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Time of India
12 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
India's carbon market potential: Why transparency and quality are key to EU deals
KOLKATA: The European Commission's proposal to buy carbon credits to help achieve EU's 2040 climate target is a major boost for countries like India with rich agricultural and natural resource bases, which serve as carbon banks with immense potential, experts and analysts said. At a glance, this also looks mutually beneficial — countries like India will help developed nations achieve their environmental goals, and in return, they get additional funds for climate change mitigation. This would help increase demand for carbon credits as well. But it comes with a few riders — for India to benefit, the quality of the carbon credits it delivers is crucial. The idea is not just to remove carbon from the environment but to benefit the communities involved. Higher the benefits from the projects, better the quality of the credits. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata India will also have to make sure that the credits that are sold in the international market are not double counted for its domestic compliance. EU's proposal is not entirely a novel concept, though. Earlier, under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) defined in the Kyoto Protocol, industrialised countries were allowed to purchase Certified Emission Reduction (CER) credits (a type of carbon credit) from emission reduction projects in developing countries to meet part of their emission reduction obligations. 'The system and expertise are very much there, with over 5,000 projects registered under CDM in India,' said Manish Kumar Shrivastava, senior fellow and associate director, earth science and climate change, TERI. But the CDM came with its own issues that led to its failure. The developed countries ended up claiming mitigation benefits for projects that were relatively cheaper, leaving the poorer developing countries to finance the more expensive and effective mitigation projects. At present, most projects registered under Indian schemes won't automatically qualify for EU-aligned compliance markets, said Sapna Nijhawan, founder of Sustainiam, a firm working in the clean tech sector. 'For us to qualify, we need to adopt internationally recognised baselines, ensure environmental and social integrity, and establish a transparent system for 'corresponding adjustments' under Article 6.2,' she said. And we are moving in that direction, said Manish Dabkara, chairman & MD of EKI Energy Services. 'The govt's efforts through the carbon credit trading scheme (CCTS) and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency's offset mechanism indicate a shift,' he said, while acknowledging the gaps in the system. But it might not be a smooth road ahead. Relying on the EU for demand for domestic carbon credits is risky, pointed out Krithika Ravishankar, senior analyst in the Climate, Environment and Sustainability sector at CSTEP. 'The EU had previously allowed international credits to be integrated into the EU Emissions Trading System (EUETS) but subsequently banned this allowance as it caused a significant price crash owing to an oversupply of credits, many of which were of subpar quality,' she said. The quality of the carbon credits will be paramount. 'A high-quality credit isn't just about carbon—it must deliver social and environmental co-benefits,' said a spokesperson from Verra, a non-profit that certifies carbon credits globally. Communities cannot be afterthoughts, Nijhawan said. India can draw on its experience with the Forest Rights Act, ensuring that carbon rights and benefit-sharing are clearly outlined, she said and added, 'Projects should provide livelihood co-benefits, not just carbon offsets—this could mean agroforestry models, water conservation co-benefits, or women-led biomass enterprises.' Carbon credit frameworks in Peru, Kenya and Indonesia already include mandatory consultations, community representation in decision-making and legally binding revenue-sharing agreements. 'These models show that when local communities are included, carbon projects become more resilient, transparent and impactful," said Dabkara. Besides quality, the issue of double counting is a major problem. There needs to be a clear distinction between carbon credits for domestic compliance and those for international trade. The same credit should not be counted for India and then sold to the EU as well. This is where the need for a transparent national registry assumes importance. 'The whole purpose of a registry is to avoid double-counting and greenwashing,' said Srivastava. Once a carbon credit is geotagged and its carbon dioxide equivalent is registered, it can be 'retired' from the registry, according to marine scientist Abhijit Mitra. 'But everyone needs to be very precise,' he said. While the climate sector evolves every day, awareness across the spectrum remains a major deficit. There is an urgent need for awareness across the spectrum. 'There needs to be awareness about the voluntary market, cap-and-trade policies, existing Indian policies, green credits versus carbon credits, implementing agencies, who can be donors, who can be recipients, and the criteria,' said Mitra. If there is awareness, there is trust, and coupled with a proper mechanism, it can build a robust network that will benefit communities at the grassroots level as well. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
NPCL, TERI launch load research drive
