Carbon Credit Trading Scheme
Also called: CCTS · Topic: Climate Change: Causes, Evidence and the Global Response · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) is India's own carbon market. It was notified in June 2023 under the Energy Conservation Act 2001, as amended in 2022. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) runs it. It has two parts. In the compliance market, heavy industries must meet emission-intensity targets, which limit how much they emit for each unit they produce. Firms that do better than their target earn credits, which they can sell to firms that fall short. The second part is a voluntary market for offsets. Trading is expected to start around 2026 (verify current).
Example
A steel plant in Odisha that cuts its emissions per tonne of steel below its target would earn carbon credit certificates. It could then sell them to a plant that has missed its target.
Don't confuse with
- Green Credit Programme (2023): it rewards voluntary environmental actions such as tree planting. CCTS deals with industrial greenhouse gas emissions.
- CBAM: this is the EU's charge on the carbon in imported goods. It is not India's domestic market.
Related concepts
- National Action Plan on Climate Change
- National Solar Mission
- National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem
- Green India Mission
- Panchamrit