From CSR to corporate dharma, climate must be core to business strategy: Richard Rekhy of Grant Thornton Bharat

Climate action must evolve beyond CSR as businesses embed sustainability into leadership, decarbonisation strategies, resilience planning, and long-term global growth.

Posted on 01/01/2026

Richard Rekhy, Vice Chairman, Grant Thornton Bharat, said that climate action needed to move beyond corporate social responsibility and become a form of corporate dharma, deeply embedded in business strategy, boardroom decision-making, and organisational culture. He noted that the current decade required climate-ready leadership, credible decarbonisation pathways, strengthened resilience, and a mindset that treated sustainability as a core engine of global growth.

He was speaking at the 2nd Yuva Sustainability Conference on “Beyond COP30: Youth for Climate Action”, organised on 13 December 2025 under the Yuva Sustainability Internship Programme by Voices of Bharat: Yuva for Sustainability, a Sustainability Karma initiative, with Lok Samvad Sansthan as the implementation partner, in association with the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Jamia Millia Islamia.