India to set up agency to regulate carbon trade in COP29 follow-up

The Union government plans to set up an agency on the lines of National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) to regulate carbon trading, two people said.

- Puja Das

The new body will also be responsible for green initiatives such as green bonds. It comes against the backdrop of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) taking the landmark decision to draw up rules for a global carbon market, that will allow nations to trade carbon credits.

Parliament passed the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 on 12 December 2022, setting the stage for a carbon market in the country.

"The policy on carbon marketing, carbon taxing will emerge, and the ministry of power is working on it. If the policy comes into effect, there will be agencies which will completely control the carbon market. 'Green' also comes under the same category," one person cited above said.