News: Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has announced a National Designated Authority (NDA) to enable a carbon emissions trading regime.
About National Designated Authority (NDA)
- The National Designated Authority (NDA) has been set up by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
- It is a mandatory requirement under the Article 6 of 2015 Paris Agreement.
- The Article 6 within the Paris Agreement defines the contours under which such an emissions trading regime, or a market, can take shape.
- Purpose: The main purpose of the NDA is to enable a carbon emissions trading regime or carbon markets in India.
- Composition
- It is a 21-member committee.
- Head: It is headed by the Secretary of the Environment Ministry.
- Members: Its members include representatives from the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Renewable Energy, NITI Aayog and Steel Ministry among others.
- The maximum representation is from the Environment Ministry.
- Functions of NDA
- The NDA is responsible for recommending to the Union Government a list of activities that can be considered for the trading of emission reduction units under Article 6.
- It evaluates and approves projects that aim to reduce carbon emissions.
- It ensures that projects are in line with India’s sustainability goals, country-specific criteria, and national priorities.
- It authorizes projects to use emission reduction units so that India can achieve its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
- Importance
- It will help India in achieving its NDC commitments i.e. reducing its GDP’s emission intensity by 45% by 2030 from 2005 levels, achieving 50% cumulative electric power capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, and creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030 through afforestation.
