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Union Environment Ministry, the overall coordinator of the Green Credit Programme (GCP) has clarified that primacy must be accorded to restoring ecosystems over merely tree planting regarding the programme
Individuals and companies can apply to the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), an autonomous body of the Environment Ministry, to pay to “restore” these forests
The actual afforestation will be carried out by State forest departments
Two years after planting and following an evaluation by the ICFRE, each such planted tree could be worth one ‘green credit’.
These credits can be claimed by the financing organisation and used in two ways:
(1) using it to comply with existing forest laws that require organisations, which divert forest land for non-forestry purposes, to recompense by providing an equivalent amount of land elsewhere;
(2) be used for reporting under environmental, social, and governance leadership norms or to meet corporate social responsibility (CSR) requirements.
Green Credit Program (GCP)
Green Credit Program (GCP )notified on 13th October, 2023 is an innovative market-based mechanism designed to incentivize voluntary environmental actions across diverse sectors, by various stakeholders like individuals, communities, private sector industries, and companies.
The GCP's governance framework is supported by an inter-ministerial Steering Committee and The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) serves as the GCP Administrator, responsible for program implementation, management, monitoring, and operation.
In its initial phase, the GCP focuses on two key activities: water conservation and afforestation.
Draft methodologies for awarding Green Credits have been developed and will be notified for stakeholder consultation.
These methodologies set benchmarks for each activity/process, to ensure environmental impact and fungibility across sectors.
A user-friendly digital platform will streamline the processes for registration of projects, its verification, and issuance of Green Credits.
The Green Credit Registry and trading platform, being developed by ICFRE along with experts, would facilitate the registration and thereafter, the buying and selling of Green Credits.
To obtain Green Credits, individuals and entities must register their activities through the central government's dedicated app/website.
The Administrator will verify the activity through a designated agency, with self-verification for small projects.
Once verification is complete, the Administrator will grant a Green Credit certificate which will be tradable on the green credit platform.
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