Concerning the competing interests, the likely shift that is required is from
nationality to human survival and from short-term financial interests to
long-term humanitarian needs. In a world marked by economic connectivity and
efficient movement of goods and services across the globe, a negotiated
agreement on climate policy is essential and must be supported particularly by
nations that are responsible for the bulk of carbon emissions.
The idea of pricing carbon through carbon trading represents a significant
economic proposition. The prospect of creating a market for carbon emissions and
allowing these to have a monetary price enables market forces to decide the
economics of the cost-effective allocation of resources for pollution control.
This would be achieved through creating a right to emit under a policy regime
that aims to control pollution harmoniously with the market mechanism. It is
essentially a market-based approach through a negotiated internationally
acceptable agreement on pollution control policy which is preferred over a
conventional command and control one.
Background and Context
A major bone of contention in international negotiations was the possibility of
establishing a global market in tradable carbon emissions. The idea of an
international carbon market has been discussed since the early 1990s, especially
by those countries that have committed themselves to emissions reduction.
Usually, they discuss the pros and cons of various approaches and the
implications of various national or multilateral schemes. Key multilateral
emissions trading is required where the countries with the obligations have to
buy credits from other countries rather than taking the necessary actions
domestically.
In an era of rapidly increasing awareness of man-made climate change and the
imperatives of mitigating global warming, and responding to the enforcement of
the Kyoto Protocol, there has been a significant growth of market-based
mechanisms that offer considerable advantage when compared to traditional
command and control approaches. As of 1997, emissions trading is one of the
three 'set' of flexible mechanisms proposed - the other two being Joint
Implementation (JI) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
The Kyoto protocol, which was adopted in December 1997, came into force on 16th
February 2005, defining the global strategy to combat climate change. The first
commitment period of the Protocol ends in 2012. This represents a significant
marker in time. The Protocol assigns the developing countries to take some
action in addressing climate change. The concept of carbon trading reflects a
shift from an 'obligation-based' approach to a market-oriented
'opportunity-based' approach.
Objectives of the Study
The potential for using the legal economic theory framework in the study of
international environmental regulation is vast, but a word of caution needs to
be sounded. The double externality frequently results in many potential legal
intervention points, making the regulatory task more difficult rather than
providing an explanation for the regulators' inaction. Indeed, the presence of
multiple equilibria from the cause and effect and strategic interaction among
multiple jurisdictions might make the political economy characteristics an
unattractive solution path for the regulation of the externality. In the context
of the current study, special attention needs to be focused on why and how a
market for the environmental problem at hand exists and the implications that
this will have for the design of trade and environment legal rules in
international law.
The objectives of the study are to trace the development of carbon trade in
terms of project development and transactions, and to trace the legal
implications at the national and international levels, with a special focus on
domestic laws and regulations in India. This involves the identification of
types of transactions, services, and policies generated by carbon trade that
will influence the demand characteristics of cooperation that are reflected in
the unfolding legal regimes.
The study is also a necessary precursor to more detailed studies of the
specifics of treaty obligations, for example, related to the current
international climate change regime under the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol concerning the legal duty to
take necessary domestic action.
Concept of Carbon Trading
In a nutshell, carbon trading/legal mechanisms are concerned with trade in
atmospheric air, and this forms part of the general concept of trade in the
environment. The concept of carbon trading has received wide acceptance and
gained widespread momentum, particularly after the entry into force of the Kyoto
Protocol. The mechanism lays a platform for the convergence of interests between
industrialized and developing countries. The USA, which was against the
establishment of a climate change regime based on principles of equity and
common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, also
accepted the principle of differentiated responsibilities and respective
capabilities under the framework of the Kyoto Protocol, although it was not a
party to the Kyoto Protocol.
