BUS320 Report: Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility of Adani

This report critically analyzes Adani's corporate governance and social responsibility, focusing on the ethical implications of the company's actions regarding the Great Barrier Reef. The report examines Adani's attempts to conceal information about pollution risks and its impact on the environment, particularly in relation to the 2017 cyclone Debbie. The analysis incorporates stakeholder management principles, ASX principles, and considerations of diversity and inclusion. It applies sustainability, CSR, and corporate governance theories to evaluate Adani's conduct, culminating in an ethical and justice analysis of the situation. The report highlights violations of pollution licenses, unlawful activities at the Carmichael mine site, and the company's disregard for environmental regulations. The conclusion emphasizes the company's lack of trustworthiness and its continuous disregard for environmental protection. The report utilizes multiple sources to support the arguments and conclusions.

Running head: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
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1CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Introduction
Adani has been attempting to conceal details of information provided to the Queensland
government regarding the risk of pollution to the Great Barrier Reef ahead of cyclone Debbie in
2017 (Slezak 2018). The thesis statement of the paper is, “Adani’s release of contaminated water
to the Great Barrier Reef is highly unethical.”
Discussion
Reports of Horn (2019) have revealed that several documents and series of emails
gathered through self regulating information loss have shed light on certain unethical approaches
taken by Adani. They have further reported that Adani along with the Queensland government
where are already aware of the consequences of pollution which would violate the regulation
(Envirojustice.org.au 2019). According to Berrill (2016), the details of information have been
revealed in an exchange over Adani's temporary pollution licence which have initiated in the first
half of 2017. Slezak (2018) has shed light on the unethical approach of Adani, which has been
attempting to initiate a temporary licence to pollute wetlands surrounding its coal export terminal
at Abbot Point which is near Bowen with coal laden water.
However it is important to mention that Adani had previously gathered information that
substantial amount of rain into its storage pools would have the propensity to overflow on two
vital wetlands to the site (Lewis and Lewis 2017). Thus, drawing relevance from the above
evidences Demetrious (2017) has noted that Adani due to its past record would lose the trust of
its clients regarding its role and contribution towards the community all the environment
(Marineconservation.org.au 2019). Several evidences can be put forward to strengthen the claim
whereby it can be noted that Adani previously has violated pollution licence by 800% does

2CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
permitting contaminated environment risky groundwater water to spawn out of its Abbot point
coal terminal and into the Great Barrier Reef world heritage area. Furthermore the company has
previously been accused of unlawfully initiating work at the Carmichael mine site (Kourafalou et
al. 2015). Reports of Horn (2019) have revealed that Adani unlawfully and unethically has
cleared swaps of vegetation along with drilled balls into aquifers of the great artesian basin by
posing threats to groundwater. For these reasons the company in recent times has been
investigated by the Queensland and Federal environment departments in order to evaluate their
actions and performance towards the environment and the community. On the other hand, Slezak
(2018) has mentioned that Adani showed immense incompetence to reveal to the Australian
government regarding the permission of toxic pollutants to flow into a major river which had
been initiated by Australians CEO, thus increasing the poison and pollutants level of local water
resources and for the impacting the agriculture resources. Moreover, reports of
Marineconservation.org.au (2019) have claimed that the concentration of coal dust, in the
distance to water has significantly exceeded the accepted levels by over 800%. Thus, it is highly
important for Adani to pay for its unethical practices for concealing the information and have
been undergoing critical legal procedure along with a compensation of over 2.5 million for
violating the temporary emissions licence (Climatecouncil.Org.Au 2019).
Conclusion
Hence to conclude, Adani cannot be trusted due to its past record as the company has
been intentionally managing its site in a way which would cause damage to the environment and
has been continuously overlooked by the Australian government.

3CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
References
Berrill, T., 2016. Submission on behalf of Sustainable Queensland Forum. [online]
Trevolution.com.au. Available at:
https://trevolution.com.au/images/stories/presentations/Sustainable_Queensland_50_RE_issues_
paper_submission_July_2016_Updated.pdf.pdf [Accessed 10 May 2019].
Climatecouncil.Org.Au, 2019. Risky Business: Health, Climate And Economic Risks Of The
Carmichael Coalmine. [online] Available at:
https://eprints.qut.edu.au/110038/1/__qut.edu.au_Documents_StaffHome_StaffGroupS
%24_sutton4_Desktop_Risky%20Business%2C%20Carmichael%20Coalmine.pdf [Accessed 10
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Demetrious, K., 2017. Contemporary publics, Twitter and the story of PR: Exploring corporate
interventions to promote “clean coal” in Australia. The Journal of Public Interest
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Envirojustice.org.au., 2019. The Adani Brief: What governments and financiers need to know
about the Adani Group’s record overseas. [online] Envirojustice.org.au. Available at:
http://envirojustice.org.au/sites/default/files/files/Submissions%20and%20reports/
The_Adani_Brief_Overview_Environmental_Justice_Australia.pdf [Accessed 10 May 2019].
Horn, A., 2019. Adani prosecuted over release of coal-laden water near Great Barrier Reef.
[online] ABC News. Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-05/adani-prosecuted-
over-release-of-sediment-near-barrier-reef/10204374 [Accessed 10 May 2019].

4CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Kourafalou, V.H., De Mey, P., Staneva, J., Ayoub, N., Barth, A., Chao, Y., Cirano, M., Fiechter,
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Marineconservation.org.au., 2019. Adani fined for releasing polluted water into wetlands -
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Marineconservation.org.au., 2019. BREAKING: Adani admits to licence breach again, releasing
coal-contaminated water from its Abbot Point port - Australian Marine Conservation Society.
[online] Australian Marine Conservation Society. Available at:
https://www.marineconservation.org.au/breaking-adani-admits-to-licence-breach-again-
releasing-coal-contaminated-water-from-its-abbot-point-port/ [Accessed 10 May 2019].
Slezak, M., 2018. The information Adani spent a year trying to hide. [online] ABC News.
Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-10/adani-spent-a-year-trying-to-hide-reef-
spill-details/10090632 [Accessed 10 May 2019].