<span style="color: #222222;">The avenue plantations and compensatory afforestation can additionally sequester Carbon dioxide (CO2), thus adding to the offset of CO2 emitted from highway operations as a whole. It was revealed in the report on the Assessment of Avoided CO2 Emissions during the Construction and Operation of National Highways. Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav released the report at the World Sustainable Development Summit in New Delhi on Wednesday.<br />''<br />''The report stated that the new and improved state of the National Highways is replacing congested and often circuitous routes, however, can also help avoid CO2 emissions by reducing fuel combustion in vehicles plying on them. It also presented a methodology for assessing the extent of CO2 that can be avoided per kilometre of national highways constructed. Further, pre construction and actual operation and maintenance data of national highways have been applied to quantify the CO2 avoidance per km of NH constructed.</span><br />