The concept of carbon trading came into existence with the introduction of
emission trading as a cost-effective method to control sulfur dioxide emissions
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through its Clean Air Act Amendment
of 1990. Carbon trading is not different from trading in any other commodity,
whether it is gold, silver, or shares. In the market, trading takes place at a
particular price, and the price is decided on the basis of demand and supply of
commodities. Therefore, air emissions are equally vulnerable to the economic
theory of demand and supply.
Definition and Scope
In its purest form, an emission trading system sets a maximum level of total
emissions. It then allocates emissions permits to countries, companies, or
factories - collectively known as 'sources' - for their 'allowable' emissions.
This total allowance of emissions is set out by official standards and is
divided into tradable permits that are known as Certified Emission Reductions,
or in the case of most industrialized countries, Assigned Amount Units. The
polluter can then buy from holders of surplus permits the right to exceed these
official limits.
There is no universally accepted definition for emissions reduction trading, and
with the expansion of the ancillary market, the multiplicity of trading schemes
and market structures in many countries makes the attempts to find a simple
definition redundant. Nevertheless, it is generally accepted that carbon trading
is a market mechanism where countries or companies and government or
non-governmental organizations committed to reducing CO2 emissions sell the
right to emit a certain amount to those who cannot meet their emission targets
at costs that are lower than the costs of reducing their own emissions.
Types of Carbon Trading Mechanisms
In all these cases of single gases, the trading system is centralized,
encouraging a solid market index elected by the participant's specific markets.
The ARB NOx programs in California facilitated the regional SO2 program in the
northeastern USA. Similar bilateral or multilateral trading between the permit
systems is encouraged by the EU ETS and by the general link clause in the
international greenhouse gas emissions permit system in the Kyoto Protocol.
Permit trading itself is claimed as a significant innovation in the economic
theory of environmental regulation. Permit markets are used worldwide for
trading nitrogen oxide (NOx) and SO2 emissions in the USA and CO2 emissions in
the European Union. The first cap-and-trade program in the USA, the US Clean Air
Act (CAA) SO2 allowance trading program, commenced in 1995 and applies to
approximately half the US electricity-generating capacity. Like cap-and-trade
programs in the European Union, Japan, and New Zealand CO2 economy-wide, it
establishes national limits (cap) but allows within-limits emission trading.
Emission permits are tradable rights to conduct emissions of specified
substances up to a predefined limit. Over time, the total number of permits is
reduced, thereby forcing companies to reduce their emissions. The rights may be
allocated through administrative assignments to individual sources or through a
competitive market allocation. In both cap-and-trade systems and taxes, the
incentive to produce such permits is created if the demand for permits exceeds
the number of permits initially released by the regulator. In the case of a tax,
this excess demand causes the tax price to rise. In the case of a cap-and-trade
program, it creates a market price for the permits.
In the case of trading permit schemes, these pollutants are in the form of
permits. The permit is a limited authorization to pollute up to a specified
quantity. Tradable permits, or what people usually refer to as emissions
trading, involve private enterprises with the flexibility to choose between
investing in property-directing technologies, trading in the emission permits to
minimize the cost attached to the control of emission, and possibly purchasing
the required permits or allowances on the market.
There are three different types of carbon trading, namely capital trading,
options trading, and contract-based trading. In capital-based trading, subject
to compliance, firms have to hold allowances in quantities equivalent to their
emissions or face penalties. An allowance in this market is a permit or a credit
that allows its holder to emit a specified amount of CO2. Unlike a tax, the
pollutant price is set in the market and is not directly determined by
administrative rules.
Legal Framework for Carbon Trading in India
There are various laws enacted in India while dealing with the environmental
issues in a general perspective. The Air Act deals with the problem of
pollution. The Water and the Forest Act have been enacted in India to conserve
the water and forest. However, all these Acts did not deal specifically with the
problem of pollution caused due to the industrial activities. The Environment
Protection Act, 1986 was enacted in India to provide protection to the
environment.
