The Environmental Compliance-to-Sustainability Framework for Indian Industry

A practical roadmap from project planning and SPCB compliance to environmental data readiness, BRSR/GRI reporting and strategic sustainability

How does an Indian factory move from environmental approvals and SPCB compliance to reliable environmental data, BRSR, GRI and sustainability? This 9-stage framework helps organisations identify where they stand, what is missing and what capability they should build next.

Indian companies often build environmental capability in separate pieces.

The project team obtains approvals.

The plant installs the ETP, stack and waste-storage area.

The EHS team manages consent conditions, monitoring, hazardous waste and inspections.

Finance holds electricity and fuel invoices.

Production holds output data.

Stores holds material and waste movement records.

Years later, a sustainability or ESG team asks:

• How much water did we withdraw?
• How much was consumed?
• How much was recycled?
• What was our energy use?
• What were our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions?
• How much hazardous waste did we generate?
• How much waste was recycled?
• What was environmental intensity per unit of production?
• Can these numbers be verified?

Then the annual scramble begins.

Files are collected.

Different departments provide different numbers.

Units do not match.

Waste generation does not reconcile with disposal.

Purchases are treated as consumption.

Missing months are estimated.

Evidence is difficult to trace.

The sustainability report may eventually get completed, but the underlying environmental information system remains weak.

This framework proposes a different approach.

Environmental sustainability should be built from the factory floor upward.

The organisation should progressively develop nine capabilities:

Applicability → Approvals → Infrastructure → Compliance → Management → Data & Accounting → Performance → Disclosure → Strategy

In simple language:

Understand → Get Permission → Build → Comply → Control → Account → Improve → Report → Integrate

The central principle of the framework is:

Do not start with the sustainability report. Start with the environmental activity that creates the number.

A water disclosure starts with a meter.

A waste disclosure starts with actual generation and movement.

A greenhouse-gas number starts with fuel, electricity or other activity data.

A credible environmental claim should ultimately be traceable to something that actually happened inside the organisation.

Environmental Compliance in India: Beginner Roadmap by EHSShala

Part I - The Operational Playbook

This section is designed for a founder, plant head, EHS head or sustainability leader who wants a quick answer to three questions:

1. Where are we now?
2. What is missing?
3. What should we build next?

The detailed reference framework begins in Part II.

The Nine-Stage Roadmap at a Glance

Where Should a New Factory Start?

A new factory should not try to implement all nine stages at the same time.

The sequence matters.

Before Major Project Commitment

Focus on:

Stage 0 - Environmental Applicability

Understand:

• what will be manufactured;
• where;
• at what capacity;
• using which processes;
• with what water requirement;
• with what emissions;
• with what waste;
• and what environmental approvals may apply.

Do this before the project becomes difficult or expensive to change.

Before Establishment or Major Project Execution

Focus on:

Stage 1 - Statutory Approvals

Determine and obtain the approvals required at the appropriate stage.

At the same time begin:

Stage 2 - Environmental Infrastructure Planning

Translate approval conditions into:

• ETP/STP requirements;
• pollution-control equipment;
• waste-storage requirements;
• stacks and sampling points;
• meters;
• monitoring arrangements;
• environmental storage;
• spill-control systems;
• other required infrastructure.

Before Commissioning

Complete Stage 2.

Do not commission only the production machinery.

Commission the environmental systems as well.

At the same time prepare:

Stage 3 - Operational Compliance

Build:

• compliance calendar;
• condition register;
• monitoring schedule;
• waste registers;
• operating logs;
• evidence structure;
• responsibilities;
• escalation process.

During the First Months of Operation

Stabilise:

Stage 3 - Operational Compliance

Then progressively establish:

Stage 4 - Environmental Management

At the same time, start collecting structured Stage 5 data immediately.

Do not wait until someone asks for a sustainability report.

During the First Full Operating Year

Build:

Stage 5 - Environmental Data & Accounting

At minimum establish reliable:

• water records;
• energy records;
• fuel records;
• waste balances;
• production data;
• emissions activity data;
• source evidence.

Then begin:

Stage 6 - Environmental Performance

Calculate trends, intensity metrics and improvement opportunities.

Once Data Becomes Stable

Move into:

Stage 7 - Sustainability Disclosure Readiness

Map controlled environmental data into:

• BRSR;
• BRSR Core;
• GRI;
• GHG inventories;
• customer ESG requests;
• investor or lender requirements;
• value-chain reporting.

As the Organisation Matures

Move toward:

Stage 8 - Strategic Sustainability

Environmental information begins influencing:

• capital expenditure;
• technology;
• procurement;
• product decisions;
• supplier selection;
• water strategy;
• energy strategy;
• circularity;
• climate decisions;
• long-term planning.

Where Does an Existing Factory Start?

An existing factory should not automatically start at Stage 0.

Instead, perform a gap assessment.

Ask these nine questions.

Stage 0 - Applicability

Do we know all environmental requirements that currently apply to our actual operations?

Stage 1 - Approvals

Are all approvals current and aligned with actual capacity, products, fuel, waste and processes?

Stage 2 - Infrastructure

Are all required environmental-control systems actually installed, adequate and working?

Stage 3 - Compliance

Can we demonstrate continuous compliance with conditions, monitoring, returns, waste records and evidence?

Stage 4 - Management

Do we systematically manage environmental risks, internal audits, corrective actions and improvement?

Stage 5 - Data

Can we reconcile water, energy, fuel, waste and production data and trace important numbers to evidence?

Stage 6 - Performance

Can we explain year-on-year and month-on-month performance changes?

Stage 7 - Disclosure

Can our externally reported environmental numbers be independently reproduced?

Stage 8 - Strategy

Does management use environmental information while making business decisions?

Your most important weak capability is usually where the next improvement programme should begin.

The Most Important Transition in the Framework

A company can have:

• valid Consent to Operate;
• valid authorisations;
• regular environmental monitoring;
• completed statutory returns;
• ISO 14001 certification;
• competent EHS staff;
• successful regulatory inspections;

and still not be sustainability-data ready.

It may still struggle to answer:

• What was our total water withdrawal?
• How much water was consumed versus discharged?
• What quantity was reused?
• Does hazardous-waste generation reconcile with disposal?
• What was actual diesel consumption?
• What source data supports Scope 1 emissions?
• What production number should be used as the denominator?
• Can somebody independently reproduce these figures?

