PHDCCI Extends Support to the Draft Implementation Rules for Green Credit Programme 2023

Recently the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) announced the notification of the draft implementation rules for the Green Credit Programme (GCP) 2023. The program aims to create a mass movement around environmental positive actions and contribute to the realization of the vision of "Mission LiFE" while supporting India's net-zero goal by 2070.

Dr. JP Gupta, Chair, Environment Committee, PHDCCI emphasized the significance of this initiative, stating, it’s a first-of-its-kind instrument that seeks to value and reward multiple ecosystem services to allow green projects to achieve optimal returns beyond just carbon. The scheme will allow project proponents to also access carbon markets additionally.

Adding further, he informed, the programme is designed to create a market-based (supply and demand) mechanism to incentivise voluntary environmental actions undertaken by individuals, private sectors, small scale industries, cooperatives, forestry enterprises and farmer-produce organisations for their environmental actions. 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. The overall administration of the scheme will be under the Indian Council for Forestry Research and Education – an autonomous organisation/ governmental agency under the MoEFCC.

Eight Sectors selected for the implementation of the GCP include:

1.      Tree plantation-based Green Credit

2.      Water-based Green Credit

3.      Sustainable agriculture-based Green Credit

4.      Waste management-based Green Credit

5.      Air pollution reduction-based Green Credit

6.      Mangrove conservation and restoration-based Green Credit

7.      Eco mark-based Green Credit

8.      Sustainable building and infrastructure-based Green Credit