Tata Steel
At a Glance
Industry
Industrial Goods and Manufacturing
Project Types
Data Analysis, Financial Evaluation and Planning, Sustainability and Energy Management Strategy
Year
2023
Location
Mumbai, Maharashtra
Summary
Ekta Gandhi worked with Tata Steel to explore blue carbon ecosystems, a nature-based strategy that utilizes carbon trading potential alongside other blended financing possibilities on the path to net zero.
Goals
As the world grapples with the reality of climate change, focus has shifted towards mitigating the impacts of rising temperatures and nature-based solutions (NBS) have emerged as a preferred choice to do so. Tata Steel Limited’s biodiversity division enlisted Ekta to research the business case of investing in blue carbon as a strategy towards their Net Zero pathway.
Solutions
There exists a financial advantage of adapting a nature-based solution, such as investment in the blue economy to achieve NDCs while continuing its path to economic growth. Carbon credits play a vital role in promoting the blue carbon ecosystem by providing economic incentives, encouraging carbon emission reduction, and facilitating the development of the blue carbon sequestration market.
Potential Impact
Blue carbon ecosystems could account for 3% of annual emissions, besides offering potential economic benefits in the form of disaster management, sustainable livelihoods, sustainable tourism, and community participation.
Blue carbon credit trading helps the development of the blue carbon sequestration market, provides a mechanism for the exchange of carbon sequestration services, and creates direct economic gain through habitat protection. A substantial portion of the world's mangrove forests could qualify for carbon-credit schemes, with the potential to generate up to $1.2 billion per year in carbon benefits. Furthermore, conservation and restoration activities of these blue carbon ecosystems are a significant component of achieving the SDG 14: Life Under Water.
The study aimed to analyse the option to invest in the mangrove forests of Balasore Coast in Odisha as a part of Tata Steel’s initiative to establish a carbon bank. With their investment in mangrove restoration of 150 hectares of land, Tata Steel aims to generate annual carbon credits worth approximately 5040 tonnes of CO2 which would provide 2290 tons of zero emission steel with a saving of more than $200,000.