NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has requested metro rail corporations to register for carbon credits for the government’s goal to reach net zero carbon emission status.
The development occurred when the parliamentary housing and urban affairs standing committee recommended that the government put pressure on metro rail corporations to register for carbon credits.
A carbon credit is a tradable permit or certificate granting the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide or the equivalent amount of another greenhouse gas.
In a recent report detailing the government’s response to the committee’s recommendations, the ministry said that registering for carbon credits is only encouraged, not required, for metro networks.
“M/o Housing and Urban Affairs has requested metro rail corporations, who have not yet registered for carbon credits, to explore economic benefits of registration,” the ministry quoted to the panel.
The committee has said that being the nodal ministry for metro operations, the housing and urban affairs ministry can do much more. For example, the upcoming metros can be persuaded to register carbon credits to lower GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions.
“The committee, therefore, recommends the ministry to make GHG emission mandatory for all upcoming metros, apart from persuading metros in operation,” it said.
The committee noted the fact that several metro projects had registered for applications to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the UNFCCC’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the Gold Standard Registry (GS).
The Delhi Metro has reported earning 4.4 million carbon credits through CDM and GS projects. In contrast, Kochi and Lucknow’s metro rail corporations have stated that the registration for carbon credits is in progress. The standing committee stated in its report that Nagpur Metro would apply for it following the project’s commissioning. On the other hand, Bhopal and Indore have informed us that their stations and depot are being planned or designed for India Green Building Council (IGBC) Platinum rating, leading to carbon credits in due course.
According to the committee, since several metros are either using or planning to use renewable energy to a considerable extent to meet their requirements, the committee feel that it is essential to ensure that all these metro rail networks are registered for carbon credits so that they earn benefits for being environmentally friendly.
The panel said that as the registration for carbon credits is not mandatory, several metro networks have not yet registered for it.