This is the:

Environmental Data Readiness Gap

The Environmental Data Readiness Gap is the gap between an organisation's ability to demonstrate environmental compliance and its ability to produce complete, reconciled, traceable and reproducible environmental information.

Stage 5 is where the organisation crosses this gap.

For many companies, this is the most difficult transition in the entire framework.

Environmental Maturity Is Not One Number

A company should not simply be called:

Level 4

or:

Stage 6.

Real organisations develop unevenly.

A better diagnostic uses four maturity dimensions.

Compliance Maturity

Can the organisation:

• identify legal requirements?
• maintain approvals?
• manage consent conditions?
• meet deadlines?
• maintain statutory records?
• produce evidence?
• respond confidently to inspections?

Data Maturity

Can the organisation:

• capture complete environmental data?
• control units?
• reconcile physical flows?
• preserve source evidence?
• document calculations?
• distinguish measured and estimated data?
• reproduce reported values?

Performance Maturity

Can the organisation:

• calculate meaningful environmental KPIs?
• identify trends?
• explain variations?
• compare absolute and intensity metrics?
• set targets?
• deliver measurable improvement?

Strategic Maturity

Does environmental information influence:

• investment?
• plant design?
• technology?
• procurement?
• suppliers?
• product decisions?
• climate strategy?
• resource strategy?
• management planning?

Simple Maturity Scale

Example Maturity Profile

Imagine a company scores:

This organisation may:

• maintain valid approvals;
• perform monitoring;
• pass inspections;
• operate a certified management system;

but still have:

• fragmented water data;
• unreconciled waste;
• multiple fuel figures;
• weak source evidence;
• inconsistent production denominators.

Calling this company simply “mature” or “immature” tells management very little.

The real diagnosis is:

Strong compliance maturity, weak environmental data maturity.

That immediately indicates where improvement should begin.

Environmental Maturity Inversion

Another common pattern is the opposite.

A company may publicly have:

• net-zero targets;
• solar installations;
• sustainability reports;
• ESG committees;
• supplier questionnaires;
• sustainability awards;

while internally it still has:

• expired or poorly controlled approvals;
• missing hazardous-waste manifests;
• weak water records;
• unreconciled environmental data;
• incomplete monitoring history;
• poorly controlled consent conditions.

Environmental Maturity Inversion occurs when visible sustainability ambition develops faster than the underlying environmental compliance, operational or data capability needed to support it.

The problem is not having ambitious sustainability initiatives.

The problem is building them on weak environmental foundations.

Ten Signs Your Organisation May Have a Data Readiness Problem

1. Annual environmental figures take weeks to compile.
2. EHS, Finance and Sustainability provide different numbers.
3. Nobody knows which spreadsheet is final.
4. Waste generation does not reconcile with disposal and closing stock.
5. Fuel purchases are automatically treated as fuel consumption.
6. Water totals do not reconcile with major uses and discharge.
7. kg, tonnes, litres and KL are manually converted in different files.
8. Production denominators differ between reports.
9. Evidence for a reported environmental number is difficult to retrieve.
10. Missing data is estimated without documenting the estimation.

If several of these are true, your organisation may not primarily have an ESG-reporting problem.

It may have a Stage 5 environmental-data problem.

Ten Signs of a Strong Environmental System

1. Every important approval has an owner.
2. Every material consent condition becomes an actionable obligation.
3. Environmental deadlines are tracked systematically.
4. Evidence is collected when the activity happens.
5. Waste balances reconcile.
6. Water and energy data are reviewed periodically.
7. Important environmental numbers have defined sources.
8. Variations are investigated rather than simply reported.
9. Sustainability disclosures can be traced to operational evidence.
10. Management uses environmental information when making decisions.

Five Questions Management Should Ask Every Quarter

1. Are we environmentally compliant?
2. Can we prove it quickly?
3. Do our important environmental numbers reconcile?
4. Is environmental performance improving or deteriorating?
5. What management action is required?

These five questions cover much of the framework.

Part II - The Full Reference Framework

Stage 0 - Environmental Applicability & Project Due Diligence

Objective

Understand the environmental consequences of the proposed or existing operation before relying on individual approvals or consultants.

The basic question is:

What environmental requirements apply to what we are actually doing?

Build the Environmental Profile

Start with the physical reality of the project.

Document:

Products
What will be manufactured?

Capacity
What is the proposed annual or daily capacity?

Process
What operations occur between raw material and final product?

Raw materials and chemicals
Which chemicals, solvents, oils, additives or hazardous substances are used?

Utilities
What will be required for boilers, DG sets, cooling, compressed air, steam, refrigeration and other utilities?

Water
Estimate total requirement, source, process use, domestic use, cooling, boiler use and other uses.

Wastewater
Estimate quantity, sources, characteristics, treatment requirements and final destination.

Air emissions
Identify boilers, furnaces, reactors, process vents, DG sets, material handling and other emission sources.

Waste
Identify hazardous waste, used oil, waste oil, process residue, sludge, scrap, packaging, recyclables and non-hazardous waste.

Location
Understand land-use compatibility, nearby habitation, environmentally sensitive areas, groundwater situation, drainage, waste-disposal infrastructure and state-specific siting requirements.

Build the Applicability Map

Depending on the project, applicability assessment may include:

• Environmental Clearance;
• Consent to Establish;
• Consent to Operate;
• hazardous and other waste authorisation;
• groundwater permissions;
• CRZ requirements;
• forest clearance;
• wildlife-related approvals;
• plastic EPR;
• e-waste EPR;
• battery-related obligations;
• other waste-specific requirements;
• discharge-related permissions;
• site-specific environmental conditions.

Keep EC Applicability Separate from Pollution Classification

One important conceptual distinction:

Industry pollution classification and Environmental Clearance applicability should not be treated as the same test.

An organisation should separately assess:

• SPCB/PCC classification and consent requirements; and
• applicability under the EIA framework.

Do not assume that one automatically determines the other.

Stage 0 Output - Environmental Applicability Register

Suggested fields:

The point is not to produce a perfect legal database on day one.

The point is that applicability becomes organisational knowledge rather than remaining only in one consultant's head.

Gate to Stage 1

Do not leave Stage 0 until the organisation can reasonably answer:

• What are we building or operating?
• What environmental impacts are expected?
• Which environmental permissions may apply?
• Which approvals are needed before establishment?
• Which are needed before operation?
• Which obligations depend on location?
• Which depend on capacity?
• Which depend on waste streams?
• Which may change if production changes?