The term environment is defined in Section 2(a), which has all the attributes
required to make it a complete environment protection law. This Act requires
taking all necessary steps not only to protect but also to improve the
environment. The present Act was enacted to set standards to control or regulate
industrial effluents or emissions. The Act did not set standards to regulate
greenhouse gas emissions with a reference to the values set by the Kyoto
Protocol.
The national laws are not universally felt to address the problems of emissions.
National Environmental Laws is not specific law regulating carbon trading in
India. However, it is imperative to have a reference of legal mechanisms
applicable to carbon trading. Carbon trading in India can either fall under the
national environmental laws, the international environmental laws or the
international institutions.
National Legislation and Policies
In view of the need for reducing emissions or for sustainable development, many
more strategies can be taken into action using the existing legal and policy
framework in the country. This can be supported by channeling carbon trading
initiatives at the local or regional levels with the support of legislation at
the state level, although the country currently lacks an overarching legislative
framework for carbon trading. In actual fact, India does not have any
legislation in place to encourage the trading of carbon credits, while their
neighbors, e.g., China and other Asian countries, have come up with these laws.
The country has not introduced cap-and-trade systems despite the fact that it
has become a popular method to reduce the country's emissions as it gives more
coverage and certainty and also provides a cost-saving mechanism. The
carrot-and-stick policy is applicable in these cases, but it may also be seen as
an apparently irrational system since organizations will be more than willing to
create emissions just to get a saleable carbon permit. Moreover, India does not
have an overarching adaptation law to address national activities either.
The Indian government has passed the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC),
which came into action in 2008. According to the NAPCC, the most ideal method to
reduce the growing emission problem should be the use of renewable sources of
energy. It talks about the building of solar power stations, enhancing the
efficiency of grids, and increasing the number of solar and wind power plants in
the country. Another crucial aspect of the NAPCC should be climate science
research, which should be encouraged. Energy efficiency in the building sector,
awareness of energy conservation through the public, and if needed, it should be
brought into the syllabus and teaching process.
The NAPCC also talks about the enhancement of the public transport system to do
away with the private petroleum-based transport system, soil nutrient management
for agriculture, and creating more jobs in rural areas where the energy
requirement will be reduced. These plans cover only a very broad spectrum of the
possible approaches.
International Agreements and Commitments
The protocol provides three market-based mechanisms for achieving
emission-reduction obligations. They are: profits for transactions in allowance
markets, project opportunities for the implementation of Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) projects, or Joint Implementation (JI) activities, AM CER
credits for the implementation of CDM projects, or JI activities, monitoring,
reporting, and assessment of emission-reduction responsibilities.
The international legal and regulatory structure in India establishes the
legitimacy of the development of regulations and decisions that are required to
oversee the establishment and operation of the national legal systems relating
to carbon trading. The United Nations Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto
Protocol, and associated guidelines regulate carbon trading activities globally.
Carbon-related activities at the national and individual level should comply
with these international agreements and can be managed by carbon trading
regulations in accordance with the international legal obligations that India is
required to fulfill.
As far as global agreements are concerned, intergovernmental negotiations have
taken place through the UNFCCC process. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997
under the auspices of the UNFCCC. It occurs as an international agreement on
climate change, in the context of minimizing and coping with the impact of
emissions. It establishes legally binding targets for the reduction of the
emission levels of developed countries. The targeted emissions of each country
are mainly listed in the Protocol's Annex 1, and these developed countries must
meet their objectives by 2009-2012. Traditionally, each apportioned emission
indicator is based on the nation's record to the base year 1990. In addition,
through flexible market mechanisms, the Kyoto Protocol offers many possibilities
for meeting emission-reduction provisions in a less expensive and more effective
way.
