Gujarats emission trading scheme for particle pollution under finalists for Earthshot Prize

New Delhi, October 6 (PTI) Gujarat’s emissions scheme for particle pollution, developed using researchers of the Emission Market Accelerator (EMA), was named a finalist for the 2025 Earth Hot 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 start the world’s first hood-and-trade market for particle pollution in the industrial city of Surat. The initiative was selected as one of the three finalists under the category ‘Clean Our Air’ of the Earthshot Prize. Researchers associated 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-trading system, allowing industries to buy and sell emission permits. The experiment led to a sharp drop in particle pollution, better compliance and higher profits for industries. “The Gujarat emission trading scheme is excellent evidence of how financial market-based approaches can address serious pollution challenges in rapidly developing economies around the world,” said Earthshot Prize CEO Jason Knuf LVO. Michael Greenstone, co-chair of the EMA and one of the researchers who led the Gujarat Emission Market experiment, said: “For decades, something has been seen as something almost exclusively a regulatory tool for the US, EU and other rich countries. Greenstone said the emissions markets are especially suitable for countries where economic growth is a priority and where a large part of the world’s pollution and greenhouse gas burden exists. Forty-nine of the top 50 countries with the most polluted air is located in the global south. Furthermore, 82 percent of the CO2 is expected to occur over the rest of the century, he said. The pilot experiment in Surat showed that firms in the emission market reduced pollution by 20 to 30 percent more than those under conventional rules. It also costs industries 11 percent to meet, while profits have risen. Non-compliance has dropped from about a third of all plants at any time to less than 1 percent ever. Bala Srinivasan, co-chair of the EMA, said: “The market was an important policy tool that is very similar to the Indian government’s efforts to practice environmentally friendly economic policy. Gujarat opened the door for a new way to approach environmental and economic policies in emerging economies.” After the success of the Surat pilot, Gujarat launched a second emission market in Ahmedabad. About two Crore people in Gujarat now catch up with cleaner air. The state also works with the EMA to set up sulfur dioxide and wastewater trading markets. “To become a finalist of the Earthshot Prize is a proud milestone for the Gujarat pollution council and the emission market accelerator,” says Devang M Thaker, Lidskretary of the GPCB. “It is an international recognition of a solution born in Gujarat, which has the potential to transform how the world is addressing industrial pollution,” he said. The EMA team, which builds on Gujarat’s success, is now supporting a sulfur dioxide market in Maharashtra and a design of a market in Rajasthan, with plans to expand over India and abroad. “Gujarat’s leadership in the testing and scale of emissions markets shows how governments in emerging economies can drive large-scale solutions that benefit people, the economy and the planet,” said Esther Duflo, co-founder and director of the J-PAL. The Earthshot Prize, which was launched by Prince William in 2020, has solutions aimed at restoring the planet, Honors. This year’s 15 finalists were selected from nearly 2500 nominations received from 72 countries. The winners will be announced during a prize giving in the Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro on November 5.