Green credits-Significance & Challenges

Source-This post on Green credits-Significance & Challenges has been created based on the article “Can green credits benefit India’s forests?” published in “The Hindu” on 26 April 2024.

UPSC Syllabus–GS Paper-3– Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.

Context-The article presents a critical analysis of Green Credit Programme.This is a is a market-based initiative started by Environment Ministry, where individuals and companies can earn incentives, termed as ‘green credits,’ for their contributions to environmental and ecological restoration efforts.

What is the significance of the Green Credit Programme?

1) Environmental Conservation– Green Credit Programme aims to incentivize sustainable actions and engage various stakeholders, including individuals and corporations, in environmental conservation efforts.

2) Incentivizes various sectors– This program offers incentives through markets and covers six or seven sectors, like forests and waste management. In policymaking, incentives play a crucial role. Green credits serve as incentives to encourage individuals and companies to participate in these activities.

What are the concerns regarding the Green Credit Programme?

1)Bypassing laws– It may be utilized to bypass existing environmental laws, particularly those related to forest conservation.

2)Ground level challenges-There is a lack of proper understanding of ground level challenges and expertise to address those challenges.

3) Threat to biodiversity– It may promote monocultures and planting vegetation unsuitable for certain ecosystems. This could adversely impact biodiversity and soil health.

4) Measurement Problems-There are challenges of measuring biodiversity impact accurately. For ex- How does one measure the impact on biodiversity when they are 200 meters apart?

5) Lack of Fungibility– Fungibility is the ability to exchange one unit of a commodity for another.However,this is lacking in green credits due to the diverse nature of environmental credits like biodiversity and water conservation. This poses a challenge in equating different types of credits on the same platform. For ex- How does one equate a credit of one unit of water conservation with one unit of ecosystem restoration on the same platform?

6) Clashes with Forest Conservation Act -The program’s rules imply that earning green credits can negatively influence mandatory compliances, such as forest clearances. For ex-it may bypass the whole forest clearance process just to help the industries get green credits.

Question for practice

Critically evaluate the significance of the Green Credit Programme?