The Green Credit Programme is a market-based instrument designed by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, Government of India to incentivize individuals, industries, and local bodies for voluntary environmental actions across different sectors.
It is included under the government’s ‘Lifestyle for Environment’ or ‘LiFE’ movement.
The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education shall be the administrator of the program.
What is Green Credit? It is a single unit of credit provided for each specified activity. The green credits will be tradable and those earning them will be able to put these credits up for sale on a proposed domestic market platform.
It identifies eight activities: Tree plantation; water sustainable agriculture; waste management; air pollution reduction; mangrove conservation and restoration; Ecomark; and sustainable building and infrastructure.
In its initial phase, this program will focus on two key activities: water conservation and afforestation.
In order to obtain green credits, individuals or entities must register their activities through the central government’s dedicated website for this program. The administrator will verify the activity through a designated agency, with self-verification for small projects.
Once the verification is complete, the administrator will grant a green credit certificate which will be tradable.
The calculation of green credit is determined by factors such as resource requirements, scale, scope, size, and other relevant parameters necessary to achieve the desired environmental outcomes.
Some of the concerns raised regarding the implementation of the green credit program are the verification and validation complexity, the risk of greenwashing, compatibility with carbon credits, and accounting for regional differences.
The scheme aims to provide a tool for consumers to pursue sustainable consumption patterns as well as for industry to implement environment-friendly processes or production methods.
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