India’s disputed Compensatory Afforestation (CAMPA) Policy at odds with new IPCC report

Central idea

• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Synthesis Report, where the IPCC notes the significance of preserving natural ecosystems to mitigate climate change.
• The report has raised concerns about the ongoing policy of afforestation in India that allows forests to be cut down and replaced elsewhere.

Afforestation in India

• Afforestation has become an increasingly contested policy in India.
• The government has pledged to add “an additional (cumulative) carbon sink of 2.5-3 GtCO2e through additional forest and tree cover by 2030”.

Why is CAMPA invoked in the IPCC report?

• India’s Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) has been accused of facilitating the destruction of natural ecosystems in exchange for forests to be set up elsewhere.

What is CAMPA?

• CAMPA is a body established by the Indian government in 2002 on the orders of the Supreme Court.
• The purpose of CAMPA is to promote afforestation and regeneration activities as a way of compensating for forest land that has been diverted to non-forest uses, such as for dams, mines, and other development projects.
• The Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 requires project proponents to identify land elsewhere for afforestation and pay for the afforestation exercise.
• The money paid by project proponents is deposited in a fund overseen by CAMPA.

Controversies surrounding CAMPA

• Unutilised fund: The money paid to CAMPA sits in a fund, but most of the fund remained unspent until 2013, leading to criticism of facilitating the destruction of natural ecosystems. In 2006-2012, the fund grew from Rs 1,200 crore to Rs 23,600 crore.
• Threatening endangered landscape: CAMPA also came under fire for funding projects that endangered landscape connectivity and biodiversity corridors.
• Unsustainability of artificial plantation: CAMPA has been accused for planting non-native species or artificial plantations that don’t compensate for the ecosystem loss.

Why is forestation under CAMPA unsustainable?

• Natural ecosystems sequester more carbon: This report highlights the importance of preserving natural ecosystems and reducing the conversion of natural ecosystems to mitigate climate change.
• Renewable energy installation is more sustainable: The IPCC report also found that solar power has more mitigating potential than reducing the conversion of natural ecosystems, and wind power was the third highest.

Conclusion

• Preserving natural ecosystems should be recognized as an essential means to mitigate climate change, and environment impact assessments should include climate costs.
• Policies such as afforestation, ecosystem restoration, and renewable energy must be carefully evaluated to reduce the impact of the climate crisis.