19 March 2021
Within hours of receiving a letter from 37 groups calling on S&P Global to review Adani Ports’ inclusion on its Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), the ratings agency giant has confirmed it will conduct a formal review.
S&P wrote to Market Forces on 18 March with the following: “We have escalated this to the relevant Media and Stakeholder Analysis Analyst.”
According to the DJSI methodology, companies may be deleted from the index between annual reviews if through the media and stakeholder analysis (MSA) the index committee decides the company is no longer behaving consistently with corporate governance standards. It is believed the process will take at least two weeks.
S&P’s immediate response is what should be expected considering the concerning evidence outlined presented to it. It is inconceivable that a company working on a massive thermal coal mining expansion and with business links to the Myanmar military could be considered sustainable.
Market Forces now calls on S&P to be transparent about its review process and to allow impacted communities and other stakeholders to respond to any claims made by Adani.
This is an opportunity for Adani Ports to be held accountable for its actions and serves as a message to Adani Group that it should cease its destructive and unsustainable activities. As long as the Adani Group continues to pursue the Carmichael coal mine it should not be granted any sustainability accolades.
Read more about the groups’ letter in our previous blog post.
UPDATE: @SPGlobal has responded to groups' calls and will review @AdaniPorts' inclusion on its coveted DJ sustainability index. While @AdaniOnline continues to pursue Carmichael #coal and supports Myanmar's military it should not recieve any #sustainability accolades #StopAdani pic.twitter.com/t4Xl14ExRI
— Market Forces (@market_forces) March 19, 2021