Struggles persist in India's efforts to distribute financial aid to farmers earning carbon credits
In a bid to combat climate change, India is taking significant steps to create its own carbon market, aiming to empower farmers and realise the country's significant emissions mitigation potential. The Indian government, along with the International Institute for Environment and Development and ICVCM, is developing a robust framework for this market.
Globally, companies, including airlines, fashion houses, and technology giants, have spent billions of dollars on carbon credits to offset their emissions. However, the carbon market often seems to work in the interest of project developers and consultants, with little benefit trickling down to communities like farmers.
India's approach is unique. The goal is to ensure accurate, accessible, and affordable monitoring, reporting, and verification of carbon credits for farmers. This will be achieved through methods like crowd-sourcing monitoring data directly from communities using smartphones.
The Indian market also aims to improve farmers' bargaining power by aggregating them into cooperatives. By doing so, farmers can monetise sustainable practices, such as reducing methane emissions, which could potentially help them earn carbon credits.
However, the process of enrolling farmers and selling carbon credits in global markets is costly and can take up to two years. As a result, many farmers, like Jitendra Singh in Haryana, India, who have stopped flooding their rice fields to reduce methane emissions and earn carbon credits, have yet to receive any payment.
To address this issue, the Indian market is creating a payment system to send the proceeds of sales directly to farmers. This will help ensure that farmers reap the benefits of their sustainable practices, rather than the profits being eaten up by middlemen.
Organisations certifying carbon capture projects are exercising greater scrutiny, leading to delays in approving them. The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has launched Core Carbon Principle (CCP) standards for certifying projects, aiming to improve the transparency and legality of carbon credit certification in agriculture.
In 2021, trade in carbon credits reached about US$2 billion, but shrank to US$723 million in 2023 due to concerns about 'phantom credits' not representing genuine carbon reductions. The hope is that with a fairer and more transparent carbon market in India, this trend can be reversed, and genuine carbon reductions can be realised.
The story was published with permission from Thomson Reuters Foundation. However, it is worth noting that while organisations and institutions such as government agricultural departments, certification bodies, and possibly platforms involving farmer cooperatives and environmental agencies are discussed, specific names are not detailed in the available search results.
Despite the challenges, India's push for a fair carbon market is a step towards addressing climate change while ensuring that farmers are fairly compensated for their sustainable practices. The hope is that this approach will serve as a model for other countries to follow.
