What can India’s experience with market-based pollution regulation teach the world?
That question framed a conversation convened by the Emissions Markets Accelerator (EMA) at the New York Climate Week 2026. Held against the backdrop of growing urgency around air quality and industrial emissions, the session brought together policymakers, regulators, philanthropic organisations and international partners to explore how market-based approaches can complement conventional environmental regulation and help deliver cleaner air.
The panel, moderated by Dr. Andrew Light, Distinguished Fellow (2025–2027) at The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth at the University of Chicago; former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs, featured Reena Gupta, Chairperson, Punjab Pollution Control Board; Sean Maguire, Executive Director, Strategic Partnerships, Clean Air Fund; Mathilde Carraro, Director of Portfolio Impact, The Earthshot Prize; and Dr. Ousmane Savane, CIAPOL, Côte d’Ivoire and Manoel Tabet Soriano, Municipal Secretary for Urban and Economic Development, Rio de Janeiro.
The conversation opened with Kaushik Deb, Executive Director, EPIC India and the EMA, sharing the journey of EMA and the lessons emerging from India’s experience with emissions trading. In Surat, Gujarat, researchers from the University of Chicago and J-PAL, alongside the Gujarat Pollution Control Board, developed and evaluated the world’s first particulate matter emissions trading market, reducing industrial emissions by 20–30%, lowering abatement costs by 11%, and delivering a benefit-cost ratio exceeding 25:1.
The Surat experience demonstrated that markets can help reduce industrial pollution while giving firms greater flexibility in how they meet environmental standards. The Gujarat emissions trading programme was also recognised globally as a 2025 Earthshot Prize finalist in the Clean Air category, underscoring the growing international interest in innovative approaches to tackling air pollution.
But perhaps the more important lesson from Surat is what comes next: how do we take a successful demonstration and build the systems, institutions and capacity needed to scale it?
That question shaped much of the panel discussion. EMA’s approach is distinctive: it does not stop at research. It works alongside state pollution control boards to design the regulatory frameworks, monitoring systems and implementation playbooks that turn evidence into operational markets. Reena Gupta, representing the Punjab Pollution Control Board, brought the perspective of a state regulator working at the frontline of India’s air pollution challenge, and the value of a partner that understands both the science and the regulatory realities on the ground.
The discussion also brought in the perspective of organisations working to support solutions across geographies. The Clean Air Fund, represented by Sean Maguire, made a pointed message to governments: that once the evidence is generated, the responsibility to act cannot rest with researchers and philanthropy alone. Governments must do their part — investing in clean air initiatives, scaling what works, and embedding proven approaches into policy and public spending.
Mathilde Carraro of The Earthshot Prize brought another dimension: how innovative solutions can be supported, measured and taken to new contexts; a perspective directly relevant to EMA’s ambition to scale globally.
Manoel Tabet Soriano, Municipal Secretary for Urban and Economic Development, Rio de Janeiro, delivered special remarks at the session, sharing the city’s ambition and what this partnership to adapt market based approach in partnership with EMA, means for Rio. He expressed optimism that the collaboration with EMA will open a new chapter in how Rio approaches its environmental and urban development challenges, and looks forward to the change this partnership can bring.
The discussion also reinforced that the case for tackling air pollution extends well beyond climate. For many countries and cities, cleaner air is fundamentally about healthier communities, stronger livelihoods, greater productivity and more resilient economies. These tangible benefits can help build broader support for environmental action while creating space for innovative regulatory approaches and that they are central to EMA’s case for why pollution markets deserve a place in every government’s toolkit.
The panel concluded with closing remarks from Kavita Vij, Director – Programmatic Advancement at EPIC India, who underscored that research and evidence are only the starting point. The larger challenge and opportunity is to translate these learnings into systems that governments can implement, monitor and sustain, while building the partnerships and institutional ownership needed to adapt successful approaches across different contexts.
The journey from Surat to Rio, discussed on a global stage in New York, offers a powerful reminder of how India’s policy innovations can inform global approaches to cleaner air through shared evidence, experience and learning.