Centre moots ‘market’ scheme to promote sustainable living

The Environment Ministry has issued a draft notification detailing a proposed ‘Green Credit Scheme’ that will incentivise a host of activities including afforestation programmes, water conservation, waste management and remedying air pollution by allowing individuals and organisations to generate ‘Green Credits.’ These credits, through a yet to be specified mechanism, can also be traded for money. Apart from incentivising individual/community behaviour,” says the notification that is open to public comment for 60 days, “the Green Credit Programme will encourage private sector industries and companies as well as other entities to meet their existing obligations, stemming from other legal frameworks, by taking actions which are able to converge with activities relevant for generating or buying Green Credits.” A senior official in the Ministry, who declined to be identified, told The Hindu that the government’s immediate priority was to “create supply ” via voluntary actions and then “create demand by bringing in laws or rules that will incentivise companies and organisations to buy credits that can then be traded.” The official said that unlike carbon markets, where only greenhouse gas emissions were traded, the Green Credit Scheme was “trickier” as it involved accounting for a wide range of actions. The notification for instance lists out eight sectors, or activities, that can qualify for generating credits: Tree plantation-based Green Credit to promote activities for increasing green cover across the country through tree plantation and related activities; water-based Green Credit to promote water conservation, water harvesting and water use efficiency/savings, including treatment and reuse of wastewater; sustainable agriculture-based Green Credit to promote natural and regenerative agricultural practices and land restoration to improve productivity, soil health and nutritional value of food produced; waste management-based Green Credit to promote sustainable and improved practices for waste management, including collection, segregation and treatment; air pollution reduction-based Green Credit to promote measures for reducing air pollution and other pollution-abatement activities; mangrove conservation and restoration-based Green Credit to promote measures for conservation and restoration of mangroves; ecomark-based Green Credit to encourage manufacturers to obtain ecomark label for their goods and services and finally, sustainable building and infrastructure-based Green Credit to encourage the construction of buildings and other infrastructure using sustainable technologies and materials. The Green Credit Scheme, the notification says, followed from the principle of LiFE, often articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “encourage sustainable lifestyles by driving consumer/community towards behavioural changes to incentivise environment-friendly practices.” There will also be a system, the notification says citing examples, that will measure how many units of water conserved or land restored will be worth one Green Credit.