Gujarat Emissions Trading Model Set to Inspire Rio Pollution Controls
· India · Times of India, Wall Street Journal
Gujarat's pioneering emissions trading scheme for industrial particulate pollution is poised to become an environmental export, with Rio de Janeiro signing a letter of intent to adapt the approach. Developed nearly 15 years ago, the mechanism replaces periodic inspections and shutdown notices with market-driven incentives, allowing cleaner factories to sell surplus pollution permits to plants facing higher compliance costs. A 2019 pilot study in Surat conducted by researchers from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago and J-PAL in partnership with the Gujarat Pollution Control Board covered 162 large coal-burning plants. Participating factories cut particulate emissions by 20% to 30%, reduced pollution control costs by 11%, and achieved 99% compliance compared to roughly two-thirds under conventional regulation. For Delhi-NCR, which grapples annually with a severe winter air pollution crisis, the Gujarat framework offers a viable model centered on market competition
Why it matters
Industrial clusters and environmental regulators in heavily polluted urban centers like Delhi stand to benefit from a market-based regulatory model that lowers compliance costs while capping total emissions.
Read the original report — Times of India
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