CS Professional · June 2025 · Paper 1
CS Professional Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) - Principles and Practice June 2025: paper analysis
Our own analysis of the official paper, as of 12 October 2026. The questions and answers belong to ICSI; read them on ICSI's website.
Chapter-wise marks
Where the marks were in this paper (out of 100; internal-choice alternatives not double counted).
What each question tested
In our words, by question number. Open the official paper for the full question.
| Q | Marks | Tests | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1(a) | 5 | Validity of procedural objections to a board meeting notice: serial number, mode of service, holiday timing and venue outside registered-office state | Board Processes through Secretarial Standards |
| 1(b) | 5 | Restrictions on pecuniary relationship and prior employment for independent directors and relatives; eligibility of a former audit firm employee | Board Effectiveness and Building Better Boards |
| 1(c) | 5 | Concept and role of a lead independent director as a governance good practice | Board Effectiveness and Building Better Boards |
| 1(d) | 5 | Annual report preparation as a year-round activity and the secretarial department workflow for it | Board Disclosures and Website Disclosures |
| 2(a) | 5 | Challenges faced by ESG investments when a business transitions toward ESG investing | Board's Accountability on ESG |
| 2(b) | 5 | Stakeholders Relationship Committee: applicability threshold, constitution and role under the Companies Act | Board Committees |
| 2(c) | 5 | Modes of sending annual reports under LODR and statement of deviation or variation in use of issue proceeds | Board Disclosures and Website Disclosures |
| 3(a) | 5 | Need for a whistle blower policy and vigil mechanism to protect the company and its stakeholders | Stakeholders Rights |
| 3(b) | 5 | Role and functions of proxy advisory firms in voting by institutional investors | Governance Influencers |
| 3(c) | 5 | Similarities and distinctions between a code of conduct and a code of ethics | Business Ethics, Code of Conduct and Anti-Bribery |
| 4(a) | 5 | Role and importance of domestic and foreign institutional investors as governance influencers | Governance Influencers |
| 4(b) | 5 | Companies Act provisions separating chairperson and managing director or CEO roles, and situations where they do not apply | Board Effectiveness and Building Better Boards |
| 4(c) | 5 | Sources of waste generation in the context of waste management | Environment |
| 4A(i) | 5 | Governance differences for a company secretary moving from a promoter-driven to a professionally managed company | Concept of Governance in Professional Managed Company and Promoters Driven Company |
| 4A(ii) | 5 | How company secretaries help organisations build climate governance infrastructure | Empowerment of the Company Secretary Profession |
| 4A(iii) | 5 | Why data security matters for an expanding business lacking data governance policies, and data security best practices | Data Governance |
| 5(i) | 5 | Actions for effective risk detection after regulatory and quality compliance failures | Risk Management |
| 5(ii) | 5 | Risk analysis and the steps involved | Risk Management |
| 5(iii) | 5 | Reputation risk and principles for managing it | Risk Management |
| 5(iv) | 5 | Need for and essential features of crisis management | Risk Management |
| 5A(i) | 5 | Cyber security measures for a digitally operating lender after a customer data breach | Risk Management |
| 5A(ii) | 5 | Elements of a disaster recovery plan | Risk Management |
| 5A(iii) | 5 | Compliance risk and a mitigation strategy for a regulated non-banking lender | Risk Management |
| 5A(iv) | 5 | Relationship between business continuity plan, crisis management and disaster recovery plan, with an illustration | Risk Management |
| 6(a)(i) | 3 | Criteria for an activity or programme to qualify as sustainable | Sustainability Audit, ESG Rating and Emerging Mandates from Government and Regulators |
| 6(a)(ii) | 5 | Structured framework of a sustainability audit | Sustainability Audit, ESG Rating and Emerging Mandates from Government and Regulators |
| 6(b) | 7 | Integrated reporting concept and content elements of an integrated report | Integrated Reporting Framework, Global Reporting Initiative Framework and Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting |
What stood out
- Six compulsory questions in three parts; internal choice exists only between Q4 and Q4A and between Q5 and Q5A, and every sub-question carries 5 marks except Q6 (3, 5 and 7).
- Risk Management is the heaviest chapter: Q5 and its alternative Q5A both sit there (4 parts, 20 marks each), covering risk detection, reputation risk, crisis management, cyber security, compliance risk and disaster recovery.
- Board-level governance dominates Part I: the 20-mark Q1 case tests secretarial standards on board meeting notices, independent director eligibility, the lead independent director and annual report preparation, with committees, disclosures and chair/CEO separation in Q2 and Q4.
- On the main route 48 marks are case based (Q1 20, Q5 20 and Q6(a) 8), so applying provisions to facts matters as much as recall.
- ESG-specific chapters (sustainability audit, integrated reporting, environment, ESG investing) appear mainly in Q6 (15 marks) plus 2(a) and 4(c); the rest of the paper is core corporate governance.
Practise the chapters that carried the marks
Risk Management, Board Effectiveness and Building Better Boards, Board Disclosures and Website Disclosures: study guides and practice questions in the CS Professional format.