Gujarat's emission-trading scheme for particulate pollution among finalists for Earthshot Prize

New Delhi, Oct 6 (PTI) Gujarat's emissions trading-scheme for particulate pollution, developed with the help of researchers from the Emissions Market Accelerator (EMA), has been named a finalist for the 2025 Earthshot Prize, one of the world's most-prestigious environmental awards.

The EMA, a joint initiative of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), helped Gujarat design and launch the world's first cap-and-trade market for particulate pollution in the industrial city of Surat.

The initiative has been selected as one of the three finalists under the "Clean Our Air" category of the Earthshot Prize.

Researchers affiliated with the EMA worked closely with the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) to implement the market-based approach, which replaced traditional pollution-control methods with a cap-and-trade system, allowing industries to buy and sell emission permits. The experiment led to a sharp fall in particulate pollution, better compliance and higher profits for industries.

"The Gujarat emissions-trading scheme is an excellent testament to how financial market-based approaches can address severe pollution challenges in rapidly-developing economies around the world," said Jason Knauf LVO, Chief Executive of The Earthshot Prize.

Michael Greenstone, co-chair of the EMA and one of the researchers who led the Gujarat emissions market experiment, said, "For decades, emissions markets were seen as something that was almost exclusively a regulatory tool for the US, EU and other rich countries. The Gujarat market serves as an important proof of concept that emissions markets can work beyond these regions." Greenstone said emissions markets are particularly suited to countries where economic growth is a priority and where much of the world's pollution and greenhouse-gas burden exists.

Forty-nine of the top 50 countries with the most-polluted air are located in the Global South. Further, 82 per cent of CO2 emissions over the remainder of the century are projected to occur there, he said.

The pilot experiment in Surat showed that firms in the emissions market reduced pollution by 20 to 30 per cent more than those under conventional rules.

It also cost industries 11 per cent less to comply, while profits rose. Non-compliance dropped from about a third of all plants at any time to less than 1 per cent ever.

Bala Srinivasan, co-chair of the EMA, said, "The market proved to be an important policy tool that is very much in line with the Indian government's efforts to pursue environmentally-friendly economic policies. Gujarat opened the door to an entirely new way of approaching environmental and economic policies in emerging economies. With the Emissions Market Accelerator, we are scaling up their trailblazing efforts." Following the success of the Surat pilot, Gujarat has launched a second emissions market in Ahmedabad.

Around two crore people in Gujarat are now breathing cleaner air as a result. The state is also working with the EMA to set up sulfur-dioxide and wastewater-trading markets.

"Becoming an Earthshot Prize finalist is a proud milestone for the Gujarat Pollution Control Board and the Emissions Market Accelerator," said Devang M Thaker, Member Secretary of the GPCB.

"It is an international recognition of a solution born in Gujarat that has the potential to transform how the world addresses industrial pollution," he said.

Building on Gujarat's success, the EMA team is now supporting a sulfur-dioxide market in Maharashtra and a designing a market in Rajasthan, with plans to expand across India and abroad.

"Gujarat's leadership in testing and scaling emissions markets shows how governments in emerging economies can drive large-scale solutions that benefit people, the economy and the planet," said 2019 Nobel-laureate Esther Duflo, co-founder and director of the J-PAL.

The Earthshot Prize, launched by Prince William in 2020, honours solutions aimed at repairing the planet. This year's 15 finalists have been chosen from nearly 2,500 nominations received from 72 countries. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro on November 5. PTI GVS RC