Stage 1 - Statutory Environmental Approvals

Objective

Move from knowing what applies to actively obtaining, maintaining and controlling environmental permissions.

The key shift is:

Approval as certificate → Approval as operational obligation

Build the Approval Universe

Depending on applicability, this may include:

• Environmental Clearance;
• Consent to Establish;
• Consent to Operate;
• hazardous-waste authorisation;
• groundwater permission;
• EPR registration;
• other waste-management approvals;
• amendments;
• expansion-related approvals;
• location-specific environmental permissions.

The exact list varies by project, sector and state.

Build the Approval & Authorization Register

For every approval capture at least:

• approval name;
• authority;
• application reference;
• approval number;
• issue date;
• validity;
• approved capacity;
• approved products;
• approved fuel;
• approved water requirement;
• approved waste streams where relevant;
• important conditions;
• renewal requirements;
• amendment triggers;
• responsible owner;
• evidence location.

Extract Conditions Immediately

The most important operational information may be inside the approval rather than on the front page.

A consent condition such as:

Carry out stack monitoring quarterly.

should become:

Obligation: Stack monitoring
Frequency: Quarterly
Owner: EHS
Action: Arrange monitoring
Evidence: Laboratory report
Review: Check result against applicable requirement
Escalation: Investigate exceedance or missed monitoring

A consent should become a live compliance system.

Not a PDF archive.

Build Change Triggers

Approval review should automatically occur when the company proposes changes such as:

• new product;
• capacity increase;
• new process;
• new fuel;
• new emission source;
• new waste stream;
• expansion;
• new water source;
• significant pollution-control modification.

Before approving the operational change, ask:

Does this change require amendment, fresh consent, new authorisation or another environmental review?

Stage 1 Output

Environmental Approval & Authorization Register

plus:

Environmental Condition Register

Gate to Stage 2

Move forward only when:

• required approvals for the relevant project stage have been identified;
• approvals are controlled;
• major conditions are extracted;
• validity is known;
• responsibilities are assigned;
• conditions needing physical infrastructure are identified.

Stage 2 - Environmental Infrastructure & Commissioning

Objective

Translate regulatory requirements and environmental risks into actual plant design and operating capability.

An environmental approval is permission.

It is not infrastructure.

Convert Conditions Into Engineering Requirements

Use a:

Condition-to-Commissioning Matrix

For each requirement:

Condition → Engineering Requirement → Design → Procurement → Installation → Commissioning → Performance Verification → Evidence

Typical Environmental Infrastructure

Wastewater

• ETP;
• STP;
• equalisation;
• treatment units;
• RO;
• MEE;
• reuse systems;
• sludge handling;
• treated-water storage.

Air Pollution

• scrubber;
• bag filter;
• cyclone;
• ESP;
• other APCD;
• stack;
• sampling ports;
• safe monitoring platforms.

Measurement

• water meters;
• flow meters;
• energy meters;
• weighing systems;
• online monitoring where applicable.

Waste

• segregated storage;
• hazardous-waste storage;
• covered areas;
• secondary containment;
• labels;
• spill-response equipment.

Chemical Management

• compatible storage;
• bunding;
• transfer safeguards;
• drainage control;
• emergency containment.

Noise

• acoustic enclosures;
• vibration controls;
• engineering barriers where necessary.

Design Measurement Alongside Treatment

A common mistake is to build pollution-control infrastructure but not measurement infrastructure.

Example:

A factory installs an ETP but only has one main water meter.

Later it knows:

Total water purchased = 100 KL/day

but cannot reliably separate:

• process;
• cooling;
• domestic;
• boiler;
• recycle;
• discharge.

This may become a major Stage 5 problem.

A better project asks two questions during design:

1. What infrastructure is required to control environmental impact?
2. What measurement points are needed to understand and prove environmental performance?

Commission Environmental Systems Properly

Commissioning should establish:

• design capacity;
• operating parameters;
• actual performance;
• monitoring points;
• responsibility;
• operating procedure;
• maintenance requirements;
• calibration requirements;
• emergency response;
• record format.

Stage 2 Output

Environmental Infrastructure Commissioning File

containing appropriate:

• design basis;
• approval-condition mapping;
• commissioning evidence;
• performance results;
• operating instructions;
• instrumentation details.

Gate to Stage 3

Before normal operation, verify that:

• required controls exist;
• controls work;
• monitoring is possible;
• meters are installed;
• storage systems are ready;
• operators understand basic environmental requirements;
• evidence has been created.

Stage 3 - Operational Environmental Compliance

Objective

Move from having approvals and equipment to maintaining environmental compliance continuously.

The core question is:

Can we remain compliant every day and prove it?

Build the Environmental Compliance Operating System

Five controls are fundamental:

1. Obligation Register - What must be done?
2. Compliance Calendar - When must it be done?
3. Responsibility Matrix - Who must do it?
4. Evidence Requirement - What proves completion?
5. Escalation - What happens if something is missed or abnormal?

Convert Every Recurring Requirement Into Action

A recurring requirement should have:

Owner + Frequency + Due Date + Evidence + Escalation

Example:

Requirement: Effluent monitoring
Frequency: Monthly
Owner: Environmental Officer
Due date: Defined monthly schedule
Evidence: Laboratory report
Review: Compare result against requirement and trend
Escalation: Investigation and CAPA for abnormality

Core Environmental Records

Water

• meter readings;
• water invoices;
• tanker records;
• groundwater records;
• consumption records.

Wastewater

• ETP inlet/outlet;
• operating logs;
• chemical use;
• pH;
• flow;
• sludge;
• monitoring reports.

Air

• stack monitoring;
• ambient monitoring;
• fuel use;
• equipment operating records;
• APCD records.

Hazardous Waste

• generation;
• Form 3 or applicable statutory record;
• storage;
• manifest;
• transporter details;
• weighment;
• recycler/TSDF evidence;
• closing stock.

Other Waste

• generation;
• segregation;
• recycling;
• disposal;
• vendor evidence.

Regulatory

• submissions;
• returns;
• acknowledgements;
• regulatory correspondence;
• inspection observations;
• corrective actions.

Build Evidence Lineage

For every obligation:

Requirement → Activity → Record → Evidence

A single register entry is not the full evidence chain.

