Brief Context
Context The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified the draft Greenhouse Gases Emissions Intensity (GEI) Target Rules, 2025. What is Greenhouse Gases Emissions Intensity (GEI)? GEI refers to the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted per unit of product output (e.g., per tonne of cement or aluminium).
Source Content
Syllabus: GS3/ Environment
Context
- The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified the draft Greenhouse Gases Emissions Intensity (GEI) Target Rules, 2025.
What is Greenhouse Gases Emissions Intensity (GEI)?
- GEI refers to the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted per unit of product output (e.g., per tonne of cement or aluminium).
- GHGs include carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), ozone (O₃), and water vapour, along with synthetic gases like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs).
- GEI is measured in tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (tCO₂e), a standard unit accounting for the global warming potential of all GHGs.
Draft GEI target Rules
- The emissions intensity targets, with 2023–24 as the baseline year and 2025–26 and 2026–27 as the target years, aim at the gradual reduction of emissions intensity to promote low-carbon industrial growth.
- The draft rules target 282 industrial units across four highly energy-intensive sectors: 13 aluminium plants, 186 cement plants, 53 pulp and paper plants, and 30 chlor-alkali plants.
- Alignment with National Climate Goals: It supports India’s commitment to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 45% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.
Government Initiatives
- The Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT) Scheme was initiated in the year 2012 and is a market-based mechanism aimed to improve energy efficiency in energy-intensive industries by notifying specific energy consumption reduction targets to industries (called Designated Consumers or DCs).
- Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), 2023 provides a platform to generate, trade, and utilise carbon credits. The entities that reduce emissions below targets can sell surplus credits.
| Carbon Markets – Carbon markets are systems designed to place a price on carbon emissions and create economic incentives for emission reduction, also known as ‘carbon credits’. – A carbon credit is a kind of tradable permit that, per United Nations standards, equals one tonne of carbon dioxide removed, reduced, or sequestered from the atmosphere. – Under Article 17 of the Kyoto Protocol, countries with surplus emission allowances can sell them to those exceeding their targets, creating an international carbon market. Voluntary Offsets – Voluntary offsets refer to measures undertaken by private individuals, including afforestation, that can trap carbon dioxide as commercial projects. – These too generate carbon credits and companies sell them, internationally as of now, to those that require them to meet the compliance regulations. |
Concluding remarks
- The draft GEI Target Rules mark a significant step in transitioning India’s industrial sector toward low-carbon development.
- By combining mandatory targets with a market-driven approach, India is aligning environmental sustainability with economic efficiency — a crucial balance for achieving its climate ambitions.
Source: IE