Context

• Recently, Prime Minister of India launched an initiative Green Credits Programme focusing on generating Global Green Credits through plantation on degraded wasteland at COP28.

About Global Green Credits Programme

• The Green Credits Programme, launched by the Environment Ministry in October this year, is an effort to create a market-based incentive for different kinds of environment-positive actions, not just for carbon emission reductions.

  

• Such a market-based system already exists for carbon, at the national as well as international level, that allows trade in carbon credits. Companies, or nations, can claim carbon credits if they take action to reduce their carbon footprint.
• These credits can they be traded for money.
• Companies unable to achieve their emission standards pay to buy these credits and improve their performance.
• Green Credits programme attempts to replicate this mechanism for other environmental actions, like water conservation or soil improvements.
• Methodologies and standards to measure and verify such actions are still being developed.
• The market would also need to be developed.
• As a starting point, it is envisaged that private companies would buy these green credits as part of their CSR obligations.
• Unlike the carbon markets, which are more focused at industry and corporations, green credit programme can benefit individuals and communities as well.
• A user-friendly digital platform will streamline the processes for registration of projects, its verification, and issuance of Green Credits.
• The Green Credit Registry and trading platform, being developed by ICFRE along with experts, would facilitate the registration and thereafter, the buying and selling of Green Credits.
  • To obtain Green Credits, individuals and entities must register their activities through the central government’s dedicated app/website www.moefcc-gcp.in.
  • The Administrator will verify the activity through a designated agency, with self-verification for small projects.
  • Once verification is complete, the Administrator will grant a Green Credit certificate which will be tradable on the green credit platform.

Source: IE  & PIB

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