[26th
June 2023] Whereas, Government of India
introduced 'LiFE'- 'Lifestyle for Environment', as a grassroot, mass movement
for combating climate change, enhancing environment actions to propagate a healthy
and sustainable way of living based on traditions and values of conservation
and moderation, and for sustainable and environment-friendly development. And whereas, an innovative
market-based mechanism is required to promote the LiFE movement which aims at
encouraging sustainable lifestyles by driving consumer/community towards
behavioural changes to incentivize environment friendly practices. And whereas, to enable this,
a Green Credit Programme is proposed to be launched at national level to leverage
a competitive market-based approach for Green Credits thereby incentivising
voluntary environmental actions of various stakeholders. Apart from
incentivizing individual/community behavior, the Green Credit Programme will
encourage private sector industries and companies as well as other entities to
meet their existing obligations, stemming from other legal frameworks, by
taking actions which are able to converge with activities relevant for
generating or buying Green Credits. And whereas, Green Credits will
arise from a range of sectors and entities, ranging from small-scale ones- such
as, individuals, Farmer Producer Organisations, cooperatives, forestry
enterprises and sustainable agriculture enterprises; to those being developed
at the level of Urban and Rural Local Bodies, private sectors, industries and
organisations. Green Credits will be tradable outcomes and will act as
incentives. In the beginning, Green Credits will be made available to
individual and entities, engaged in selected activities and who undertake
environmental interventions. These Green Credits will be made available for
trading on a domestic market platform. And whereas, an
environmental activity generating Green Credits may have climate co-benefits
such as reduction or removal of carbon emissions. An activity generating Green
Credits under Green Credit Programme may also get Carbon Credits from the same
activity under carbon market. Now, therefore, in exercise
of power conferred by sub-section 2(iii) of section 3 of the Environment (Protection)
Act, 1986 (29 of 1986), the Central Government has decided to institute a
domestic voluntary market mechanism -- the Green Credit Programme. The Central
Government has now proposed a notification for 'draft Green Credit Programme
Implementation Rules 2023' for the information of the public likely to be
affected thereby and notice is hereby given that the said notification will be
taken into consideration on or after the expiry of a period of sixty (60) days
from the date of publication of the draft in the official Gazette; The objections or
suggestions, which may be received from any person with respect to the said
Notification within the period specified above, will be taken into
consideration by the Central Government; Objections or suggestions,
if any, may be addressed to the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment,
Forest and Climate Change, Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, Jor Bagh road, New Delhi -
110003, and may be sent to e-mail id: sohsmd-mef@gov.in (1)
These rules may be called the Green Credit
Programme Implementation Rules, 2023. (2)
They shall come into force on the date of
their publication in the Official Gazette. (1)
The main objectives of the Green Credit Programme
(herein after referred as Programme) are as follows: - (a)
Create a market based mechanism for providing
incentives in the form of Green Credits to individuals, Farmer Producer
Organisations, cooperatives, forestry enterprises, sustainable agriculture
enterprises, Urban and Rural Local Bodies, private sectors, industries and
organisations for environment positive actions; (b)
Create mass movement around environment
positive actions and realise the vision of "Mission LiFE" through
pro-planet-people and entities. (1)
In this framework, unless the context
otherwise requires, the following definitions shall apply - (a)
Accredited Green Credit Verifier means an
entity accredited and authorized by the Green Credit Programme Administrator to
carry out verification activities in respect of the Programme; (b)
Act means the Environment (Protection) Act,
1986 (29 of 1986), as amended from time to time; (c)
Green Credit means a singular unit of an
incentive provided for a specified activity, delivering a positive impact on
the environment; (d)
Registered Entity means any entity,
registered for generation of Green Credits; (e)
Registry means an electronic database system
maintained by Green Credit Programme Administrator or its accredited agency to
record issuance and exchange of Green Credits; (f)
Third-party certifiers means an entity that
certifies an activity for its registration; (g)
Verification means an independent evaluation
of the green credit activity by the accredited Green Credits Verifier for
acquiring Green Credits; (h)
Empaneled Auditors means an entity empaneled
by the Central Government for auditing the entire system of the Programme. (2)
Words and expressions used in this rules and
not defined herein but defined in the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 or any
