The Emissions Market Accelerator (EMA) is a global initiative that supports governments across the Global South and other developing economies in designing, building, and implementing market-based environmental regulation to reduce emissions while enabling sustainable economic growth. EMA provides tailored technical assistance and analytical support to regulators and policymakers to develop emissions markets, drawing on international evidence and best practices to strengthen regulatory frameworks and improve environmental outcomes.
In India, EMA’s work focuses on supporting state governments and pollution control boards in adapting emissions market approaches to local regulatory, institutional, and industrial contexts. This includes support across the emissions trading system lifecycle, such as analytical scoping, market design, implementation planning, regulatory capacity building, and stakeholder engagement. Through state-level initiatives, EMA aims to demonstrate how emissions markets can be operationalized within India’s environmental governance framework to deliver cost-effective pollution reductions aligned with development objectives.
Gujarat Emissions Market Initiative
The Gujarat Emissions Market Initiative supports the Government of Gujarat in advancing emissions trading as part of its air pollution control strategy. Implemented in partnership with the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), the initiative pioneered the world’s first particulate matter emissions trading system in an industrial cluster in Surat.
A defining feature of the Gujarat initiative was the generation of rigorous causal evidence on the effectiveness of emissions trading through a large-scale randomized controlled trial. The evaluation found that the emissions trading system reduced particulate matter emissions by approximately 20–30 percent relative to conventional command-and-control regulation.
The study also showed that these emissions reductions were achieved at lower cost. Abatement costs under the emissions trading system were approximately 11 percent lower than under the command-and-control regime. Evidence from the Surat pilot has played a central role in informing the scaling of emissions trading to new pollutants and states. Building on this evidence, emissions trading is being expanded to additional industrial clusters in Gujarat, as well as to a statewide sulphur dioxide (SO₂) emissions trading system.
Maharashtra SO₂ Emissions Market Initiative
The Maharashtra SO₂ Emissions Market Initiative supports the Government of Maharashtra in the design and implementation of a state-level emissions trading system for sulphur dioxide (SO₂), in collaboration with the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB). As one of India’s largest and most industrialized states, Maharashtra faces significant air pollution challenges alongside strong economic growth. The initiative reflects the state’s efforts to address industrial emissions through regulatory innovation while sustaining economic development.
Through this initiative, technical and analytical support is being provided for the development of the SO₂ emissions trading framework. The program also supports structured engagement with regulators, industry representatives, and technical experts to strengthen institutional readiness for implementation.
The Maharashtra initiative aims to demonstrate how emissions trading can be operationalized at scale within an Indian regulatory context, providing flexibility to regulated firms while achieving environmental targets efficiently. Insights from this program are expected to inform the expansion of emissions markets across pollutants, sectors, and states in India.
Rajasthan Emissions Market Initiative
The Rajasthan Emissions Market Initiative supports the Government of Rajasthan in exploring and developing a state-level emissions trading system as part of its broader approach to addressing air pollution while enabling sustainable industrial growth. The initiative focuses on building the analytical, institutional, and regulatory foundations required for an effective and credible emissions market.
Technical, analytical, and advisory support under this initiative includes market scoping, regulatory architecture design, institutional arrangements, stakeholder consultations, and capacity-building activities. These efforts aim to inform decisions on sectoral coverage, market rules, compliance mechanisms, and oversight structures tailored to Rajasthan’s economic and regulatory context.
Through this initiative, Rajasthan seeks to adapt lessons from emissions market pilots in India and international experience to its own context, supporting the development of a scalable market-based approach that complements existing environmental regulations and delivers cost-effective environmental improvements.