The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (“Authority”) has issued Green Credit Rules, 2023 to incentivize voluntary environment positive actions through market-based mechanism and generate green credit which is a singular unit of an incentive provided for a specified activity to entities, delivering a positive impact on the environment.
Objectives:
- The green credit programme shall incentivise environmental positive actions through market-based mechanism and generate green credit, which shall be tradable and made available for trading on a domestic market platform.
- The green credit programme shall encourage industries, companies and other entities to meet their existing obligations or other obligations under any law for the time being in force, and encourage other persons and entities, to undertake voluntary environmental measures by generating or buying green credit.
Key Highlights:
- Participation in the Green Credit programme shall be voluntary.
- Any person or entity may take any measure including those specified below for the purpose of protection, preservation, or conservation of the environment:
- tree plantation
- water management
- waste management
- air pollution reduction
- ecomark label development
- building and infrastructure
- Application of registration- A person or entity desirous of obtaining green credit shall register the activity undertaken by him for grant of green credit with the Administrator in the following manner:
- An application for registration shall be made to the Administrator electronically through a website established by the Central Government for that purpose.
- On receipt of the application the Administrator shall cause the activity to be verified by a designated agency.
- The designated agency shall, after making such verification and inquiry as it may deem necessary, in accordance with the guideline made in this behalf, submit a report to the Administrator verifying the activities undertaken by the applicant.
- On receipt of the report verifying the activities undertaken by the applicant, the Administrator shall grant the applicant a certificate of green credit.
Please refer to the appended document for a detailed read of the rules.
Source: Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change
