How Gujarat plans to make air polluters pay

The state of Gujarat has implemented a trade and cap mechanism under its ambitious emission trading scheme (ETS) in an effort to balance industry demand with the guidelines of the Paris Agreement. The state's environment minister Mulu Bera announced the scheme, which targets Ahmedabad's industrial activities.

The ETS is launched by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (BPCB) in collaboration with the Abdul Latif Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), which was founded by J-PAL co-founder and co-director Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, and researchers from the University of Chicago, following a successful pilot programme in Surat which saw a 20% reduction in emissions from affected industries.