed Natural Hazard and Climate Change Hotspot Analysis for key operating locations covering major upstream mining sites, steel making facilities and ports that are part of our major supply chain networks for our India operations. The potential threats from different natural hazards, extreme events, and climate change were assessed based on globally accepted Climate Change Scenarios (RCP 4.5 & RCP 8.5) for a timeframe of 2030 and 2050.

To further build resilience in our planning and action on climate change adaptation, we are currently working on identifying, assessing, and quantifying long-term physical risks to the business as part of our third-party climate risk assessment.

Over the last few years, planning and budgeting of our R&D programs have been increasingly dedicated to prioritizing projects keeping climate related risks & opportunities and the need of the customers in focus.

• Automotive Segment: Developed high strength steels with lighter weight for use in passenger and commercial vehicle automotive components requiring higher formability. In past 3 years we have developed new grades of steel with strength > 600 Million Pascals which help in reducing the weight & thus reduce the use phase GHG
• Individual Home Building segment: The requirement of lighter, stronger steel grades present new opportunities and these high strength grades result in significant carbon emission saving over conventional grades, e.g., Tata TISCON launched Fe550D grade of steel reinforcement bars replacing the lower strength Fe500D.  We also launched Tata Pravesh Doors & Tata Pravesh Vista windows made of steel, as substitute for wood & plastic products.