1 2 Lucknow: Noida Power Company Ltd (NPCL) and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to carry out load research and demand side management (DSM) studies for Greater Noida. The agreement was signed at NPCL's corporate office in Greater Noida by MD & CEO, NPCL, PR Kumar and director general, TERI, Vibha Dhawan. Load research study will map category-wise energy consumption patterns of consumers in Greater Noida. PR Kumar reaffirmed NPCL's commitment to adopting innovative and efficient solutions for a greener tomorrow. Vibha Dhawan highlighted TERI's dedication to advancing sustainable energy practices through research-driven strategies and implementation support. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
Time of India
31-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Powering Viksit Bharat: The new solar frontier
One of the extraordinary achievements of recent years has been the success in the development of solar power. When the Solar Mission was launched in 2010, solar power capacity in the country was negligible, less than a fifth of a GW. It is now over a 100 GW. The price then was around ₹17 per unit. It is now around ₹2.50 per unit, far cheaper than electricity from a new thermal power plant using coal. Prime Minister Modi demonstrated responsible climate leadership at COP21 in Glasgow when he announced that India would create 500 GW of fossil fuel free capacity by 2030. Increasing the pace of solar power development is the key to the achievement of the 500 GW capacity goal. Solar power along with storage has also become cheaper than new thermal. Going forward, new solar and accompanying storage capacities have to be created together. Battery electricity storage systems (BESS) are becoming cheaper. These can be installed where needed and their installation time is not large. Hydro pump storage project development with private investment is also gaining momentum rapidly. Achieving the 500 GW goal does not impose any additional cost. It is in fact the cheaper way of meeting the increasing demand for electricity. As solar power has become the driver of India's energy transition away from fossil fuels, the natural question that arises is, what is the solar power potential of the country. Is it large enough for the needs of a Viksit Bharat . In 2014 the potential for solar power had been assessed at 748 GW. This is large. But India's per capita electricity consumption is still a modest 1400 units per year. It needs to go up to four times as India moves towards becoming a developed country. With over 100 GW of solar power capacity already installed, the assessed potential of 748 GW then appears inadequate over the long run. Hence India would need other options to be able to have an emission free electricity system. Nuclear power became one. Government has recently announced the ambitious goal of creating 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047, a massive increase from the present level of 8.18 GW. The advantage of nuclear power is that there are no emissions of carbon dioxide. Finally, the international community has recognised nuclear energy as an acceptable solution to the challenge of climate change. The other option would be to capture the carbon dioxide produced by the burning of coal in a thermal power plant and store it permanently under the earth's surface. This carbon capture and storage (CCUS) is technically feasible. But there is the substantial cost of capturing carbon dioxide, taking it through a pipe to a suitable place from where it can be injected inside the earth's surface to a formation where it would stay permanently. In addition to this cost, finding suitable formations where carbon dioxide would stay is a challenge across the world. The NITI Aayog has prepared a strategy paper for this for India. A recently released report of TERI has concluded that at a conservative basis the solar power potential in the country is 10,380 GW. This is over twelve times the earlier estimate. How has such a large, revised estimate emerged. The earlier estimate had assumed that only 3 per cent of the wasteland of the country could be used for putting up solar panels. The study has assumed that 40 per cent of the wasteland can be used, a reasonable assumption going by the way projects are coming up in Rajasthan and Gujarat. The Prime Minister's roof top solar panel program has created the potential of every home ultimately having a solar panel on the roof. This potential is huge. Tiles with embedded solar panels which generate electricity and can be used instead of normal tiles on the exterior of buildings, have entered the market. Public spaces in urban areas offer considerable possibilities for the installation of solar panels. The real game changer, however, is the emergence of agri-solar . Solar panels can be put over agricultural land. Around forty pilot projects are being implemented in various parts of India. In theory the farmer would get a higher income from solar power with the panels being mounted at a height without coming in the way of what is growing on his land. As this is at an early trial stage, a very modest potential has been assumed in the report. If the pilots succeed then all the cultivated land could in theory become available for solar power generation. These solar panels could also be of help in adaptation also as temperatures rise in the future. This completely changes the paradigm of the ongoing energy transition. There is more than enough solar power potential in the country for having a carbon emission free electricity system which produces all the electricity that we would need as we become a developed economy. (Ajay Shankar is a Distinguished Fellow at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), and former Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India. Views are personal.)
