Uttarakhand becomes first state to launch GEP Index for environment

Uttarakhand became the first state in the world where the development of the ecosystem will be assessed through the Gross Environmental Product Index (GEP-Index).

Launching the Gross Environmental Product-GEP index in Dehradun Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the GEP index would also increase awareness of the environment and this will help in assessing the contribution to environmental protection.

Dhami said, “Its assessment will establish better harmony between ecology and economy”.

“This index will also help in making development plans and industrial activities imultaneously in the state and now Uttarakhand is also moving ahead in the direction of climate protection”he added.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the state government had envisaged green bonus during the financial year 2010-11, but the state of Uttarakhand could not get the benefit of green bonus.

“Due to which, on December 21, 2021, the Uttarakhand government had notified the definition of gross environmental product by adding the difference between the value of environmental services and the cost of environmental damage to GDP”.

He added that along with this, in the notification of December 2021, the government wants to develop the evaluation mechanism for GEP. So that how the gross environmental product can be linked with the GDP of the state.

The Chief Minister said the overall result of compliance with various developmental schemes, industrial processes and rules made by the government will be visible on the local environment quality of the state.

The Gross Environment Product (GEP) index is a way to measure the environmental health and quality of a region. It’s a component of green GDP, which takes into account environmental factors along with economic growth. G

EP can be used to measure the status of ecosystem services, the progress of eco-civilization, and the impact of human activity on ecosystems and natural resources.

The demand to incorporate GEP in the state’s evaluation mechanism had been pending for the past few decades and many academicians and environmentalists had been pressing for it.

The calculation put forward by green activists estimates that Uttarakhand, through its biodiversity, gives services to the tune of Rs 95,112 crore per year to the nation. The state has over 71% area under forests.

It is also home to the Himalayas, is the origin point of rivers like Ganga, Yamuna and Sharada as well as home to wildlife reserves like Corbett and Rajaji Tiger Reserves.