Gujarat to global: How idea to fix pollution has lessons for Delhi
Gujarat's emissions trading scheme (ETS) for industrial pollution is gaining international attention, with Rio de Janeiro considering adopting the model. The system incentivizes factories to reduce emissions by allowing them to trade pollution permits.
Why it matters
This market-based environmental policy offers a scalable alternative to traditional command-and-control regulations for managing industrial pollution in major cities like Delhi.
NEW DELHI: Nearly 15 years ago, a handful of economists, engineers and regulators began wrestling with a question in Gujarat. Could factories be persuaded to cut pollution without fearing a shutdown?Today, that experiment has an answer in the emissions trading scheme (ETS), which is travelling nearly 14,000 km from India, poised to become one of the country’s newest environmental exports.After transforming industrial pollution regulations in Gujarat and inspiring similar programmes in Maharashtra and Rajasthan, the idea that germinated in India is headed to Rio de Janeiro.The Brazilian city has signed a letter of intent to examine adapting this approach to its own pollution challenges.If implemented, Rio would become South America’s first emissions trading system for industrial particulate pollution.For Delhi-NCR, which is annually in the news for its winter air pollution crisis, the Gujarat experience also offers a useful model, which is centred around incentives that make industries compete to pollute…
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