Implementation and Enforcement of Carbon Trading Laws
Enforcement of regional or national solutions for greenhouse boiler emissions
(with particular reference to India and the Kyoto Protocol disagreements): The
types of relevant enforcement mechanisms can be usefully categorized under a
variety of headings. Tradable or transferable carbon rights, as presented by
Rajamani, is a particularly interesting regional approach that deals in broad
principle with the issues discussed by Spring. Treaties, the designation by a
state of an authority of its choice to regulate the activities of its registered
owners of designated carbon rights, and a clear understanding of what happens in
the event of a right holder's non-compliance.
In the absence of an effective international agreement, which governs the
economic and security aspects of conceding multinational trading or other forms
of foreign concessions in these two operational activities, the likelihood is
that such state initiatives may well be subject to international dispute.
Therefore, if a state implements a carbon reduction system within India, with
all due diligence, and moves towards a market-based registration scheme which
may be attractive to parties based in the European Union who are liable to make
Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) units purchase agreement under the EU ETS scheme,
what argument could be put forward to challenge the link established due to the
economic impact of such a scheme, particularly in an internationally-protocol
ratified environment.
Mechanisms for implementation of carbon trading agreements: Inclusion of
effective enforcement mechanisms in carbon trading agreements is significant,
and failure to do this might lead to poor compliance rates, which could
undermine the efficiency and credibility of the trading system. One approach to
effective supervision and control is to involve a regulatory institution or
independent supervising agency, such as the proposed Asia Carbon Trust in Rev.
CC.
In order to be credible, the monitoring function of this regulatory institution
would need to be independent, transparent, and subject to appropriate checks and
balances. In relation to the fundamentals of developing appropriate functional
and legal structures through which trading is managed, the inclusion of
coordinated and well-planned options can help to overcome the challenge of
managing complex multisectoral and multistage international architectures that
are faced in the design of a binding international carbon reduction structure,
as argued by Spring.
Role of Government Agencies
In India, the government has an important role to play because of its dual
objectives of addressing the environmental, social, and economic problems. It is
only when a country has a sufficient basis in the form of a legal and regulatory
framework and infrastructure development that a full-scale trading system could
develop. The learned authors have therefore recommended that in India, there
should be a separate organization responsible for managing domestic carbon
trading, whose role is to ensure long-term success in meeting the objectives
that have been set. Community involvement is also needed, and sectors not
covered by the trading systems should be targeted on their own merits. Some
initiatives have been taken in India in the field of methane, which is the first
trading of this kind in the country.
Any organization that has the mandate to diminish carbon emissions must have
defined goals or targets in order to be able to monitor their activities. These
goals or targets will vary greatly between countries or between areas within
countries. Thus, it is difficult to provide a one-size-fits-all approach to how
a particular project or agency should be set up. However, in India, the
Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies has proposed a hierarchical structure
to include every aspect of climate control and sustainable urban development,
covering effective international negotiations, domestic climate control, and
treaty verification. This will greatly enable countries like India to allocate
their full effort effectively and help in achieving goals collectively. This
would certainly be more effective than a bottom-up approach.
Compliance Mechanisms
In section A below, we have examined two subsections, compliance provisions and
the key approaches under the KP and the CDM respectively, which require an
in-depth study as they provide a case study of what would be expected of a
future global emissions trading scheme under the LCDS. Finally, with the
constant threat of the system falling prey to the existing problem of
non-compliance, we have examined non-binding pledges and how adherence to these
pledges or future compliance obligations could be achieved by introducing those
obligations such as mandatory post-2012 targets.
The period of compliance has been an important aspect of the operation of the
Emission Trading Markets. This commitment period varies across different regions
and different mechanisms used or designed. India has ratified and implemented
the KP which has a compliance period that ends in 2012 and presently, Asian
countries fall under the non-binding New Delhi ministerial declaration. The CFTA
also proposes a compliance period up to 2010-2012. Any future compliance
mechanism would operate by way of setting and implementing targets for reducing
emissions of the pollutants covered by the mechanism. Additionally, support for
compliance monitoring by independent entities or a central compliance tracking
body is also necessitated for efficient operation of these markets.
