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Author	Asst Prof Dr. Anwesha Ghosh
Organisation/Institution	Amity Law School, Amity University Mumbai, India
Country	INDIA
Panel	Environmental Law
Title	Corporate Environmental Accountability in Asia: India’s Vantara Initiative and the Evolution of Carbon Law
Abstract	Vantara is a significant project of the Reliance Foundation, highlighting the emerging role of corporate actors in environmental governance as envisioned in India’s regulatory framework. Vantara’s mandate is to focus on wildlife rescue, ecosystem regeneration, and biodiversity enhancement - in collaboration with other live initiatives focused on coastal resilience and rural sustainability. This paper examines the convergence of these programs with the emerging carbon governance framework in India, specifically in relation to the Energy Conservation Act 2001 (amended) and the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme 2023. This paper analyses the regulatory framework for corporate-led conservation efforts in India’s emerging carbon market through a doctrinal analysis and comparative legal study. It asks whether Vantara and other similar conservation projects can be recognised as generating legal carbon credits. What protections currently exist in law against greenwashing or exclusionary processes? It also examines how India might design monitoring and disclosure obligations that are enforceable. This paper employs a doctrinal legal approach that incorporates regulatory frameworks, corporate sustainability reports in accordance with SEBI’s Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) regulations, and an analysis of other relevant laws and policies. This paper compares carbon credit mechanisms in China’s ETS with Singapore’s Carbon Pricing Act and South Korea’s K-ETS, aiming to understand regional convergence. The findings highlight regulatory opportunities for aligning biodiversity finance with both voluntary markets and compliance markets, as well as the risks of weak third-party oversight and ambiguous benefit-sharing requirements. The paper contends that codified safeguards—independent verification, standardised impact metrics, and community involvement—are essential for legitimising corporate environmental initiatives. This paper ultimately contributes to the broader discussion on corporate environmental accountability in Asia and the legal conditions necessary for these initiatives to be credible and equitable. Keywords: Vantara, Reliance Foundation, India, Asia, environmental law, carbon markets, sustainability, corporate responsibility.
Biography	Dr. Anwesha Ghosh is an Assistant Professor of Law at Amity Law School, Amity University Mumbai, India with a distinguished record in teaching, research, and academic leadership. She specializes in Corporate Law, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, financial market regulations, and gender rights, combining doctrinal, empirical, and socio-legal approaches in her scholarship. Dr. Ghosh has published extensively in UGC Care and Scopus-indexed journals and is the author of An Introspection of Corporate Criminal Liability in India. Her research has been presented at international forums, including Thailand (2024) and Türkiye (2023), and has earned multiple best paper awards for her work on women’s leadership and LGBT+ inclusion in the workplace. Beyond her publications, she contributes actively to the legal academic community, serving as a judge for moot court competitions, a resource person for seminars and webinars, and a mentor for students undertaking research projects. Dr. Ghosh’s work bridges theory and practice, emphasizing inclusive governance, corporate accountability, and human rights.