other rules or regulations issued under the said Act, shall have the same
meaning as assigned to them respectively in the Act, or such other rules or
regulations. (1)
A phased and iterative approach for
implementation of the Programme will be adopted. In the initial phase, two to
three activities from the sectors indicated in clause (2) will be considered
for designing and piloting the Programme. More activities will be added from
the selected sectors in subsequent phases. More sectors can also be added with
the approval of the Central Government. (2)
Sectors identified for the Programme with
respective objectives are as follows: (i)
Tree Plantation-based Green Credit: To
promote activities for increasing the green cover across the country through
tree plantation and related activities. (ii)
Water-based Green Credit: To promote water conservation,
water harvesting and water use efficiency/savings, including treatment and
reuse of wastewater. (iii)
Sustainable Agriculture based Green Credit:
To promote natural and regenerative agricultural practices and land restoration
to improve productivity, soil health and nutritional value of food produced. (iv)
Waste Management based Green Credit: To
promote sustainable and improved practices for waste management, including
collection, segregation and treatment. (v)
Air Pollution Reduction based Green Credit: To
promote measures for reducing air pollution and other pollution abatement
activities. (vi)
Mangrove Conservation and Restoration based
Green Credit: To promote measures for conservation and restoration of
mangroves. (vii)
Ecomark based Green Credit: To encourage
manufacturers to obtain Ecomark label for their goods and services. (viii)
Sustainable building and infrastructure based
Green Credit: To encourage the construction of buildings and other
infrastructure using sustainable technologies and materials. (3)
Methodology of generating Green Credits: (i)
Thresholds and benchmarks will be developed
for each Green Credit activity for generating and issuance of Green Credits. In
case of any obligation under any law, the thresholds and benchmarks will be
aligned with that obligation. (ii)
To maintain fungibility across sectors, the
environmental outcome, achievable by any Green Credit activity, will be based
on equivalence of resource requirement, parity of scale, scope, size and other
relevant parameters, and will be considered for allocation of one unit of Green
Credit in respect of each activity. (iii)
Digital processes will be developed and
established for the Programme including self-assessments of eligible Green
Credit activities, registration of activities, issuance of Green Credits,
monitoring of performance and other relevant processes. (1)
The governance of the Programme for its
effective implementation shall vest in the Steering Committee. The Steering
Committee will comprise of representatives from the concerned
Ministries/Departments, domain experts, industry associations and other
relevant stakeholders. (2)
Steering Committee shall have the following
functions: (i)
Grant approvals in respect of the following: (a)
procedures, guidelines and processes in
respect of implementation of the Programme; (b)
guidelines for Measurement, Reporting and
Verification; (c)
other relevant matters in respect of
implementation of the Programme. (ii)
Make recommendations to the Central
Government in respect of following: (a)
activities and sectors to be included in the
Programme; (b)
measures to create demand for the Programme. (c)
any matter referred by the Central
Government. (iii)
Review and monitoring of the implementation
of Programme; (iv)
Any other function as may be assigned by the
Central Government. (1)
The Green Credit Programme Administrator
(herein after referred as Administrator) shall be responsible for
implementation of the Programme including its management, monitoring and
operation. (2)
The Indian Council of Forestry Research and
Education shall be the Administrator of the Programme. (3)
The responsibilities of the Administrator
shall include the following: (i)
Develop guidelines, processes and procedures
for implementation of the Programme; (ii)
Constitute Technical or Sectoral committees
for each activity to facilitate in developing methodologies and processes for
registration of Green Credit activities and issuance of Green Credits; (iii)
Develop methodologies, standards, registration
process and associated Measurement, Reporting and Verification mechanisms; (iv)
Establish methodologies and processes for
equivalence of Green Credits generated from each identified activity; (v)
Develop guidelines for establishment and
operation of Green Credit Registry and trading platform, for issuance of
digital Green Credits for each activity, for self-certification of Green
Credits, and for accreditation of Green Credit Registry , third-party
certifiers, Green Credit Verifiers, for grant of Green Credits, and for
auditing of the Green Credit Programme; (vi)
Accredit the Green Credit Registry,
third-party certifiers, Green Credit Verifiers and Trading Service Provider in
accordance with the approved guidelines; (vii)
Register the Green Credit Registry, third-party
certifiers, Green Credit Verifiers and Trading Service Provider; (viii)
Accredit agency for establishing Knowledge
and Data platform required for the Programme; (ix)
