A Kochi-based think-tank has suggested that the State Budget allocate funds for well-coordinated study to assess its entitlement for ‘green bonus'/carbon credits.
A multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional study needs to be conducted to build a strong case based on the State's carbon sequestration potential, says the Centre for Scio-economic and Environmental Studies (CSES).
SUGGESTION MADE
Dr K. K. George, Chairman of CSES, formally put forward this suggestion to the State Finance Minister, Mr K. M. Mani, during pre-Budget consultations organised here by the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT).
Dr George recalled that Dr Jairam Ramesh, then Union Minister for Environment and Forests, had recommended a type of ‘green bonus' to the State for willingly forgoing the Athirappally hydro-electric project after environmentalists raised objections.
While doing so, Dr Ramesh was advertising for the first time the well-accepted principle that green bonus should accrue to States which deny themselves developmental projects on larger and long-term environment considerations.
STATE'S RECORD
A CSES study carried out in the context of the 13{+t}{+h} Finance commission showed that the State's record is comparatively good with respect to managing the environment, ecology and climate change, Dr George said.
All available data suggest that its entitlement for carbon credit/green bonus expected from any specialised scheme along the lines of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) could be quite large.
CDM is a mechanism operated by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change for purposes of implementing the Kyoto Protocol. It allows a country with an emission-reduction or limitation commitment to implement an emission-reduction project in developing countries.
SALEABLE CREDITS
Such projects can earn saleable certified emission reduction credits, each equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide.
According to the CSES, the carbon sequestration (capture of carbon dioxide) prospects in the State are likely to be much more than its emission of greenhouse gases.
This is because the State has a large area of geography covered not only by forests but also plantations such as rubber, tea and coffee.
Even homestead farms here are considered to be good carbon sinks.
CDM VARIANT
Given this, the CSES said that the State suggest to the Planning Commission to design a domestic variant of the CDM.
It is in this context that it has said that the State Budget provide resources for the conduct of a study on the carbon sequestration potential.
It must be completed in a time-bound manner, the think-tank said.