Using markets to reduce emissions and drive growth in the Global South

The Emissions Market Accelerator provides a custom-built solution to make emissions markets work anywhere, for any pollutant, by supporting governments from design to full operation.

Emissions Market Benefits

Pollution Reduction
Continuous monitoring allows industry to better manage and governments to better track emissions.
Industry Cost Reduction
Industry can choose how best to comply, offering a flexible approach that saves—or even makes—money.
Industrial Compliance
More transparency and easier enforcement eliminates non-compliance and costs governments less.

Proof of Concept

Researchers with EPIC and J-PAL helped the Indian state of Gujarat design and launch the world's first particulate pollution market. It serves as proof of concept that markets can succeed in the Global South.

Our Approach

Building from the Gujarat market's approach, EMA works with governments and industry to design and deploy markets, embedding staff at regulatory agencies for support and capacity building.

Scaling Up

The EMA is working with government partners in India to set up several cap-and-trade markets throughout the country, as well as with the city of Rio de Janeiro, and conversations are underway with other international jurisdictions.

Our Partnership With The Earthshot Prize

Our proof-of-concept project in Gujarat was named a finalist for The Earthshot Prize. We're now working with The Earthshot Prize to promote markets around the world.

What Key Leaders Are Saying About EMA

Current and former government officials, academic experts and other leaders all support the Emissions Market Accelerator. Here’s a collection of some of their thoughts.

Shocked Podcast: Markets for Pollution

This episode of the Shocked podcast is a great primer to learn how emissions markets work, how the Gujarat market came to be, and what made it so successful.

Michael Greenstone

Co-Chair, Emissions Market Accelerator; Director, EPIC; Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago

“The Emissions Market Accelerator goes where pollution is threatening human wellbeing the most and brings governments the tools they need to simply and effectively balance the goals of economic growth and environmental quality. With a market, they don’t need to choose any longer, regardless of whether their interests are air, greenhouse gas, or water pollution. Our goal is for pollution markets to benefit 1 billion people by 2030."

Bala Srinivasan

Co-Chair, Emissions Market Accelerator.

“Countries in the Global South have been laser focused on economic growth, as they should. But that has often come at the expense of environmental quality. We’re working with governments to implement a market approach that proves economic growth and environmental quality can go hand-in-hand."

Shri Devang M. Thaker

Member Secretary, Gujarat Pollution Control Board

“Emissions markets are both innovative and practical, delivering a cleaner environment without hindering growth. With our success, I hope other emerging economies worldwide will follow India’s lead.”

Esther Duflo

2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences; Co-founder and Director, J-PAL; Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics, MIT

"Gujarat’s leadership in testing and scaling emissions markets shows how governments in emerging economies can drive large-scale solutions that benefit people, the economy, and the planet. J-PAL is proud to have worked alongside the Gujarat government and EPIC for more than a decade to pilot, evaluate, and scale this innovative approach and now through the Emissions Market Accelerator expand it further across India and other countries."

Who We Are

The Emissions Market Accelerator is a partnership between the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), two of the world’s leading research and policy implementation organizations.