The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified Green Credit Programme (GCP) under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 on October 13, 2023. The GCP had been launched by the Finance Minister in February 2023 in her Union Budget 2023-24 with an outlay of Rs. 35,000 crore. It is an innovative mechanism to incentivise environmentally friendly actions by companies, individuals, and local bodies, and to help gather additional resources for such actions. The programme is to support the ‘LiFE’ (Lifestyle for Environment) movement, announced by the Prime Minister Modi at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021.
GCP initially aims to focus on water conservation and afforestation. The inter-ministerial steering committee and the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) are responsible for the implementation, management, monitoring, and operation of the programme. A user-friendly digital platform will be put in place to implement the process of the programme. Registration of projects, verification, and issuing of green credits will be done through that platform. To get green credits, organisations should register through a website provided by the MoEFCC. After the initial issuance of green credits, they can be bought or sold again. This trading of credits will be facilitated by ICFRE through a platform.
Green credit can be defined as a “financing aimed exclusively of sustainable activities. That is, the beneficiary must seek the responsible use of natural resources”.
India hosted the 18th G20 summit in 2023. There have been promises of achieving net zero emissions by 2070. India has also committed to creating a carbon sink that can absorb 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 through additional forest cover. At a time like this, a programme like this could lead the way to achieve climate goals.
Green Credit Activities
- Environmentally-friendly actions that may help one earn green credits are:
- tree plantation—increasing the green cover of the country to create a carbon sink;
- water conservation—treating, reusing, and harvesting water to promote water conservation;
- waste management—collecting, segregating, recycling, and treating waste;
- sustainable agriculture—practising organic farming, regenerative agriculture, and mixed farming to reduce the waste from agriculture as well as prevent pollution through it;
- reduce air pollution—keeping a check on the PPM (parts per million) count of air as well as air quality and taking measures to reduce air pollution and emissions;
- mangrove conservation—preserving and conserving mangroves, which are natural barriers to calamities and are huge carbon sinks;
- sustainable building and infrastructure—Encouraging sustainable measures of building and infrastructure as construction waste is also one of the largest sources of pollution; and
- Ecomark—giving the ‘Ecomark’ label to goods that are sustainable. This will encourage manufacturers to obtain Ecomark to build awareness among people and promote them to buy sustainable goods.
Benefits of Green Credit Programme
The Green Credit Programme is one of the steps to achieve international climate goals, which will also encourage the concerned entities to follow regulations and frameworks about climate change. It is the first programme in this aspect and is expected to streamline emissions and pollution.
Besides the advantages that are to be realised in the long run, there are concerns regarding greenwashing. (Greenwashing is the practice of showcasing false information and claims about sustainability to maintain a good image without actually being sustainable and environment positive.) The entities may also use green credits without actually engaging in the green credit activity.
Conclusion
Despite the positives and concerns of this programme, the government needs to ensure that the methodology and strategies of the procedure are easy to implement and are accessible to the respective authorities. It is also important to build the programme in such a way that it remains active on the ground rather than being limited to paper. Regular assessment and modification of the programme according to the requirements would make it more adaptive and relevant.
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