Star Rating Program Engages Indian Citizens in the Movement for Cleaner Air
A new program can reduce pollution by leveraging information and providing it to both industry and the public.
Originally published by Evidence for Policy Design on October 17, 2018.
Fourteen of the world’s 20 cities with the highest air pollution are in India, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) last ranking. To tackle the growing danger of air pollution, the government of the Indian state of Maharashtra collaborated with researchers from EPoD, EPIC, and J-PAL to launch a transparency initiative to bring down industrial emissions: the Star Rating Program. Under the new scheme, industries are being rated from one to five stars based on their emissions. The program has the potential to reduce pollution by leveraging information already being collected by regulators and providing it to both industry and the public.
I believe that this program can serve as a powerful tool for those who care about air pollution in India to engage with the emissions sources both directly and indirectly.” - Ma Jun, environmental activist and Founding Director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, China
This short film captures the perceptions of different stakeholders of the Star Ratings Program, the first of its kind in India.
Read an opinion piece explaining the Star Ratings program and other policy innovations that can clear India’s air, by Yale’s Rohini Pande (formerly of Harvard Kennedy School) and coauthors Michael Greenstone, Anant Sudarshan, and Santosh Harish.