Emission Markets and Congestion Tax: In Conversation with Dr Anant Sudarshan on experimental economics for mitigating air pollution

Published: Feb 7, 2025

GNY LIVE
Emission Markets and Congestion Tax:  In Conversation with Dr Anant Sudarshan on experimental economics for mitigating air pollution

Dr Anant Sudarshan estimates that Industrial pollution contribute 10 per cent of the overall air pollution in India but can go as high as 30-40 per cent in industrial cluster cities like Surat.
Photo courtesy: Energy Policy Institute, University of Chicago

Abstract: As air pollution continues to be an issue of great concern across India, there is an urgent need to engage with various stakeholders to help mitigate the debilitating health hazard caused by air pollution while maintaining sustainable economic development. In this episode of GnY Live, Dr Anant Sudarshan, Associate Professor at the Department of Economics, University of Warwick, brings to light how economics can bring in new experiments and shares his expertise on practical solutions for the industrial and transport sectors. Dr. Sudarshan, with over a decade of research experience, stressed the need to develop emission monitoring technologies that are reliable and transparent. Furthermore, he argues that these data need to be translated into actionable industry regulatory norms and emission markets. Other issues highlighted in the conversation range from the economics of regulating air pollution to adopting long-term solutions like congestion tax and EVs as an alternative clean energy substitution.