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TERI Roundtable Aims to Unlock Carbon Finance for India’s Degraded Forests

India’s degraded forests, long overlooked by global carbon finance mechanisms, were the focus of a critical roundtable hosted by TERI to develop India-specific guidelines for REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). The session sought to address how India can better leverage carbon finance by targeting forest degradation—not just deforestation—particularly in buffer zones and vulnerable regions like the Northeast.

Dr. Vibha Dhawan, Director General, TERI, opened the discussion by highlighting the ecological and livelihood significance of India’s forests and their underrepresentation in global carbon markets. Mr. Ramesh Pandey, IFS, MoEF&CC, emphasized that despite India housing 18% of the global population and 12% of livestock on just 2.4% of global land, the country has managed to increase forest and tree cover to over 25%.

Government representatives, including Mr. Amit Anand, reiterated India’s focus on livelihoods and community-based forest management. Experts from the carbon market, like Mr. Sandeep Roy Choudhury (VNV) and Ms. Marie Calmel (Verra), discussed the urgent need for methodologies to account for forest degradation. TERI's researchers stressed the pressing degradation in areas like Assam and the Northeast.

The session concluded with a shared commitment to develop collaborative, India-relevant carbon finance methodologies that reflect the realities of its forests.