Challenges and Opportunities in Carbon Trading
The development of coherent domestic carbon market structures would serve as a
critical foundation by providing both a learning base for broader international
designs and guaranteed access for all states to perceived key instruments in
climate change adaptation policies, in addition to the legal benefits
potentially available to non-industrialized countries. So, does the complete
internationalization of the right to emit carbon trading inherently require
spending tenure clauses as required on other human rights-related treaties to
protect various citizens from blameworthy conduct on the part of national
governments? Our analysis suggests the necessity of striking a balance.
The joint approaches of shared domestic potential and international rights
recognition may allow non-industrialized states to operationalize the rights to
engage in such legally enabling behavior effectively. Boundary dimensions of the
joint approach for non-industrialized states, however, would best fit within
existing environmental protection norms devoted to advancing sustainable use of
resources, as well as pursuing equitable results from global economic
development opportunities, with responsibilities held by more advanced states to
assist in cost-efficient policy ventures through both knowledge and resources
transfers.
Hence, for carbon trading to succeed, the rights of carbon possession and use,
as well as the rights of carbon emissions, have to be defined along the lines of
other natural resources. There are three social phenomena at work in this
established practice, which inevitably prevent carbon trading from achieving its
potential as an international pollution control strategy. The great opportunity
associated with the carbon trading concept is the prospect of legal benefits to
the developing world.
The presence of this large scale of carbon emission reduction possibilities
leads to a conclusion that the developing world will hold a significant share of
the "right" to emit carbon in the future. In the future, we can anticipate an
increase in the demand for international human rights norms to accompany the
growth in the consumption of carbon just as readily as we can predict further
development of other international resource control norms. Differentiating
domestic carbon markets from the fully international market, our analysis
suggests that it is the broader national interests of states themselves that
will be central in the development, administration, and application of rights in
devising an international legal framework on carbon trading, therefore.
Barriers to Implementation
It is likely that there may be some countries which may find it a daunting task
to establish a trading infrastructure due to some barriers. The following are
the barriers that need to be surpassed to launch ETS in the countries which do
not have pollution trading programs: 1) Lack of technical resources and
institutions required to regulate and monitor a carbon market; 2) Lack of
organized trading institutions to monitor and regulate emissions trading,
coupled with lack of legislation and regulations and a mechanism to review and
approve project plans; 3) Fear that trading schemes will be difficult to operate
and that bonus emissions permits will create uneconomic benefits in some
countries.
In conclusion, it may be said that the success of carbon trading depends
significantly on the nature of the underlying legal framework. The existing
legal structures have not so far been successful in integrating these markets
into the legal regime. The significance of future efforts for a successful
integration of the carbon trading markets into the prevailing economic order
therefore cannot be overemphasized.
Potential Benefits
As mentioned in an earlier section, consideration in the carbon-trading option
makes it a credit mechanism of some type. It recognizes that countries are
already busy sequestering carbon emissions. It could be in the form of large
numbers of developing country people cooking a basic minimum via planting and
looking after large amounts of trees, or alternatively a small number of
professional ecologists planting, and then managing large numbers of trees.
Developing countries are actually doing quite a bit of global environmental
service as far as cleaning up the expense of providing a global public good is
concerned. Such is the tragedy in their case, devoid of any distinct
institutional arrangement, ex-post differentiation by them among the
contributors and the non-contributors has to be essentially unfeasible at an
international level.
As per the authors, the purpose and potential benefits of the carbon-trading
scheme are multifold. It recognizes the fact that different countries (or even
sub-units within countries) possess differential capabilities as far as the
potential to undertake GHG emission reductions. This really stems from the
concept of "sustainable development", i.e. constraints because of poverty,
ill-health, illiteracy, etc., of the people of the so-called developing world.