Develop guidelines and protocols for the
Programme portal as well as knowledge and data platform, and for collection of
fees from registered entities; (x)
Develop guidelines for filing of annual
returns and progress reports of certification agency, thirdparty certifiers,
Green Credit Verifiers and Trading Service Provider; (xi)
Issue digital Green Credits as per the
approved guidelines; (xii)
Collect fees from Registered Entity as per
the approved guidelines; (xiii)
Develop guidelines for establishment and
operation of trading platform and market stability mechanism (if required) for
trading of Green Credits; (xiv) Conduct
capacity building, media and outreach activities for the stakeholders; (xv)
Compile the annual returns and progress
reports submitted by the certification agency, third-party verifiers, Green
Credit Verifiers and Trading Service Provider; (xvi) Any
other function assigned by the Steering Committee or Central Government. (1)
The Administrator may constitute technical or
sectoral committees for each activity for developing methodologies, standards
and processes for registration of Green Credit activities and grant of Green
Credits; (2)
Each Technical Committee shall comprise of
members from concerned Ministries/ Departments as well as organisations and
subject matter experts; (3)
Technical Committee shall develop and make
recommendations to the Administrator which will inter-alia include: (i)
Methodologies for allocation of one unit of
Green Credit on the basis of environmental action in case of each activity
ensuring fungibility and equivalence of Green Credits; (ii)
Mechanism for Measurement, Reporting and
Verification process in respect of each activity; (4)
Technical Committee shall advise on any other
technical matter referred by the Administrator. (1)
The Administrator or its accredited agency
shall establish and maintain the registry for the Programme. The Green Credit
registry will be in the form of a standardized electronic database which
contains inter-alia common data elements relevant to the issuance, holding,
transfer and acquisition of Green Credits. The structure and data formats of
the Green Credit Registry shall conform to the prescribed technical standards
as per the approved guidelines. (2)
The Green Credit Registry shall discharge the
following functions, in the manner, as may be specified in the relevant
guidelines from time to time which will inter-alia include: (i)
Registration of entity and grant and
recording of Green Credits; (ii)
Ensure accurate accounting of the issuance,
holding, transfer and acquisition of green credits by the stakeholders; (iii)
Maintain secure database with all required
and essential security protocols; (iv)
Maintain records of all transactions; (v)
Indemnify registered entities in case of any
loss caused to such entity due to security breach in the database, not
attributable to such registered entity; (vi)
Establish linkages with other National and
International registries; (vii)
Comply with the directions issued by the
Steering Committee; (viii)
Any other function assigned in the relevant
guidelines. (1)
The guidelines for the establishment and
operation of the Trading Platform shall be issued by the Administrator with the
approval of Steering Committee. (2)
The trading platform for the exchange of
Green Credits shall be established by the Trading Service Provider accredited
by the Administrator in accordance with the approved guidelines. (3)
The trading service provider shall perform
functions regarding the trading of Green Credits, in accordance with the
approved guidelines. (1)
The knowledge and data platform, will be an
online platform developed for providing transparency on the various types of
activities being undertaken and for reporting sectoral progress under the
Programme; (2)
This platform may collate key data points
generated from Green Credit Registry and other information such as sectoral
achievements, best practices, information on capacity building, etc. (1)
The Administrator will accredit the entities
to act as Accredited Green Credit Verifiers in accordance with the approved
guidelines; (2)
Accredited Green Credit Verifiers shall
conduct verification and submit reports to the Administrator for grant of Green
Credits in accordance with provisions of the guidelines; (3)
Accredited Green Credit Verifiers shall file
annual returns to the Administrator in accordance with the guidelines; (1)
The Green Credit Programme shall be based on
voluntary participation of all stakeholders. (2)
Steering Committee shall recommend measures
to generate voluntary demand for Green Credits in the country. (3)
All entities registered for Accredited
Compensatory Afforestation under the guidelines issued by MoEFCC vide No.FC-11/159/2022-FC
dated 24th January, 2023 shall register with the Green Credit Registry under
the Programme. The Accredited Compensatory
Afforestation will be eligible for consideration as Compensatory Afforestation
for diversion of forest land under these guidelines subject to qualification
and allocation of Green Credits under the Programme. (1)
The Central Government may empanel auditors
for audit of the entire system of the Programme functioning and administration
from time to time.Green
Credit Programme Implementation Rules, 2023