Build Inspection Readiness

A strong Stage 3 organisation can quickly answer:

• Show your current CTO.
• Show the conditions applicable to wastewater.
• Show the last six monitoring reports.
• Show hazardous-waste generation and disposal.
• Show current storage.
• Show proof of authorised disposal.
• Show the status of corrective action from the last inspection.

The information should not require a two-day internal search.

Stage 3 Output

Environmental Compliance Operating System

The plant becomes:

regulator-ready, evidence-ready and inspection-ready.

Gate to Stage 4

Operational compliance should be reasonably stable:

• approvals current;
• conditions tracked;
• deadlines controlled;
• records maintained;
• evidence retrievable;
• environmental abnormalities escalated;
• responsibilities clear.

Stage 4 - Environmental Management System

Objective

Move from completing environmental tasks to systematically managing environmental risk and improvement.

Stage 3 asks:

Did we complete the required activity?

Stage 4 asks:

Is the system itself effective?

Core Management Capabilities

An environmental management system should normally address:

• policy;
• aspects and impacts;
• legal and other requirements;
• roles and responsibilities;
• objectives;
• competence;
• communication;
• operational control;
• emergency preparedness;
• document control;
• monitoring;
• internal audit;
• non-conformity;
• corrective action;
• management review;
• continual improvement.

ISO 14001 can provide a recognised structure for this stage where appropriate.

Move From Incident Fixing to Root-Cause Control

Example:

The ETP stops performing.

Stage 3 response:

Restore the ETP.

Stage 4 response:

Why did performance deteriorate?

Was the cause:

• equipment failure;
• overload;
• abnormal effluent;
• poor maintenance;
• inadequate dosing;
• operator competence;
• instrumentation failure;
• weak SOP;
• inadequate spare availability?

Then ask:

What system change prevents recurrence?

That is the difference between compliance activity and environmental management.

Use Management Review Properly

Useful management review asks:

• What changed?
• Where are we repeatedly failing?
• Which environmental risk is increasing?
• Which condition is difficult to maintain?
• Where is infrastructure inadequate?
• Where are environmental costs rising?
• Which objectives are not progressing?
• What investment is required?

Stage 4 Output

Functioning Environmental Management System

Gate to Stage 5

The organisation should have sufficiently stable operations and controls to begin trusting and structuring the data they generate.

This is where many companies discover that being compliant is not the same as being data-ready.

Stage 5 - Environmental Data & Accounting

Objective

Produce complete, period-based, reconciled and traceable environmental information.

The core question is:

Can we reliably account for what physically happened?

The Environmental Accounting Ledger

For this framework:

An Environmental Accounting Ledger is a controlled, period-based record used to reconcile important environmental flows and link each material quantity to its source data, calculation and evidence.

It is an operational environmental-data concept.

It should not be confused with broader financial or academic uses of the term environmental accounting.

A simple way to understand it is:

Apply ledger discipline to physical environmental quantities.

Water Ledger

Track water by source:

• groundwater;
• industrial supply;
• municipal supply;
• tanker;
• harvested water;
• recovered water.

Then map water use:

• process;
• domestic;
• boiler;
• cooling;
• cleaning;
• other use.

Then map outputs:

• wastewater;
• recycle;
• reuse;
• discharge;
• evaporation;
• product incorporation;
• other consumption.

A conceptual balance is:

Water In = Water Used / Consumed + Water Recycled + Water Discharged ± Measurement Difference

The goal is not artificial mathematical perfection.

The goal is to identify and explain material differences.

Water Example

Water sources during a month:

Groundwater = 1,000 KL
Industrial supply = 500 KL
Tanker = 100 KL

Total water input:

1,600 KL

Known allocation:

Process = 800 KL
Domestic = 200 KL
Cooling = 300 KL
Other = 100 KL

Known use = 1,400 KL

Difference:

200 KL

A weak system simply adjusts one number.

A strong system investigates:

• missing meter;
• leakage;
• meter timing;
• evaporation;
• incorrect reading;
• unrecorded use;
• wrong unit;
• estimation.

The difference itself becomes useful management information.

Energy and Fuel Ledger

Track:

• purchased electricity;
• captive electricity;
• DG electricity where relevant;
• diesel;
• natural gas;
• furnace oil;
• LPG;
• coal;
• biomass;
• renewable energy;
• other material sources.

For each record retain:

Quantity → Unit → Period → Source → Evidence

Purchase Is Not Always Consumption

Suppose diesel:

Opening stock = 5,000 L
Purchases = 25,000 L
Closing stock = 3,000 L

Consumption:

5,000 + 25,000 − 3,000 = 27,000 L

Simply using purchase quantity would report:

25,000 L

which is wrong for the period.

This distinction matters when fuel becomes greenhouse-gas activity data.

Waste Ledger

For each significant waste stream:

Opening Stock + Generation − Dispatch / Utilisation / Disposal = Closing Stock

Example:

Opening stock = 500 kg
Generated = 2,400 kg
Dispatched = 2,700 kg

Expected closing:

200 kg

Now test the number against:

• physical stock;
• waste register;
• manifests;
• weighbridge slips;
• TSDF/recycler acknowledgement;
• annual return;
• invoices where relevant.

If these sources disagree, investigate before reporting.

Emissions Activity Ledger

Greenhouse-gas inventories are calculations.

Underlying them are physical activities.

Depending on boundary, relevant activity data may include:

• diesel;
• natural gas;
• coal;
• LPG;
• electricity;
• refrigerant;
• process quantities;
• transport;
• purchased materials;
• waste;
• other relevant sources.

The key Stage 5 responsibility is not necessarily calculating every ESG indicator.

It is ensuring that the operational inputs are reliable.

Production Denominator

Environmental intensity requires a denominator.

Maintain controlled production data:

Product → Quantity → Unit → Period → Source

Example:

Annual water = 12,000 KL
Production = 6,000 tonnes

Water intensity:

2.00 KL/tonne

Next year:

Water = 12,500 KL
Production = 7,500 tonnes

Water intensity:

1.67 KL/tonne

Absolute water increased.

Intensity improved.

Both facts matter.

Data Lineage

Every important environmental number should answer eight questions:

1. Where did the number come from?
2. Who owns the source data?
3. What proves the value?
4. What was the original unit?
5. Was any conversion applied?
6. Was the value measured, calculated or estimated?
7. Who reviewed it?
8. Where was the number eventually used or disclosed?

