As global warming intensifies, India launched the Green Credit Programme last year to encourage sustainable development and reduce the carbon footprint of industries. 

This programme encourages large-scale tree planting on open forests and scrub lands, to generate credits for various sectors. These credits can be bought to fulfill responsibilities under Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). 

But the programme, calling for greening of the scrublands, or so-called wastelands, has received a lot of criticism from conservation and human rights experts who have called the rules unscientific and unfair. 

Individuals and organizations working for conservation have written a letter to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, criticising the rules and the lack of consideration for communities who depend on these lands for their livelihood. 

They have urged the government to withdraw the rules and prioritize the protection and restoration of forests over profit-driven schemes.