Small entrepreneurs join world carbon emmission market

New Delhi, Jan 28 (UNI) After village farmers, small entrepreneurs can also now trade in the world carbon emission market, ensuring an additional income.

An Indian company, Foretell Business Solutions, will represent them in the Chicago Climate Exchange(CCX).

The CCX brings together over 225 organisations dedicated to building cost-effective and market based systems for reducing greehouse gas emissions which contribute to global warming, resulting in climate exchange.

Exchange members who cannot reduce their emissions, can purchase credits from those who make extra emission cuts, or can buy offsets from individual mitigation projects like no-and low-till farming, grass and tree planting and methane collection at livestock operations.

Foretell will help in the participation of Indian and small and medium units in earning carbon credits in the international market.

Foretell President G Srivastava said Indian small and medium enterprise have developed and adapted innovative energy management programmes in the recent times. By joining the Chicago Climate Exchange, the company aims at aggregating all such initiatives in energy management and bring benefit to the innovator.

The company, a leading commodity and agri-business research and consulting firm based in Bangalore, joined the CCX in the presence of its CEO Peter Sander who had come here to participate in the Seventh Delhi Sustainable Summit held last week.

'Andhodaya', a leading NGO working among farmers to promote bio-gas, renewable energy and water harvesting has also joined the Chicago Climate Exchange(CCX).

The reduction in carbon emissions achieved by the NGO through a large number of small biogas plants, solar energy and rainwater harvesting plants will be sold in CCX.

Chicago Climate Exchange(CCX) is the world's first legally binding greenhouse gas emission registry, reduction and trading system having its members both major and small public and private entities.

Emission reduction achieved through CCX are significant in scale and impact.

Members including leading international companies like Ford, DuPont and IBM, cities such as Chicago and Portland, states of New Mexico and major univeristies, traders and environment professionals commit to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent by 2010.

Director of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) Dr R K Pachauri said the Indian company's partnership with CCX was very important as so far only very large companies were involved in the carbon trading, but the common man was missing from the scene.

''By involving people at the grass roots level in such kind of projects, we can hold them to the soil and help in unsustainable urbanisation,'' he said.

UNI