It gives the less well-off countries a chance to huddle virtually with the
developed nations in evolving a solution to the problem, after all, everyone has
to make some sacrifices for ensuring that millennia into the future life is
still possible on earth.
If in the process of obtaining this international quorum damaging economic
effects could be avoided, so much the better. Additional plus points would
emanate if in some form encompassing this international solution non-IPR sharing
could be obtained in the local land and environmental qualities, emanating from
developing technologies to make this new carbon-trading regime possible. All the
potential benefits seem too good to be true. All that is required is a judicious
property rights regime in the world for this to happen.
Successful Carbon Trading Projects in India
NRSE and allied activities to produce products and services as marketable items
are bound to create a host of small and medium enterprises in the remote
villages. Most of them would end up adding value to the raw materials. It would
be very important to make energy a guaranteed throughput with a
variable/flexible mode and price it independently. Once a market is created,
then the indigenous sources of raw material would kick-start. Of course, these
very sources would dry up if the market is not guaranteed. Table 7.
The Indian CDM projects that have been admitted in the pipeline (35 out of a
total of 44) are worth more than Rs. 1000 crores. As it is seen, most of the
funds are expected in the power sector, which is already taken care of in EA
2003. It would be very important to identify the areas which need to be
mainstreamed to take care of the industries, especially those suitable for CDM.
If the pre-10th and 11th power sectors are considered the 1st and 2nd industrial
development phase of the country, the 3rd phase should aim to be primarily
industrial estate-centric.
Now, since we have award-winning and award-getting examples in the developed
countries, it might be worthwhile to have such examples in India so that
political pressure could be developed for their replication. We explore some
possibilities of Indian examples as under.
The cornerstone of the atmospheric regime is the part regarding responsibilities
of atmospheric burdens based on the principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities. In attempting to give effect to this principle - by burdening
the market with responsibility - serious conceptual issues concerning the nature
and the linkage between the market and sovereignty rights of countries have
arisen, especially in the South. These rights and historical responsibility that
have led to the present excessive burden of developing countries have long been
recognized in other environmental agreements as a unique approach to negotiate
the climate conventions.
The need to ensure that market-based instruments are not in contradiction with
the principles that they signify led to India's reluctant acquiescence in the
establishment of the Pilot Trading Phase. The lack of understanding about the
domestic measures limited the implementation of carbon markets, thus reflecting
the tension already sparked off by the composition of the innovative Kyoto
regime. Indicating a certain cognitive lag, a similar reluctance to limit the
domestic measures on climate, like other MEAs, conditioned developments of the
international legal and institutional evolution of market-based instruments.
Equity, common but differentiated responsibility, and capacity are principles
critical for shaping the global legal mechanisms, which are essential
prerequisites for emergent global governance. They are also key determinants of
the cosmopolitan world order based on global justice and ethics. These
principles demarcate the chasm that separates the countries of the global South
and the global North. Though several of these mechanisms have developed further
and in a more substantive manner, they certainly did not originate at Rio,
which, in a sense, only formalizes the global consensus reached at earlier
conferences. However, their development and resonance have always created
internal challenges for the developed countries and have led to multiple
exemptions, derogations, and transitional phases for developing countries, as
well as special treatment for the LDCs.
Comparative Analysis with Global Carbon Trading Practices
Trade India has not entered into any carbon trade at present. Even if it starts
doing the same, it cannot transact with any state because there is no authority
out of the states, which are competent enough to entertain the trade. By
introducing a kind of "European Emission Trading Scheme," we contradict our
stand based on the NAFTA system. By entering into the "Linking Agreement" with a
trading regime like the UK (which has linked with the Kyoto Protocol), we can
execute the same.