Time of India
19-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
UP pays for carbon credits to farmers in advance to motivate them
Representative image/AI generated LUCKNOW: To promote agroforestry, UP has thought out of the box to start making pre payments to farmers for the carbon credits that they will supposedly earn five years from now. While the trees on farmers' land, against which the partial payments have been made in advance, are yet to become repositories of carbon, 237 farmers who registered under the first phase of the carbon finance project of the UP govt until now have been made partial prepayments worth Rs 48.6 lakh already. Sources in the forest department said that the prepayments have been made to motivate farmers. And, if after five years the trees, against which payments have been made, do not survive, the remaining amount will not be paid. Farmers have been paid around Rs 10,000 per head as partial prepayment. The impact of it is already visible as, so far, 25,140 farmers have registered under the scheme for the first phase. The second phase of the scheme was launched about a month ago and registration under it has also started. The govt made a partial advance payment because the base year for the scheme is 2024-25, which means farmers who planted saplings in 2024-25, or years after that, will draw benefits under it, but only after five years of planting the saplings. Notably, in July 2024, UP had become the first state in the country to give advance partial payment to farmers against carbon credits, earned through plantation and its conservation. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Farmers earn carbon credits for reducing carbon emissions of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere because trees planted by them on their land absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere continuously for photosynthesis. In the process, while trees keep the carbon stored, they give out oxygen, thus reducing carbon concentration in the air and improving its metric tonne of carbon dioxide stored in trees is one carbon credit, for which a beneficiary farmer is paid money equivalent to six dollars every five years. The UP forest department has an agreement with TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) and VNV Advisory Services on the project. While farmers register with the forest department at the divisional level, teams from TERI will verify and validate the claims made before the carbon credits are assessed and monetised. 'Until now, around Rs 25 lakh has been transferred to the Dudhwa Tiger Conservation Foundation to distribute as advance payment to farmers in the region. The process to distribute Rs 26.15 lakh to 408 beneficiary farmers is underway,' said sources in the forest department. A farmer will draw payments against carbon credits for 30 years for the same plantation under the carbon finance project. 'This amounts to an extra income for the farmer for only keeping the tree growing on its land,' said an official. The scheme was implemented in six forest divisions last year, including Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Meerut, Moradabad, and Saharanpur. In the second phase, seven more divisions were covered under it, namely Devipatan, Ayodhya, Jhansi, Mirzapur, Kanpur, Varanasi, and Aligarh.
The Print
11-07-2025
- Business
- The Print
UP govt to implement Carbon Credit Finance Scheme for farmers' economic well-being
In the next phase, the government is set to disburse Rs 25.45 lakh to 401 more farmers, with the process officially initiated by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during the state-wide plantation drive in Ayodhya Dham. So far, Rs 49.55 lakh has already been distributed to 244 farmers under the scheme, said a press statement. Lucknow, Jul 10 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh government is implementing the Carbon Credit Finance Scheme to promote environmental protection and strengthen the economic well-being of farmers. Uttar Pradesh is the first state in the country to implement such a model. The farmers from Gorakhpur, Bareilly, Lucknow, Meerut, Moradabad and Saharanpur divisions have been included in the first phase. Through agroforestry, these farmers have collectively generated an estimated 42.19 lakh carbon credits. At the rate of $6 per carbon credit, the distribution takes place every five years, said the statement. The farmers selected under this phase include those from Badaun, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur, and Bareilly (Bareilly division); Bijnor, Najibabad, Sambhal, Rampur (Moradabad division); Ghaziabad, Baghpat, Bulandshahr, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Hapur and rural areas of Rampur (Meerut division). In Gorakhpur division, the districts of Deoria, Kushinagar and Gorakhpur are included, while the districts of Hardoi, South Kheri , Raebareli, Sitapur and Unnao are covered in Lucknow division. In the second phase, the scheme will be extended to Devi Patan, Ayodhya, Jhansi, Mirzapur, Kanpur, Varanasi and Aligarh divisions, and eventually rolled out across the entire state in phase three. The scheme is being implemented in collaboration with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). Under this model, one carbon credit is issued for every metric ton of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases absorbed from the atmosphere. The scheme not only supports India's climate goals, but it also enhances farmers' income. By participating in this programme, the farmers can earn Rs 250 to Rs 350 per tree apart from the standard market price of the tree. The scheme aligns with the Government of India's goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070 and stands as a landmark step toward that vision. PTI CDN AS AS This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
