Andhra Pradesh Vows Full Support To Centre’s Carbon Credit Trading Scheme

Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy claimed that trading carbon credits would be very beneficial for combating global warming and building a sustainable environment.

Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy committed full support on behalf of the Andhra Pradesh government for the carbon credit trading scheme, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in order to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change, PTI reported.

He claimed that trading carbon credits would be very beneficial for combating global warming and building a sustainable environment.

Speaking at the 11th executive committee meeting of the AP State Energy Conservation Mission (APSECM) Jawahar Reddy noted that new opportunities will be created for individuals, companies, and other organisations, including ushering in the benefits of carbon offsetting projects such as ecosystem management, forest preservation, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy generation, and others.

"The trading of carbon credits would undoubtedly be a great boon to dealing with global warming and will be a win-win situation for a sustainable environment with multiple benefits," said Reddy, as quoted by PTI. 

According to an estimate by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Andhra Pradesh has an energy saving potential of around 17,000 MU, or 25 percent of the state’s total energy demand. and it has been decided to strive to realise at least 10 percent of it (1,700 MU) in the first phase. Based on this, the southern state has decided to take steps to achieve at least 10 per cent of it per year in the first phase at 1,700 MU worth Rs 1,200 crore by adopting an integrated approach, involving all the departments under one umbrella, including reducing electricity bills of government departments.

The chief secretary ordered energy officials to fast-track efficiency standards in all government departments and transform government buildings into star rated ones, including working out a time bound state energy efficiency action plan.

He suggested that in order to meet the 6.68 million tonne oil equivalent (Mtoe) target set by BEE, this plan should include all of the departments, including municipal administration, panchayat raj, medical and health, endowments, industries, social welfare, school education, and agriculture.

The Chief Secretary praised APSECM for implementing IoT-based energy efficiency technology in 65 MSMEs, a mandatory energy conservation building code in 123 urban local bodies, energy conservation cells in 42 government departments, and others.