Author
Asst Prof Mr. Naresh Prajapati
Organisation/Institution
School of Law, Bennett University Greater Noida 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
Naresh Prajapati is an Assistant Professor of Law at Bennett University, Greater Noida. He researches the intersection of international environmental law, public international law, human rights, and comparative constitutional law, with a sustained focus on climate change. His doctoral thesis, “Judicial Approach for Human Rights Protection Amid Climate Change: A Comparative Analysis Across India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Maldives,” examines how South Asian judiciaries translate climate harms into enforceable rights and remedies, informing adaptation planning, loss-and-damage pathways, and environmental constitutionalism across the region. Methodologically, he blends doctrinal analysis with socio-legal inquiry to connect legal texts and institutions to lived realities and policy outcomes. Mr. Prajapati has presented internationally in Kazakhstan, Türkiye, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and India on the ICJ’s climate advisory proceedings, transboundary water governance between India and Bangladesh, ocean decarbonisation under the IMO 2023 greenhouse gas strategy, climate security, and the emerging debate on ecocide and international criminal law. Recent publications include a Q1 study on citation dynamics in climate law in Global Knowledge, Memory, and Communication, as well as work on women’s leadership in climate resilience in the Journal of International Women’s Studies. He serves as Lead Editor for a JIWS special issue, Senior Editor for the Africa University Law Review, and reviewer for multiple Scopus-indexed journals and conferences.