Data Quality Controls

At minimum, build controls for:

• completeness;
• accuracy;
• unit control;
• reconciliation;
• cut-off;
• estimation;
• version control;
• review.

Stage 5 Output

Environmental Accounting Ledger

covering as relevant:

• water;
• energy;
• fuel;
• waste;
• emissions activity;
• production;
• supporting evidence.

Gate to Stage 6

Do not move to sophisticated dashboards until the underlying data is reasonably:

• complete;
• reconciled;
• traceable;
• consistently defined;
• unit-controlled;
• evidence-backed;
• reviewable.

Stage 6 - Environmental Performance Management

Objective

Turn reliable environmental data into management insight.

Stage 5 asks:

What happened?

Stage 6 asks:

Why did it happen, and what should we improve?

Build Useful KPIs

Possible environmental indicators include:

Water

• total withdrawal;
• withdrawal by source;
• recycled-water percentage;
• discharge;
• water intensity.

Energy

• total electricity;
• fuel;
• total energy;
• renewable-energy share;
• energy intensity.

Waste

• hazardous-waste generation;
• non-hazardous waste;
• recycling;
• recovery;
• waste intensity.

Emissions

• Scope 1;
• Scope 2;
• relevant Scope 3 information;
• emissions intensity;
• key regulated pollutant trends.

Compliance

• overdue compliance actions;
• repeat non-compliances;
• monitoring exceedances;
• CAPA closure time.

Review Both Absolute and Intensity Metrics

Example:

Waste increased:

100 tonnes → 120 tonnes.

Production increased:

1,000 tonnes → 1,500 tonnes.

Waste intensity changed:

0.100 → 0.080 tonne waste per tonne production.

Efficiency improved, but absolute waste increased.

Management needs both views.

Explain Variance

Every significant environmental change should have a reason.

For example, water intensity may increase because of:

• lower production;
• different product mix;
• leakage;
• new process;
• cooling demand;
• meter replacement;
• shutdown;
• unplanned cleaning;
• change in boundary;
• previously missing data.

Avoid generic explanations such as:

Increased due to operational reasons.

Set Targets After Establishing a Reliable Baseline

Possible targets:

• reduce freshwater intensity;
• increase reuse;
• reduce waste per tonne;
• increase recycling;
• reduce energy intensity;
• increase renewable electricity;
• reduce Scope 1 emissions;
• reduce repeat compliance failure.

A target needs:

• baseline;
• target value;
• target period;
• owner;
• project;
• budget;
• measurement method.

Connect KPI to Action

Use:

Current Value → Previous Value → Change → Reason → Action → Owner → Deadline

Stage 6 Output

Environmental Performance Dashboard

plus:

Environmental Improvement Programme

Gate to Stage 7

The organisation should be able to:

• explain important environmental numbers;
• understand trends;
• calculate selected intensities;
• identify causes;
• set reasonable targets;
• track improvement.

Stage 7 - Sustainability Disclosure & External Readiness

Objective

Translate environmental information into credible external reporting without recreating the data from scratch.

Possible reporting destinations include:

• BRSR;
• BRSR Core;
• GRI Standards;
• greenhouse-gas inventories;
• CDP;
• customer questionnaires;
• investor due diligence;
• supplier assessments;
• sustainability reports;
• financing requirements.

Understand BRSR as a Corporate Reporting Layer

The practical lesson is:

Reporting requirements evolve.

Therefore the environmental data foundation should be built independently of one year's reporting template.

Understand GRI as a Standards System, Not a Single Checklist

GRI operates through:

• Universal Standards;
• Sector Standards;
• Topic Standards.

The important principle is:

Build durable source data, then map it to changing reporting frameworks.

Do not rebuild the operational system every time a reporting standard changes.

Build Disclosure Lineage

For each environmental disclosure:

Disclosure Requirement → Metric Definition → Environmental Ledger → Calculation → Source Records → Evidence → Reviewer → Final Disclosed Value

Example: Water Withdrawal

Reporting requirement asks:

Total water withdrawal by source.

Instead of emailing every department asking for water data:

Water disclosure

↓

Water-withdrawal metric

↓

Water ledger

↓

Groundwater meter + industrial-water invoice + tanker records

↓

Monthly reconciliation

↓

Annual number

↓

Review

↓

Disclosure

That is a controlled reporting process.

Define Every Material KPI

Every externally reported environmental KPI should document:

• definition;
• reporting boundary;
• reporting period;
• source;
• unit;
• calculation;
• conversion;
• factors where relevant;
• estimation method;
• assumptions;
• evidence;
• reviewer;
• revision history.

Apply the Reproducibility Test

Ask:

Could another competent person reproduce this number from our documented source data and methodology?

If the answer is no, disclosure control remains weak.

Materiality

Environmental topics may include:

• climate;
• energy;
• water;
• biodiversity;
• emissions;
• waste;
• effluents;
• materials;
• circularity;
• resource use;
• supply-chain environmental impacts.

Materiality determines where deeper measurement and disclosure are required.

Stage 7 Output

Disclosure-Ready Environmental Dataset

capable of supporting relevant:

• BRSR;
• GRI;
• GHG;
• customer;
• investor;
• supplier;
• assessment;
• assurance processes.

Gate to Stage 8

External environmental information should be:

• defined;
• controlled;
• traceable;
• reproducible;
• explainable;
• reviewable.

Stage 8 - Strategic Sustainability Integration

Objective

Make environmental information part of business management.

The final destination is not:

Publish sustainability report.

It is:

Make better decisions because environmental information exists.

Capital Expenditure

A machine is no longer evaluated only on:

• purchase price;
• capacity;
• labour;
• maintenance.

It can also be evaluated on:

• energy;
• water;
• waste;
• emissions;
• environmental-control requirements;
• lifecycle operating cost.

Water Strategy

If water intensity or availability becomes a material risk, management may consider:

• reuse;
• process redesign;
• leak reduction;
• recycling;
• alternative sources;
• water-efficient equipment;
• rainwater;
• future expansion constraints.

Energy and Climate Strategy

Reliable energy and emissions data can inform:

• efficiency projects;
• renewable electricity;
• fuel switching;
• electrification;
• process redesign;
• supplier engagement;
• climate transition planning.

Waste and Circularity

The question evolves from:

How do we dispose of this waste legally?

to:

Why are we generating it?

