Recently, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami launched the Gross Environmental Product-GEP index which will assess the ecosystem development in state.
- Uttarakhand is the first state in the world where the development of the ecosystem will be assessed through the Gross Environmental Product Index.
- The Chief Minister said that now GEP can also be released along with GDP in the state. Its assessment will establish better harmony between ecology and economy.
- The GEP index would also increase awareness of the environment. This will help in assessing the contribution to environmental protection. This index will also help in making plans.
- This index will assign monetary value to four of the state’s natural resources; air, water, forest, and soil.
- The formula is, GEP index = (Air-GEP index + Water-GEP index + Soil-GEP index + Forest-GEP index).
- The index does not only calculate what services we get from the environment but also what we put back into the environment.
