India Releases Draft Rules for Green Credit Programme 
On June 26, 2023, India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) released the draft of “Green Credit Programme Implementation Rules, 2023”. The draft aims to establish and implement the Green Credit Program (GCP) and its market mechanism in the country. Under the GCP, entities including individuals engaging in environment friendly activities can generate green credits, which can be traded on a domestic market platform.
A public comment period for 60 days is available until August 25, 2023.
A range of eight sectors identified as activities to generate green credits have been identified as below, of which two or three will be prioritized and implemented in phases.
- Tree Plantation: To promote activities for increasing the green cover across the country through tree plantation and related activities.
- Water: To promote water conservation, water harvesting and water use efficiency/savings, including treatment and reuse of wastewater.
- Sustainable Agriculture: To promote natural and regenerative agricultural practices and land restoration to improve productivity, soil health and nutritional value of food produced.
- Waste Management: To promote sustainable and improved practices for waste management, including collection, segregation, and treatment.
- Air Pollution Reduction: To promote measures for reducing air pollution and other pollution abatement activities.
- Mangrove Conservation and Restoration: To promote measures for conservation and restoration of mangroves.
- Ecomark: To encourage manufacturers to obtain Ecomark label for their goods and services.
- Sustainable building and infrastructure: To encourage the construction of buildings and other infrastructure using sustainable technologies and materials.
New sectors may also be added other than activities listed above. However, the standards threshold for each activity will be determined based on their difficulty, scale, scope, etc.
The draft also appoints the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) as the Administrator of this program. Its functions are shown as below:
- Implementation, management and enforcement of GCP and determination of their costs
- Establishment of green credits generation methodologies and processes from each activity
- Determination of green credits prices
- Develop guidelines for Green Credit Registry and trading platform
Download the draft at:
https://egazette.gov.in/WriteReadData/2023/246825.pdf