Then:

• Can we avoid it?
• Can we reduce it?
• Can we recover value?
• Can we reuse it?
• Can the process or material be redesigned?

Procurement and Supplier Decisions

Supplier evaluation may progressively include:

• environmental compliance;
• waste practices;
• energy information;
• emissions;
• traceability;
• certifications;
• environmental risk.

Close the Management Loop

Environmental Data → Insight → Risk/Opportunity → Decision → Investment → Action → Measured Outcome → New Data

Stage 8 Output

Integrated Environmental Sustainability Strategy

Part III - The Connecting Architecture

The Environmental Information Chain

The entire framework can be reduced to one chain:

Environmental Activity → Measurement → Operational Record → Evidence → Environmental Ledger → Performance Indicator → Sustainability Disclosure → Review / Assessment / Assurance → Management Decision → Operational Improvement

The next cycle begins with better operations.

Example - Hazardous Waste

A manufacturing process generates hazardous waste.

↓

Waste is identified and weighed.

↓

Generation is recorded.

↓

Storage balance is updated.

↓

Waste is dispatched through the applicable authorised route.

↓

Manifest and weighbridge evidence are retained.

↓

Recycler/TSDF acknowledgement confirms destination.

↓

Waste ledger reconciles:

Opening + Generation − Dispatch = Closing

↓

Annual waste metrics are produced.

↓

Waste-recovery or disposal indicators are calculated.

↓

BRSR/GRI/customer reporting uses the reconciled number.

↓

Management identifies prevention, recovery or circularity opportunities.

Example - Water

Water enters the factory.

↓

Meter records quantity.

↓

Water source is identified.

↓

Monthly record captures withdrawal.

↓

Water balance allocates major uses.

↓

Wastewater, reuse and discharge are measured or estimated.

↓

Annual water ledger is reconciled.

↓

Water intensity is calculated using production.

↓

Sustainability disclosure uses the controlled figure.

↓

Reviewer traces it back to source.

↓

Management identifies reduction or reuse opportunities.

Example - Diesel to Scope 1

Diesel is purchased.

↓

Stores records receipt.

↓

Opening and closing stock are measured.

↓

Actual consumption is reconciled.

↓

Consumption becomes GHG activity data.

↓

Approved emission factor and methodology are applied.

↓

Scope 1 emissions are calculated.

↓

Reported value is reviewed.

↓

Assessor or assurance provider can trace activity data back to evidence.

The sustainability number did not begin inside the ESG report.

It began with fuel movement.

Compliance Data Is Not Automatically Sustainability Data

Suppose effluent COD is regulated.

Compliance asks:

Is COD below the applicable limit?

Sustainability may ask:

• How much wastewater was generated?
• How much water was withdrawn?
• How much was reused?
• How much was discharged?
• What was the destination?
• What was the annual change?
• What was intensity per unit production?

Therefore:

Compliance establishes the legal baseline.

Environmental accounting establishes the data foundation.

Performance management creates insight.

Disclosure communicates the information.

Strategy uses it for decisions.

Part IV - Suppliers, Value Chains and Scope 3

Why Sustainability Data Matters Before BRSR Applies Directly

A company does not need to be directly required to file BRSR before sustainability data becomes commercially important.

An MSME may receive environmental-data requests from:

• listed customers;
• multinational customers;
• export customers;
• institutional investors;
• lenders;
• procurement teams;
• supplier ESG programmes.

Typical questions may include:

• electricity;
• fuel;
• Scope 1 emissions;
• Scope 2 emissions;
• water;
• wastewater;
• waste;
• recycling;
• renewable energy;
• environmental compliance status.

Why Scope 3 Changes the Supplier Conversation

For many companies, significant greenhouse-gas emissions occur outside their own direct operations.

Supplier activities can contribute to a customer's Scope 3 inventory.

This means the customer may eventually require better information about:

• purchased materials;
• supplier energy;
• production;
• transport;
• waste;
• logistics;
• other value-chain activities.

A supplier with controlled activity data is better placed to respond.

An Important Shortcut Through the Framework

The nine stages are a logical progression.

But external pressure can force organisations to develop some later capabilities early.

For example:

An MSME may be:

Stage 3 in overall environmental systems

but need:

Stage 5 quality energy and emissions data

because a multinational customer requests it.

The framework is not a rigid staircase.

It is a capability map.

Part V - Where OHS, Social and Governance Fit

Occupational Health & Safety Runs in Parallel

A mature industrial organisation should normally also build:

• hazard identification;
• risk assessment;
• permit-to-work;
• PPE controls;
• contractor safety;
• emergency preparedness;
• occupational health surveillance;
• incident investigation;
• safety training;
• process safety where applicable.

These systems may eventually form an integrated EHS management architecture.

But they are not inserted into the environmental spine simply to make the framework broader.

Social Data Joins at Corporate Sustainability Level

Social information may come from:

• HR;
• payroll;
• occupational health;
• CSR;
• procurement;
• administration;
• community teams.

Examples:

• workforce;
• diversity;
• wages;
• training;
• safety;
• human rights;
• community impacts.

Governance Data Comes From Other Corporate Systems

Governance information may come from:

• Company Secretary;
• Legal;
• Finance;
• Risk;
• Internal Audit;
• Board systems;
• ethics and grievance systems.

The Three Streams Converge

Environmental Data

Social Data

Governance Data

↓

Corporate Sustainability Reporting

This framework develops the environmental stream deeply because that is where physical operational events must be converted into reliable sustainability data.

Part VI - Digital Maturity

Level A - Unstructured

Typical tools:

• paper;
• email;
• WhatsApp;
• personal folders;
• scattered spreadsheets.

Main risk:

Organisational memory depends on individuals.

Level B - Structured

Typical controls:

• common templates;
• controlled spreadsheets;
• standard registers;
• naming conventions;
• central document folders;
• monthly reconciliation.

Main improvement:

Data becomes consistent.

Level C - Centralised

Typical capability:

• common database;
• digital approval register;
• compliance calendar;
• document vault;
• standard workflows;
• role-based access.

Main improvement:

Information becomes organisational rather than personal.

Level D - Integrated

Possible integrations:

• ERP;
• meters;
• laboratory systems;
• CEMS/OCEMS;
• procurement;
• vendor systems;
• production systems.

Main improvement:

Duplicate manual entry falls.

Level E - Intelligent

Potential capabilities:

• automated validation;
• reconciliation;
• anomaly detection;
• missing-data alerts;
• trend analysis;
• disclosure mapping;
• calculation workflows.

