Green credit
Topic: Environment and Sustainable Development · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A green credit is a tradable reward unit for voluntary actions that help the environment. Examples are planting trees, conserving water and managing waste. India notified the Green Credit Rules in October 2023. ICFRE (the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education) runs the scheme. The scheme also covers plantations on degraded forest land, and it was launched globally at COP28.
Example
Suppose a company plants trees on degraded forest land under the Green Credit Programme. It earns green credits for this. It can trade them or use them to meet some of its own environmental obligations.
Don't confuse with
- Carbon credit: one carbon credit equals 1 tonne of CO2-equivalent reduced or removed. In India, carbon credits are traded under the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme 2023, which is run by BEE (the Bureau of Energy Efficiency). A green credit covers wider green actions and is run by ICFRE. A green credit is not a carbon credit.
Related concepts
- Chipko and Appiko movements
- Development-induced displacement
- Environmental impact assessment
- Compensatory afforestation
- Net present value of forests
- Biodiversity offset
- Biodiversity credits
- REDD+
- Nature-based solutions
- Polluter pays principle