Nexus Group Takes a Community-Driven Approach to Plant 7,500 Trees as their CSR Sustainability Initiative

In 2023, Nexus Group of Malls & Brands, one of India’s leading retail chains, embarked on a mission to plant 7,500 trees as part of their CSR initiative. To amplify this impact, they partnered with Acacia and Climes, transforming the launch of their ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) report into an interactive and customer-driven campaign. Rather than adopting a passive approach, Nexus Group involved mall-goers in selecting where the trees would be planted across India in a unique blend of Climes LITE & Events, making sustainability a collective effort.

Tackled Challenge

Nexus Group faced two major challenges in making its sustainability efforts visible and engaging:

• Customer Engagement with ESG Reporting: Sustainability reports are crucial but often fail to engage consumers meaningfully. Nexus needed an innovative way to capture attention and align customers with their sustainability initiatives.
• Maximising CSR Impact: The allocation of CSR funds in India has traditionally leaned heavily towards sectors like healthcare and education, with sustainability initiatives receiving a comparatively smaller share of the total expenditure. As per RBI's data, while CSR spending has grown at a CAGR of 17.3% since 2014-15, the proportion directed towards environmental sustainability remains minimal. Nexus sought to challenge this norm by directing its CSR funds toward visible, impactful climate initiatives, ensuring transparency and compliance while creating measurable environmental benefits.

Bringing Visibility to Deployment of CSR Capital

Step 1: Building Knowledge through Customer Interaction

Nexus Group introduced sustainability as a shared responsibility by creating awareness among mall-goers about their tree-planting initiative. Upon entering any of the 17 Nexus Group across India, customers encountered prominent signage encouraging participation in the sustainability initiative. By scanning a QR code available at multiple touch points, including entrances, escalators, and food courts, customers could engage effortlessly.

Step 2: Shaping Intent through Collective Decision-Making

The QR code led mall visitors to an interactive voting experience, where they selected one of several reforestation sites funded by Nexus’ CSR. This step fostered a sense of ownership and intent. By enabling individuals to align their choices with their values, the initiative transformed awareness into a desire to act.

Step 3: Driving Action with Transparency

Once participants cast their votes, they were redirected to Nexus Select Trust’s Sustainability Report, where they explored the company’s broader ESG efforts. This reinforced their understanding of the direct connection between their actions and Nexus’ impact.

Step 4: Showcasing Impact in Real-Time

Climes’ platform tracked, in real-time, the number of participants voting for tree planting, enabling Nexus to provide live progress updates through digital displays and in-mall screens. By closing the loop with measurable outcomes, the initiative empowered participants with a sense of accomplishment, hopefully furthering sustainable behaviour in their daily lives.

Unlocking CSR for Community-Driven Climate Action

Nexus Group’s innovative use of CSR funds, combined with Climes’ interactive technology, sets a powerful precedent for customer engagement in sustainability. By giving customers a choice in where trees were planted, Nexus Group brought a traditionally behind-the-scenes process into the spotlight, while making their ESG reporting more accessible and transparent. This initiative also ensured proper tax compliance, with funds allocated in line with regulatory requirements, providing both financial transparency and sustainability impact.

This case also highlights that sustainability is not just the responsibility of corporations but a collective effort and showcased a new approach where CSR turned from a top-down corporate responsibility into a grassroots movement that encouraged community-wide participation.

A win-win-win scenario:

• For Nexus Group: Boosted customer engagement, visibility for their ESG efforts, and a stronger sustainability reputation.
• For Customers: Empowered them to actively contribute to climate action.
• For the Environment: 7,500 trees planted, aiding carbon sequestration and local land restoration.

Learning from the Journey

While the initiative successfully planted 7,500 trees and demonstrated a unique way of integrating CSR with customer engagement, there were valuable lessons along the way:

1. Lower-than-Anticipated Customer Engagement: Despite the creative approach, the number of participants who scanned the QR code and voted fell short of expectations. Factors such as awareness levels, the time required for participation, and competing distractions within the mall environment could have impacted engagement.
2. Limited Reach Beyond Mall Visitors: The initiative primarily engaged those physically present at the malls. Expanding its reach to digital audiences could offer a promising opportunity for future iterations.

Nonetheless, this collaboration was a significant step toward making climate action mainstream. While there is still progress to be made, this pilot has laid the groundwork for exciting opportunities to responsibly deploy more and more CSR funds into climate action.

Ready to be a part of the change? Let’s turn your CSR funds into powerful climate action through engaging, transparent initiatives. Reach out to us at support@climes.io now to learn more.