Main improvement:

Humans spend less time collecting data and more time reviewing exceptions and making decisions.

Digitalisation Principle

First define the process. Then structure the data. Then digitise. Then integrate. Then automate.

Automating a poorly defined process simply creates a faster poorly defined process.

Part VII - The Two-Direction Information Model

Requirements Flow Downward

Regulator / Customer / Investor / Reporting Standard

↓

Corporate Management

↓

Sustainability Team

↓

Plant EHS / Operations / Finance / Stores

↓

Measurement Requirement

↓

Physical Environmental Event

Evidence Flows Upward

Meter / Invoice / Manifest / Monitoring Report / Record

↓

Environmental Ledger

↓

Plant Review

↓

Corporate Sustainability

↓

Disclosure

↓

Assessment / Assurance / Stakeholder

Why This Matters

In weak systems:

requirements flow downward easily.

Evidence does not flow upward cleanly.

This creates:

• urgent emails;
• repeated requests;
• duplicate spreadsheets;
• manual adjustments;
• reporting delays.

In strong systems:

the reporting requirement can be traced down to its source,

and the evidence can be traced back up to the final disclosure.

Part VIII - Capture Once, Use Many Times

A physical environmental event can support multiple legitimate outputs.

Example:

A hazardous-waste dispatch may support:

• waste register;
• Form 3;
• manifest records;
• annual return;
• Form V;
• internal waste balance;
• BRSR;
• GRI;
• customer questionnaire;
• audit evidence;
• internal KPI.

The organisation should not invent a separate version of the event for each report.

The design principle is:

Capture once → preserve evidence → reconcile → calculate → reuse appropriately

Not:

Collect again every time someone asks.

Part IX - 90-Day Improvement Plan for an Existing Factory

Days 1–30 - Understand and Control

Build:

• approval register;
• condition register;
• compliance calendar;
• environmental-data inventory;
• evidence inventory.

Identify:

• missing approvals;
• expired approvals;
• mismatched capacity;
• overdue obligations;
• missing records;
• uncontrolled environmental data;
• unclear owners.

Days 31–60 - Standardise and Reconcile

Standardise monthly:

• water;
• energy;
• fuel;
• waste;
• production;
• monitoring.

Define:

• source;
• owner;
• unit;
• evidence;
• review method.

Start basic reconciliation.

Days 61–90 - Analyse

Create:

• water balance;
• waste balance;
• energy/fuel reconciliation;
• initial KPI dashboard;
• variance log;
• data-gap register.

Then ask:

Which environmental number would be most difficult for us to defend if an external reviewer challenged it tomorrow?

Start there.

Part X - Self-Assessment

Dimension 1 - Compliance Maturity

Score 1 - Reactive

• approvals not centrally controlled;
• deadlines frequently discovered late;
• inspections drive activity;
• evidence difficult to retrieve.

Score 2 - Basic

• registers exist;
• major approvals tracked;
• compliance still depends on key individuals;
• evidence inconsistent.

Score 3 - Controlled

• legal/condition registers;
• calendar;
• defined ownership;
• standard records;
• routine review.

Score 4 - Integrated

• approvals linked to conditions;
• tasks linked to evidence;
• CAPA tracked;
• changes trigger compliance review;
• multi-site visibility where relevant.

Score 5 - Strategic

• proactive regulatory horizon scanning;
• compliance performance reviewed by management;
• leading indicators;
• systemic prevention;
• integrated risk management.

Dimension 2 - Data Maturity

Score 1 - Reactive

• scattered records;
• annual compilation;
• unclear ownership;
• inconsistent units.

Score 2 - Basic

• spreadsheets exist;
• some monthly collection;
• limited reconciliation;
• manual corrections common.

Score 3 - Controlled

• standard datasets;
• owners;
• source evidence;
• defined units;
• periodic reconciliation.

Score 4 - Integrated

• cross-department data alignment;
• defined lineage;
• controlled calculations;
• automated checks where useful;
• single approved datasets.

Score 5 - Strategic

• integrated source systems;
• anomaly detection;
• continuous data-quality review;
• highly reproducible reporting;
• scenario and predictive use.

Dimension 3 - Performance Maturity

Score 1 - Reactive

Focus only on statutory limits.

Score 2 - Basic

Some annual totals and KPIs.

Score 3 - Controlled

Monthly or quarterly trends, intensity metrics and variance explanation.

Score 4 - Integrated

Targets, root-cause analysis, improvement programmes and management review.

Score 5 - Strategic

Optimisation, predictive analytics and environmental performance tied to investment and operational planning.

Dimension 4 - Strategic Maturity

Score 1 - Reactive

Environmental matters are considered mainly after problems.

Score 2 - Basic

Environmental issues are considered during some projects.

Score 3 - Controlled

Environmental information influences selected operational decisions.

Score 4 - Integrated

Environmental performance influences capex, procurement and business planning.

Score 5 - Strategic

Environmental risks and opportunities are embedded into long-term strategy, investment and business models.

Part XI - Common Failure Patterns

Consent Exists, but Conditions Are Not Extracted

Important requirements remain hidden inside PDFs.

Approval Capacity Differs From Actual Production

The company may unknowingly operate outside the assumptions of the approval.

Waste Register Does Not Reconcile With Manifest

Annual reporting becomes difficult to defend.

Closing Waste Stock Is Never Physically Checked

Errors accumulate year after year.

Fuel Purchase Is Treated as Fuel Consumption

GHG activity data may be wrong.

One Water Meter Is Expected to Explain the Entire Plant

Water balance and intensity analysis remain weak.

Monitoring Report Is Filed Without Review

Abnormal trends may go unnoticed even when a report exists.

Corporate ESG Number Differs From Plant EHS Number

There is no single source of environmental truth.

Estimated Data Is Presented as Measured Data

Assessment, assurance and credibility risk increase.

Sustainability Reporting Starts at Year-End

The organisation spends months reconstructing information instead of reporting controlled data.

Part XII - Management Dashboard for the Framework

Regulatory

• approvals expiring;
• overdue obligations;
• open regulatory observations;
• compliance exceptions.

Operational

• ETP/APCD exceptions;
• waste-storage exceptions;
• monitoring exceedances;
• environmental incidents.

Data

• unreconciled water;
• unreconciled waste;
• missing monthly data;
• estimated data;
• unresolved discrepancies.