In the previous chapters, we have seen how the legal mechanism (existing and
proposed) relating to carbon trade has come into practice in areas like carbon
in the European countries, especially the United Kingdom. From the explanation
of the existing and proposed mechanism of the carbon trade in the aforementioned
countries, we can note how the global trading framework in the field of carbon
trading has already been established during the last few years. We are yet to
come out with our own "Cap and Trade Scheme." Therefore, it is apt to include a
thorough discussion on its results and difficulties which are involved by making
a comparative analysis with the novel and more efficient carbon trading
practices in vogue. The said analysis is made with the following topics like
trade, cap, legislation, contract administrative structure, grant, auditing, and
liability. The vivid picture of the global practices mentioned would guide the
budding efforts in the direction of the Indian carbon trading mechanism which we
are to forge our own shortly.
Future Trends and Developments in Carbon Trading
In countries like India, to obtain a green power certificate, it is recommended
that hydro power plants be given a hydro certificate, although the environmental
impact of large-scale hydro projects is well established in international and
Indian environmental laws. Following the recent warning by the Indian Government
about no future permitting in the hydro category of the CDM for all hydro
projects, it is expected that concerns about the negotiations surrounding the
inevitable change to the Mechanism could be pushed by larger developing States.
Mitigation measures, mostly employed in agriculture and land use, opt for
policies that combine carbon trading with broader land use that maintain and
enhance the global warming balance of rural areas. Efforts to bring domestic
level restructuring in line with the zero or low carbon objectives would likely
depend on the carbon market or the influence of other financial transfer
mechanisms. To reach ambitious levels of a decarbonized economy, large
reductions will be needed, and not restricted to the easy options provided
through CDM.
Considering the progress that has been made at present in the field of climate
change, it is estimated that the issue of climate change can only rise in
significance. Relying on the obligations put on various Annex-I countries, with
different policy interventions becoming a part of their national legal systems,
the ability of the Clean Development Mechanism to be legally integrated seems to
be uncertain because international laws such as the Protocol are not generally
or directly binding on individuals.
There is a growing sense about shared duty both within and outside the
parameters of the CDM, with some parties interested in participating beyond
their minimum legal obligations. If implemented effectively, emissions trade is
expected to benefit the country as per Annex-I commitment in terms of private
world to which these interests are directly related. After some problems have
been reported with measurements of the reduction of emissions achieved through
the sequestration of carbon, more thoughts are being devoted to the issue of
sequestration. Because developing countries are in a position to contribute to
the bulk of the co-benefits and spillover effects, thinking about land use and
change seems to be the precedence for CDM.
Conclusion and Recommendations
These sovereign Climateplus approaches are meant to build upon these established
roles of these financial institutions and drive payments from local activities
in new, additional directions. In these roles, they will have far more proactive
relationships with host countries and their national development plans from the
outset and provide measurable benefits to the territorial, enterprise, market,
and local balances, thus enhancing their desire to participate and local need to
engage. This demonstrated appeal of new money could assist national governments
in building global consensus for including strong, non-reserved roles for the
convertible assets of local carbon trading markets in the future global climate
treaty. Comprehensive legal tools urge executing such approaches.
For their part, the World Bank, the IFC, and other financial institutions are
familiar players in industrial, electric power, and natural gas markets. They
have long proved means to reduce conventional pollutants, tap renewable energy,
and enhance energy efficiency through stimulating changes in markets. Given
their specific obligations largely defined by their shareholders, they have made
their services available primarily through prescribed paths defined from outside
the host countries. The local inhabitants, including large international trading
operators, have been the primary beneficiaries of these services.
The chapter has tried to map the carbon market mechanism with respect to India's
position and how it can be used to India's advantage. In our opinion, it points
to the fact that India's economic growth cannot necessarily follow the
traditional growth paths. Yet, with the carbon offset objectives provided in the
National Action Plan on Climate Change Special area of the country and its
pro-poor markets, the Indian market, and the markets at the state and local
levels, can be provided an opportunity to capitalize on its own significance in
the carbon market through sustainable development.
Award Winning Article Is Written By: Mr.Sukhpreet Singh
Authentication No: JL492533997113-11-0724
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