A special report on “Framework for Environmental Damage Cost Assessment with Examples” brought out by CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) was released by Dr. Sukumar Devotta, Former Director, CSIR-NEERI; Dr. R.R. Sonde, Executive Vice President, Thermax Limited; Prof. Anjan Ray, Director CSIR-IIP; Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Director, CSIR-NEERI and Dr. Atya Kapley, Scientist and Head, Director’s Research Cell, CSIR-NEERI during the fourth International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environmental Challenges held recently at CSIR-NEERI.
The report highlights the methodologies by which environmental damages can monetarily be estimated. This report can act as a baseline tool for monetary assessment of environmental impacts and be useful for policymakers, industries, regulatory authorities, etc.
While releasing the report, Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Director, CSIR-NEERI said that it was urgently required to develop this framework for effective implementation of the regulations like ‘polluter pays principle’, ‘extended producer responsibility’, etc. This framework will now more facilitate the regulatory authorities and industries to derive the precise cost for environmental damages, he added.
Er. Hemant Bherwani, Scientist, CSIR-NEERI, the lead author of the report, stated that this framework would be able to bridge the gap between national and international standards, and will have more applicability in the country.
The report contains the methodologies for evaluation of the damages and associated monetary loss due to the release of pollutants in four major sectors namely air, water, climate and solid waste, said Er. Ankit Gupta, Senior Scientist, CSIR-NEERI, who is a co-author of the report. This report is a stepping stone and will continue to evolve over time adding more domains of environmental damages whilst addressing complex relationships between different environmental processes.