Performance

• water intensity;
• energy intensity;
• waste intensity;
• recycling;
• GHG trend.

Improvement

• environmental projects;
• target progress;
• CAPA status;
• required investments.

This allows management to see both:

Are we compliant?

and:

Are we improving?

Part XIII - How to Use the Framework

Use 1 - New Project Roadmap

Use Stages 0–3 to build environmental compliance correctly from the beginning.

Then build Stages 4–8 progressively.

Use 2 - Existing Factory Gap Assessment

Score the organisation across:

• compliance;
• data;
• performance;
• strategic maturity.

Then identify the weakest material capability.

Use 3 - Sustainability Readiness Assessment

Start at Stage 7 and trace every proposed disclosure backward.

Ask:

Where does this number come from?

If the trail breaks at Stage 5, fix the data system before improving the report.

Use 4 - Digital Transformation Roadmap

Do not begin with:

Which software should we buy?

Begin with:

Which capability is weak?

Then determine whether the problem requires:

• process;
• people;
• infrastructure;
• data standardisation;
• digitalisation;
• integration;
• automation.

Part XIV - The Framework in One Page

Stage 0 - Understand

What applies to us?

Output: Environmental Applicability Register

↓

Stage 1 - Get Permission

What approvals do we require?

Output: Approval & Authorization Register

↓

Stage 2 - Build

What environmental systems and measurement infrastructure must exist?

Output: Commissioned Environmental Infrastructure

↓

Stage 3 - Comply

Can we meet obligations every day and prove it?

Output: Environmental Compliance Operating System

↓

Stage 4 - Control

Are environmental risks systematically managed?

Output: Environmental Management System

↓

Environmental Data Readiness Gap

↓

Stage 5 - Account

Can environmental flows be reconciled and traced?

Output: Environmental Accounting Ledger

↓

Stage 6 - Improve

Can we understand trends, causes and improvement opportunities?

Output: Environmental KPI & Improvement System

↓

Stage 7 - Report

Can our environmental information withstand scrutiny?

Output: Disclosure-Ready Dataset

↓

Stage 8 - Integrate

Does environmental information improve business decisions?

Output: Integrated Sustainability Strategy

Part XV - Final Principles

1. Start environmental compliance before construction, not after production.
2. Treat approvals as operating obligations, not certificates.
3. Translate approval conditions into physical systems and recurring actions.
4. Build measurement infrastructure when you build pollution-control infrastructure.
5. Capture evidence when the environmental activity occurs.
6. Do not confuse regulatory compliance with environmental data maturity.
7. Reconcile physical flows rather than simply collecting annual totals.
8. Distinguish measured, calculated and estimated data.
9. Maintain one controlled source of environmental truth.
10. Analyse environmental performance only after establishing reliable data.
11. Build disclosures from operational evidence rather than reconstructing numbers at year-end.
12. Use environmental information to improve decisions, not only reports.

Conclusion

The journey from environmental compliance to sustainability is not:

CTE → CTO → ISO 14001 → ESG Report.

That sequence is too simple.

The real journey is:

Understand what applies

↓

Obtain the right permissions

↓

Build the required environmental controls

↓

Operate compliantly

↓

Manage environmental risks systematically

↓

Build reliable environmental accounts

↓

Measure performance

↓

Produce traceable external disclosures

↓

Use environmental information in business decisions

A mature environmental organisation should be able to demonstrate that:

• its legal requirements are understood;
• approvals are current;
• approval conditions are operationalised;
• pollution-control systems work;
• recurring compliance is controlled;
• evidence can be retrieved;
• environmental records reconcile;
• important numbers have clear lineage;
• performance trends can be explained;
• sustainability disclosures can be reproduced;
• management acts on the information.

The ultimate test is simple:

If someone challenges an environmental number in your sustainability report, can you trace it all the way back to what actually happened inside the factory?

If the answer is yes, the organisation has built more than an environmental-compliance programme.

It has built an environmental information and management system capable of supporting credible sustainability.

And that is the real progression:

Permission → Compliance → Control → Accounting → Performance → Disclosure → Sustainability

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an environmental compliance framework?

An environmental compliance framework is a structured system for identifying applicable environmental requirements, obtaining approvals, managing conditions, maintaining records, monitoring performance and retaining evidence of compliance.

What environmental approvals does a factory need in India?

Requirements depend on the industry, process, capacity, location and environmental impacts. They may include Consent to Establish, Consent to Operate, Environmental Clearance, hazardous-waste authorisation, groundwater permissions, EPR registrations and other applicable approvals.

What comes after Consent to Operate?

After obtaining Consent to Operate, the organisation must continuously manage consent conditions, environmental monitoring, statutory records, waste, returns, renewals, evidence and environmental performance.

Is ISO 14001 enough for ESG or BRSR readiness?

No. ISO 14001 can provide a strong environmental-management system, but BRSR, GRI and other sustainability disclosures require reliable quantitative data such as water, energy, waste, emissions and production-linked indicators.

What is the Environmental Data Readiness Gap?

The Environmental Data Readiness Gap is the difference between being able to demonstrate environmental compliance and being able to produce complete, reconciled, traceable and reproducible environmental information for sustainability reporting.

What environmental data is commonly required for BRSR?

Environmental disclosures may include energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, water withdrawal and consumption, waste generation and management, environmental compliance and other relevant environmental indicators. BRSR requirements sit within a broader corporate reporting framework.

What is an Environmental Accounting Ledger?

In this framework, an Environmental Accounting Ledger is a structured record used to reconcile environmental quantities such as water, fuel, energy and waste and link those quantities to their source records, calculations and evidence.

Can an MSME need ESG data even if BRSR does not apply to it?

Yes. MSMEs may receive sustainability-data requests from listed customers, multinational companies, investors, lenders or supply-chain programmes, particularly for energy, emissions, water, waste and environmental compliance.

Sources:

1. PARIVESH / Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) — environmental approvals and clearance architecture
2. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) — consent, pollution-control requirements, standards and regulatory guidance
3. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) — BRSR, BRSR Core, assessment/assurance and value-chain ESG disclosures
4. Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) — GRI Universal, Sector and Topic Standards
5. GHG Protocol — Standards & Guidance — corporate greenhouse-gas accounting, Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 methodology
6. International Organization for Standardization (ISO) — ISO 14000 Family — ISO 14001 environmental management system background and related standards