Pact on emissions trading inked

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 5

In a bid to address the problem of growing industrial air pollution in Punjab, the Departments of Industries and Commerce and Science, Technology & Environment announced partnership with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) South Asia and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC India) to launch the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

As a first step in the partnership, the government and the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) would launch an ETS to regulate emissions from 200 dyeing industries in Ludhiana besides reducing particulate and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the state. Principal Secretary Industries and Commerce Alok Shekhar said, “The government is keen to combat environmental pollution through regulation that promises a win-win situation of cleaner production, coupled with lower compliance costs for industries.”

In his address, prof Michael Greenstone, the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, Director of EPICand Co-Chair of Energy, Environment and Climate Change of J-PAL said, “Pollution reductions can be delivered - the world’s first ETS for particulate pollution in Gujarat has already shown this. Punjab is now becoming the second Indian state to adopt this pioneering vision. For various other Indian cities battling polluted air and expensive regulations, ETS has the potential to improve air quality and health, reduce the regulatory burden on industries, and decrease government enforcement expenditures.”