India is shaping its carbon market to support climate finance and emission reduction goals, drawing lessons from experiences in Africa and Southeast Asia. Carbon markets operate through the trading of credits that represent verified emission reductions, either under compliance-based systems or voluntary commitments. Robust monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) mechanisms are essential to ensure credibility, avoid double counting, and maintain environmental integrity.
Experiences from Africa demonstrate the value of community-linked voluntary carbon projects that attract global buyers and deliver local co-benefits. In contrast, Southeast Asia highlights the importance of strong state oversight and alignment of carbon markets with national climate strategies. These regional models offer complementary lessons for India’s evolving framework.
By combining policy certainty with credible, project-level implementation, India can strengthen investor confidence and scale participation in its carbon market. Expanding access, improving data transparency, and reinforcing institutional capacity will be critical to mobilising climate finance while ensuring measurable and verifiable emission reductions.
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