Bonn Challenge

Despite India’s commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070, announced at COP26, environmental concerns continue to receive limited attention in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) spending, even as the country faces mounting challenges such as air pollution, water scarcity, and poor waste management.

In a significant development, the Supreme Court of India has recently observed that environmental protection should not be treated as discretionary corporate charity but as a constitutional obligation. Invoking Article 51A(g) of the Indian Constitution, the Court emphasized that the right to conduct business is inherently tied to the duty to protect and restore the environment.

Experts point out that ecological restoration efforts, including afforestation, remain underfunded. This gap is evident in India’s progress under the Bonn Challenge—a voluntary international effort launched in 2011 by Germany and the International Union for Conservation of Nature to restore 350 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 through Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR).

At the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP), 2015 in Paris, India joined the voluntary Bonn Challenge pledge to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030. However, out of the 9.8 million hectares restored so far, private sector contributions account for just about 2%, highlighting a significant shortfall in corporate participation.