Editorial 1 : Can green credits benefit India’s forests?
Context
The Green Credit Programme, announced by the Environment Ministry in October 2023, is a market-based mechanism where individuals and companies can claim incentives called ‘green credits’ for contributions to environmental and ecological restoration.
About
- The Green Credit Scheme is a voluntary program initiated by the government. It incentivizes individuals and entities for their positive contributions to the environment.
- Green Credits are units of incentives. These are provided to participants engaged in activities that have a positive impact on the environment.
- This scheme is part of the broader 'LiFE' campaign (Lifestyle for Environment). It promotes and rewards voluntary environmentally-positive actions.
Activities Covered Under Green Credit Programme
- The Green Credit Programme encompasses eight key types of activities aimed at enhancing environmental sustainability. These activities include:
- Tree Plantation: Planting trees to increase green cover and combat deforestation.
- Water Management: Implementing strategies to efficiently manage and conserve water resources.
- Sustainable Agriculture: Promoting eco-friendly and sustainable agricultural practices.
- Waste Management: Implementing effective waste management systems to reduce environmental pollution.
- Air Pollution Reduction: Initiatives aimed at reducing air pollution and improving air quality.
- Mangrove Conservation and Restoration: Protecting and restoring mangrove ecosystems for ecological balance.
How will the Green Credit System work?
- The Green Credit System will be administered by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), which will develop guidelines, processes and procedures for the implementation of the programme.
- The ICFRE will also establish thresholds and benchmarks for each Green Credit activity based on scientific criteria and best practices.
- The participants of the Green Credit System will have to register themselves with the ICFRE and submit their proposals for generating or buying Green Credits.
- The ICFRE will evaluate the proposals and approve them if they meet the eligibility criteria. The ICFRE will also monitor and verify the implementation of the approved proposals and issue Green Credits accordingly.
- The participants will be able to trade their Green Credits on a domestic market platform that will be developed by the ICFRE in collaboration with other stakeholders.
- The platform will facilitate transparent and efficient transactions of Green Credits among buyers and sellers.
- The program establishes a Green Credit Registry and a trading platform and provide information on the supply and demand of Green Credits.
Challenges Related to Green Credit Programme
- The process of verifying and validating environmentally-positive actions can be complex and time-consuming. This poses administrative burdens on participants and regulatory bodies.
- There is a risk that some participants may engage in "greenwashing." They falsely claim environmental benefits without actually implementing sustainable practices.
- Limited awareness and participation among individuals and entities may hinder the effective implementation.
- Lack of financial resources and incentives for participants to engage in environmentally-friendly activities can pose challenges to the success of the program.
- Serious doubts are also raised regarding who should be in charge of reducing pollution and conserving biodiversity, as well as how rigorous monitoring would be maintained.
- The Green Credit System may impose some costs on entities that participate in it.
Suggestions
- While challenges exist, the focus on methodologies, demand, and continuous evaluation will pave the way for a sustainable and impactful green credit market, contributing to India's commitment to environmental sustainability.
- The Green Credit System has to be carefully evaluated before being put into practice, especially given its emphasis on afforestation and tree planting.
- Unresolved issues with forest ownership and governance, problems with biodiversity and the environment, and global criticisms of carbon credit programmes should all be taken into account.
Conclusion
The Green Credits Programme emerges as a visionary approach to incentivize environmental stewardship through a market-based model. By offering incentives for a diverse range of beneficial actions, the program seeks to drive holistic environmental improvements while ensuring rigorous standards.
Editorial 2 : Skin lightening creams laden with mercury take a toll on the kidney
Context
On the heels of recent news reports on how keratin-based hair-straightening products containing glycolic acid derivatives led to severe kidney injury in women, researchers from Kerala have reported a series of cases wherein the use of fairness creams has been linked to nephrotic syndrome.
About
- In a study published in the latest issue of Kidney International (‘NELL-1 associated membranous nephropathy linked to skin fairness cream use.
- Heavy metal screening of the blood and urine samples of these patients revealed high levels of mercury, the toxic effects of which are well-known.
- An analysis of the fairness creams also showed that these contained high levels of mercury — in some instances, 10,000 times above the permissible limit of 1 ppm.
High proteinuria
- Membranous nephropathy (MN) is an autoimmune disease resulting in nephrotic syndrome, a condition when too much protein is released into the urine (proteinuria), ultimately resulting in renal failure.
- In approximately 70% to 80% of cases of MN, the target antigen has been phospholipase A-2 (PLA2R).
- However, in early 2023, when four or five cases of MN with a similar profile turned up consecutively many researchers found that most MN cases turned out to be PLA2R negative.
- Recently, another antigen, Neural epidermal growth factor-like protein 1 (NELL-1), has been linked to a rare form of MN.
- The link between face creams containing mercury and nephrotic syndrome is well-established worldwide, which naturally led to probe the use of cosmetics.
Fairness cream
- The patients admitted to fairly regular usage of fairness creams before they began experiencing non-specific or subtle symptoms.
- The mercury levels in blood/urine samples dropped within three months of the patients stopping the use of their fairness creams.
- Also, all patients responded well to RAAS (renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system) blockade (the gold standard therapy for chronic kidney disease) and did not need immunosuppression.
- The obsession with fair skin and the use of skin lightening products extends well beyond India and is said to be widely prevalent in African and Asian countries.
- However, despite widespread use, the serious systemic health issues that toxic cosmetic creams can induce are yet to be perceived as a global public health issue.
Impact of mercury
- Mercury is a highly toxic heavy metal which is used in fairness/anti-ageing creams as in its inorganic form (mercury salts) it can inhibit the formation of melanin resulting in a lighter skin tone.
- The higher the levels of mercury in face creams, the better the whitening effect.
- Chronic mercury poisoning from cosmetics is often missed because different organs and tissues respond differently to mercury, resulting in atypical clinical presentations.
- However, the concept of equating beauty with fair skin is so ingrained in the minds of people that even after abundant cautioning, they are reluctant to stop the use of fairness creams.
- The larger public is unaware that mercury in face creams can be absorbed through the sweat glands, sebaceous glands, and hair follicles and absorbed by all tissues.
- The other adverse effects listed by WHO include skin discolouration and scarring, reduction in the skin’s resistance to bacterial and fungal infections, anxiety, depression, psychosis and peripheral neuropathy.
- The Minamata Convention on Mercury, to which India is a signatory, is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds and it has been in force since 2017.
Conclusion
The strength of the current study could establish the temporal relationship between the use of fairness creams and the occurrence of nephrotic syndrome. However, larger, multi-centric systemic studies on chronic mercury poisoning are required not just to understand the extent of the problem but also to persuade policy makers and regulators to clamp down on all cosmetics containing mercury at all.