Two months after it set criteria governing the first program, afforestation, the Environment Ministry released additional instructions on April 12 about its Green Credit Programme (GCP).
What is the Green Credit Programme?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often espoused the concept of Mission Life, the source of this program, which was formally revealed in October 2023. The program’s main objectives are stressing sustainability, cutting waste, and enhancing the environment. An Environment Ministry document describes the GCP program as an “innovative, market-based mechanism” to reward “voluntary actions” for environmental preservation.
By this, people, groups, and businesses (public and private) would be urged to make investments in a variety of fields, such as waste management, mangrove conservation, water conservation, afforestation, and air pollution reduction, in exchange for being qualified to get “green credits.” The initiative is run by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), a separate entity under the Ministry. They will outline the procedures for figuring out “green credits” from the suggested activities. They will also oversee a trading platform where credits of this kind can be exchanged.
The Ministry established the guidelines for the first of these programs, afforestation, in February. Businesses, organisations, and private citizens might generally fund afforestation efforts in particular areas of degraded forest and wasteland. It stated that the State Forest Department would be responsible for planting the trees. Each of these planted trees may be worth one “green credit” after two years of growth and an assessment by the ICFRE. An estimate of the costs associated with afforestation will be provided to those who successfully meet the requirements.
The National Thermal Power Corporation, Oil India, Coal India, Indian Oil, Power Grid Corporation of India, and National Hydropower Corporation are among the public sector organisations reportedly registered to participate in the initiative.
What has fueled the dispute about the GCP?
The GCP hasn’t started running yet, but several features have drawn criticism. First, it turns environmental conservation into a commodity. According to India’s regulations on forest conservation, any industry permitted to clear forests and use the land for purposes other than forestry must give the forest authorities an equivalent quantity of non-forest land and pay them to reforest it.
According to the GCP afforestation scheme, businesses can “exchange” their credits for “complying with compensatory afforestation.” Critics claim that this might be a means of easing the criteria for forest diversion for infrastructure and mining firms. Secondly, growing trees does not always improve ecosystems.
India has over 200 different kinds of forests. Shrubs dominate certain areas, while others are grasslands. Research has indicated that planting incorrect trees may exacerbate invading species or hinder the development of a healthy ecosystem. Additionally, there’s a chance that invasive monocultures would be encouraged, and indigenous forests may be destroyed. Lastly, the GCP states that carbon trading may use green credits that emerge from carbon storage (from trees). This is also debatable because it’s unclear how these actions are arithmetically equivalent.
What response has the government given?
The Ministry provides state-required cost estimates for the restoration of degraded forest landscapes in its most recent update. The Ministry has modified a previous criterion that a landscape must have at least 1,100 trees per hectare to be considered reforested, and States are now free to determine precise numbers. Native species would take precedence. The concept is still being worked out in the “pilot project” phase, she said, with issues like quantifying grasses and shrubs in terms of green credits still pending. She also explained that businesses may only claim a percentage of the green credits required to offset their commitments under compensatory afforestation.
